Farnsworth Free Community Opening for Black and White: Louise Nevelson/Pedro Guerrero

On Friday, October 6, the Farnsworth Art Museum, in Rockland, Maine, will celebrate a free community opening for the exhibition Black and White: Louse Nevelson/Pedro Guerrero. The opening, which will take place from 5 – 8 p.m., will feature black and white films in the library accompanied by live music, fun craft activities, both chocolate and regular milk, Oreo cookies, and other creative activities. Also opening on that night will be an exhibition of studies that Jamie Wyeth did for his now-famous portrait of JFK. The opening is part of the museum’s First Fridays at the Farnsworth sponsored by First National Bank.

Louise Nevelson (1899-1988) is recognized as one of the most important sculptors of the twentieth century, whose wood sculptures, painted in black or white, revolutionized artists’ ideas of what sculpture could be. This exhibition will feature signature examples of these works drawn from the Farnsworth’s collection, the second largest collection of Nevelson’s work in the world. Some of these works reflect the artist’s interests in creating environments, in which her home and studio were laboratories for her innovations.

Nevelson’s home and studio were captured in a series of arresting black and white photographs by Pedro E. Guerrero (1917-2012) taken in 1978 and 1979. Guerrero, a renowned architectural photographer, is perhaps best known for his images of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings which brought him to national attention. Guerrero’s photographs of Nevelson in her home and studio, in combination with examples of her sculpture, offer a captivating look at her life and work.

The Lead Sponsor of the exhibition is Gail Catharine Bertuzzi. The exhibition is made possible in part through a grant from the Davis Family Foundation. The primary media sponsor of this exhibition is Maine Home + Design. Support for the community opening is also provided by Oakhurst Dairy.