Whether you prefer bright, abstract works or intricate textiles, there’s plenty to take in this month at the city’s many museums and galleries. Here are a few must-see shows to catch this month
Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular – Through May 12
Laumeier Sculpture Park’s spring exhibition is a 10-year survey of the work of American artist High Hayden, including both new and previously exhibited works and an outdoor sculpture exhibition. The wild, thorny works blend manmade and natural forms to explore myriad ideas.
Source – Through May 18
Maddie Aunger’s Source at St. Louis Artist Guild’s Ramp Gallery is centered on power in moments of peace. The acrylic paintings are bright, crisp representations of the artist’s home that beautifully capture light and color.
Window to the Soul – Through May 16
Art Saint Louis’ Spring 2024 exhibition is themed around the old adage, “The eyes are the window to your soul.” Forty-nine regional artists from Missouri and Illinois have contributed to the exhibition, which includes 60 original artworks across various media.
Time After Time – Through June 1
Square One Gallery, Washington Avenue’s newest gallery space, is currently welcoming visitors for its inaugural exhibition, Time After Time, a solo show from Sage Barnes. Barnes said in an artist statement that the works are akin to chapters in a book with “each layer adding to a story and shaping us as individuals. Each layer affects and changes our lives as we go.”
The Upcycled Garden – Through June 1
A conceptual work from Hi-Fructose founder Attaboy will take over the fourth floor Sullivan Architecture Gallery at City Museum this spring as the ever-growing Upcycled Garden makes a stop in St. Louis. The Seussian forms have beautiful, colorful exteriors, but they hide a “visual diary of consumption” that includes pizza boxes, COVID-19 tests, light bulbs, and other detritus.
Revival: Digging into Yesterday, Planting Tomorrow – Through June 30
The new 21c Museum Hotel announced its presence on the local gallery scene with this stirring multimedia exhibition, which includes work from Kehinde Wiley, Myrlande Constant, Ebony G. Patterson, Hew Locke, and more. Each artist has contributed work that examines the ways the past persists in our present and futures.
Kahlil Robert Irving: Archaeology of the Present – Through July 29
St. Louis–based artist Kahlil Robert Irving will showcase new sculptures, video, and found objects as part of Archaeology of the Present, a new exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum examining our relationship to the city street.
READ MORE: Kahlil Robert Irving returns to Washington University with Archaeology of the Present
Concealed Layers: Uncovering Expressionist Paintings – Through August 4
The Saint Louis Art Museum’s exceptional collection of German Expressionist works will get their time in the spotlight as part of Concealed Layers, a free exhibition examining some of the mysteries uncovered by the museum’s conservation efforts. Visitors will get a chance to learn about the science of conservation in addition to getting a deeper look at collection highlights such as Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s “Circus Rider” and Vasily Kandinsky’s “Murnau with Locomotive.”
Paul Chan: Breathers – Through August 11
In this new installation at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, electric fans give life to bright nylon figures akin to the tube men found outside dealerships. The title has several meanings: “[It] refers to many aspects of the word ‘breathers.’ It’s the title of a series of work I began making in 2015-2016, but it also reflects how I came to make these works, which is by taking a breather,” says Chan.
READ MORE: Paul Chan’s Breathers marks the artist’s first major U.S. exhibit in 15 years.
Shimmering Silks: Traditional Japanese Textiles, 18th-19th Centuries – Through October 20
The 14 textiles and two figurines on display in this new exhibition in Gallery 100 at the Saint Louis Art Museum include examples from nō and kabuki theater, Buddhist textiles used or worn in temples, ceremonial costumes, and decorative pieces used as wall hangings and wrappings. Each piece has been pulled from the museum’s archives, and no selection has been seen for at least a century.
READ MORE: The Saint Louis Art Museum highlights Japanese textiles with Shimmering Silks
