“Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West in Photography" at the Figge Art Museum -- June 27 through October 4
Saturday, June 27, through Sunday, October 4
Figge Art Museum, 225 West Second Street, Davenport IA
Author Wallace Stegner wrote, “One cannot be pessimistic about the West … this is the native home of hope.” And images of hope – as well as images of struggle, endurance, triumph, and astonishing landscapes – will be on display at the Figge Art Museum from June 27 through October 4, with the Davenport venue hosting glorious, thought-provoking photographs in the new exhibition Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West.
Organized by Figge Art Museum curators, Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West features over 150 photographs by some of the most renowned photographers of the 19th and 20th centuries. Picturing the west as a metaphor for promise and peril, the exhibition explores issues of identity, implications of living in a changing landscape, and the centrality of Native and immigrant communities to the essential dynamism of the region. Including images made by artists from the U.S. and abroad, the exhibition expands the dialogue of how our view of the west has evolved from the 19th century to today.
Assembled from many public and private collections, Magnetic West includes important works by Robert Adams, Edward Burtynsky, Laura Gilpin, Zig Jackson, Elaine Mayes, Chandra McCormick, Cara Romero, Wendy Red Star, Victoria Sambunaris, Carleton Watkins, Wim Wenders, and many others. Following its Davenport engagement, the exhibition is also scheduled to appear at Iowa's Sioux City Art Center from October 24 to January 17, and an accompanying catalogue will be published in conjunction with the exhibition.
Museum hours are currently Tuesdays through Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, with hours potentially changing in July. Entrance to the museum is free through all of June, with $4-10 admission after, and face masks and safe-distancing measures are required. Reservations are also presently required for access to the venue, and more information on the June 27 through October 4 Magnetic West: The Enduring Allure of the American West exhibit is available by calling (563)326-7804 or visiting FiggeArtMuseum.org.
