Current Exhibitions

Back cover of a birch bark book with woven dyed porcupine quills in the shape of a wreath with a heart in the center.

Boundless

Boundless is a nearly museum-wide exhibition that features work by Native American writers and artists, grounded in but not contained to the Northeast. On view August 29, 2023-January 7, 2024.

 wampum, milkweed plant two ply, logwood dye, sterling silver

Seeping In: Elizabeth James-Perry

Seeping In, features new work by Elizabeth James-Perry (Aquinnah Wampanoag). On view September 14, 2023-January 7, 2024.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Trópico es Político: Caribbean Art Under the Visitor Economy Regime

Trópico es Político: Caribbean Art Under the Visitor Economy Regime is a group exhibition that considers notions of natural and fiscal paradise through the work of artists living in the Caribbean and its diaspora.

Like a Slow Walk with Trees: Alicia Grullón

Like a Slow Walk with Trees is a meditation on land and labor by Alicia Grullón. The body, the banner, photography, and video with text are employed as part of her artistic practice, which centers activism. 

The Juncture: Ukrainian Artists in Search of Modernity and Identity

This exhibition showcases the work of three leading modern artists from Ukraine who produced work during an astonishing period of the country’s cultural renaissance in the early twentieth century.

Past Exhibitions

Architectural Ghosts

This exhibition features objects from antiquity to the 21st century that examine what it means to be in ruin, as a material state and theoretical concept, each with ethical and political dimensions. On view January 31–June 25, 2023. 

A pile of candies with blue plastic wrappers heaped into a corner formed by black walls.

“Untitled” (Blue Placebo)

Felix Gonzalez-Torres left flexible guidelines for the installation of his candy works.  While at the Mead, “Untitled” (Blue Placebo) will change locations and take new shape. On view January 31–July 9, 2023. 

Black and white photograph of James Baldwin dancing the “hitchhike” with a CORE worker.

God Made My Face: A Collective Portrait of James Baldwin

This group exhibition is a special iteration of God Made My Face, organized by Hilton Als. On view February 24–July 9, 2023. 

detailed oil painting of a cell

Black Art Matters

The Sixth Annual Black Art Matters Festival is a student-led celebration highlighting Amherst's Black students' work and artistic achievement. On view from March 7 – June 25, 2023. 

Virtual tours of Past Exhibitions

 A silhouette figurine in a dress is set on a red background. It casts a shadow, and its arms are bent upward at the elbow.

Liliana Porter: Two Realities

This exhibition foregrounds Argentinian-born, U.S.-based artist Liliana Porter’s decades-long consideration of “two realities”— “virtual reality” (a depiction of a thing) and the “real thing.”

Painting of a woman pictured from behind, looking over her right shoulder. Her right hand rests on her hip. She has dark brown skin & wears a blue sundress and red headscarf. People, trees, & bright blue sky are visible in the background

The Living Room

The exhibition is curated by DeLyna Hadgu, a senior and Advanced Student Museum Educator at Amherst College in collaboration with the Black Art Matters Festival. The show explores how Black artists represent Black subjects.

Painting of a seascape, featuring a ship in a body water, which runs between rock formations on each each side of the image.

Founding Narratives

Presenting artworks produced in the United States between 1800 and today that offer opportunities to consider the role of art in creating, reinforcing, and challenging stories about national identity. On view through July 18, 2021.

George Benjamin Luks (American (1866/67-1933). Child Eating. Oil on canvas. Mead Art Museum. Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Edward F. Babbott (Class of 1945).

Embodied Taste

Join students in a conversation on food, culture, art, and power, culminating in an exhibition at the Mead Art Museum.