Georgia Museum Of Art: Kota Ezawa Reenvisions Missing Masterpieces

From the Georgia Museum of Art:

June 30, 2021

Over 30 years ago, thieves disguised as police officers entered Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, tied up the night guards and stole paintings, including ones by Rembrandt, Manet, Degas and Vermeer. Despite this act being one of the largest art heists in history, the case remains cold and the art is still missing.

The traveling exhibition “Kota Ezawa: The Crime of Art” will be on display at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia from July 17 until December 5, 2021. The exhibition includes 13 works of art that pay homage to the objects stolen during the Gardner Museum heist in 1990.

The California-based artist Kota Ezawa uses light boxes, color-blocked graphics and video animation to re-create the missing masterpieces. Although his re-creations are simplified, they remain instantly recognizable, which illustrates the hold that certain images have over viewers. The museum heist has resurfaced in pop culture through the Netflix series “This Is a Robbery,” which explains the evidence found to date.

Ezawa uses paintings by famous artists to create images that are both original and not original simultaneously. Much of his work provides commentary on how modern media “steals” art and ideas by blurring the lines between what is private property and what is public knowledge. As a result, crime is a recurring theme.

Dr. Nelda Damiano, the museum’s Pierre Daura Curator of European Art and the in-house curator for this exhibition said, “It is always interesting to see a dialogue between past and present and to have a contemporary artist like Kota Ezawa take on the idea of appropriation and originality. I was especially intrigued by the artist’s statement about this project: ‘I feel compelled to produce an exhibition dealing with “stolen artworks” because my own process could be regarded as a form of image theft. One could say I’m hoping to steal these images back and give them a new life.’”

This exhibition was organized by SITE Santa Fey with the Mead Art Museum.

Related events include:

• A talk by Kota Ezawa on September 7 at the museum

• A Family Day To-Go September 9 – 12, as part of which families can pick up free art kits and an activity guide at the museum

• A film series September 16, 23 and 30, showing the movies “Stolen,” “How to Steal a Million” and “Topkapi” at the museum

• Toddler Tuesday on September 21 at the museum for ages 18 months to 3 years (email sagekincaid@uga.edu to sign up)

• Student Week, organized by the Georgia Museum of Art Student Association and running September 23 – 26

• Teen Studio: Art Heist on September 23 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. (email sagekincaid@uga.edu to sign up)

• And a talk by Anthony Amore, director of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, on October 14 at 5:30 p.m.

All events are free and open to the public. Film series and Student Week are sponsored by the UGA Parents Leadership Council. Family Day To-Go kits are sponsored by Heyward Allen Motor Co., Inc., Heyward Allen Toyota and the Friends of the Georgia Museum of Art.

Partial support for the exhibitions and programs at the Georgia Museum of Art is provided by the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. The Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency, the National Endowment for the Arts. Individuals, foundations and corporations provide additional
museum support through their gifts to the University of Georgia Foundation. The Georgia Museum of Art is located in the Performing and Visual Arts Complex on the East Campus of the University of Georgia. The address is 90 Carlton Street, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. 30602-1502. For more information, including hours, see http://www.georgiamuseum.org or
call 706-542-4662.

This press release was produced by the Georgia Museum of Art. The views expressed are the author's own.