In the American Grain: Exploring America through Art, 1919–1946
September 4 to December 6, 2025
Opening reception: Thursday, September 4, 2025, 5:00–7:00pm
The two-and-a-half decades between 1919 and 1946 witnessed the development of an American
art that sought to capture a country in the midst of transformation. Through celebration
and crisis, artists held up a mirror to their fellow citizens, showing their lives,
their landscapes and their dreams. In the American Grain tells this story through
artworks addressing a range of themes, drawn from the rich holdings of the Binghamton
University Art Museum and Libraries, the Roberson Museum and Science Center and the
Art Bridges Collection. In particular, the exhibition acknowledges the generosity
of Gil and Deborah Williams, whose donations to the Art Museum are extensively featured
here. Together, they reveal how history shaped art during these years, and how artists
themselves responded to history in the making. This exhibition is curated by Tom McDonough,
professor of art history.
Support for this project is provided by Art Bridges.
Samuel L. Margolies, American, (1897–1974), Men of Steel, 1936, published 1941, lithograph.
Gift of Gil and Deborah Williams, 2016.4.326
Superposition: Examining Boundaries in East Asian Religious Art
Superposition: Examining Boundaries in East Asian Religious Art
Curated by Kate Langsdorf ’25
The Visual Language of Grief
The Visual Language of Grief
Curated by Molly Rudden ’25
Destabilizing "the Brain": Imagining Binghamton University
Destabilizing "the Brain": Imagining Binghamton University
Curated by Bassie Chin ’26
Selections from the Permanent Collection
Selections from the Permanent Collection
Paintings and sculpture between the 15th and 20th centuries
Johannes Adam Simon Oertel, Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, New York City,
1852–53, oil on canvas, 44 1⁄8 × 53 1⁄ 16 in. (112 × 135 cm), gift of Samuel V. Hoffman,
collection of The New York Historical (1925.6).
Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy
February 27–June 14, 2025
Opening reception: February 27, 2025, 5-7pm
The Binghamton University Art Museum presents Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy, organized by The New York Historical, on view February 27 to June 14, 2025. The exhibition
explores public monuments and their representations as points of debate over national
identity, politics, and race. Monuments offers a historical foundation for understanding recent controversies, featuring
fragments of a torn-down statue of King George III, a replica of a bulldozed monument
by Harlem Renaissance sculptor Augusta Savage, and a maquette of New York City’s first
public monument to a Black woman (Harriet Tubman), among other objects. The exhibition
reveals how monument-making and monument-breaking have long shaped American life as
public statues have been celebrated, attacked, protested, altered, and removed.
Monuments: Commemoration and Controversy is curated by Wendy Nālani E. Ikemoto, Vice President and Chief Curator at The New
York Historical. The exhibition is supported by the Terra Foundation for American
Art. Additional support is provided at Binghamton University by the Office of the
Provost, the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the Harpur College Dean’s
Office, the Binghamton Fund for Excellence, the Kaschak Institute for Social Justice
for Women and Girls, and Rebecca Moshief and Harris Tilevitz ’78.
Also opening in the Mezzanine Gallery is Existential Color: Photography from the Permanent Collection, organized by John Tagg, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Art History and Luisa Casella,
Photograph Conservator, Fellow of American Institute for Conservation. In 1976, John
Szarkowski, Director of the Department of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art,
New York, hailed the arrival of a “new generation of color photographers” who saw
color as “existential,” “as though the world itself existed in color.” This “new generation”
included William Eggleston, Stephen Shore and Joel Meyerowitz, whose work here prompts
a wider re-examination of color in Binghamton University Art Museum’s photographs
collection. Within this exhibition, which features works made between the mid 1970s
and the early 2000s, a display of historical processes dating back to the mid-nineteenth
century shows that color was an integral part of photographic expression from its
very beginnings. What viewers are asked is whether Szarkowski’s notion of a decisive
break holds up, or whether the question of color and photography has to be seen from
a much longer and broader historical perspective.
In the Museum’s Lower Galleries, three small exhibitions open: Chiura Obata: Japanese Art in America, curated by Yao Shen He ’27; History and Myth: Violence in Early Modern Prints, curated by Leah Dascoli ’26; and Japanese Design and the Arts and Crafts Movement in New York, curated by Joseph Leach, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions.
For details on upcoming programming, see our “Events” page and social media. All events are free and open to the public.
2024
Theodoros Stamos, Monolith, 1947, oil on board. Gift of Mr. Benjamin Weiss (1970.3)
Selections from the Permanent Collection: Paintings and sculpture between the 15th
and 20th centuries
September 5–December 7, 2024
Where the Third World Bleeds: Contemporary Resistance in Mexico Where the Third World
Bleeds: Contemporary Resistance in Mexico
Where the Third World Bleeds: Contemporary Resistance in Mexico
September 5–December 7, 2024 Curated by Afieni Cayetano ’26
Maternal Bonds: Motherhood in Art Through History
Maternal Bonds: Motherhood in Art Through History
September 5–December 7, 2024 Curated by Autumn Weston ’24.
Love After Abuse: Living With The Enemy by Donna Ferrato
Love After Abuse: Living With The Enemy by Donna Ferrato
September 5–December 7, 2024 Curated by Rachel Pasternack ’25.
Homelands: Contemporary Haudenosaunee Art Across New York
Homelands: Contemporary Haudenosaunee Art Across New York
September 5–December 7, 2024 Guest curated by Luanne Redeye (Seneca), Assistant Professor, Department of Art Practice,
University of California, Berkeleyonditions that enable the fruits of that legacy
to be sustained.
Generous support is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support
provided by Joshua DeMarree and the E.W. Heier Teaching and Research Greenhouses,
and the Binghamton Native American and Indigenous Studies Working Group.
Painted Exchanges: Artists and Paintmakers, 1968–76
Painted Exchanges: Artists and Paintmakers, 1968–76
February 1–May 11, 2024 Co-curated by Andrea Kastner, Department of Art and Design, and Pamela Smart, Department
of Art History. Paintmakers Leonard and Ruth Bocour, with Sam Golden, made generous
gifts to the Binghamton University Art Museum of paintings by living artists. This
exhibition is a testament to the symbiotic relationship between artists and paintmakers.
It celebrates a legacy of collaboration and artistic experimentation, and explores
the conditions that enable the fruits of that legacy to be sustained.
David Hammonds: Street Specific
David Hammonds: Street Specific
February 1–May 11, 2024 Curated by Tom McDonough, Adjunct Curator and Professor of Art History
The Intimate Photographic Style of Larry Fink
The Intimate Photographic Style of Larry Fink
February 1–May 11, 2024 Curated by Jason Anglum '24, History and Physics majors
February 1–May 11, 2024 Curated by Toby Olson ’25, Art History and Sculpture majors, German and Russian Studies
minor
Selections from the Permanent Collection: Paintings and sculpture between the 15th
and 20th centuries
Selections from the Permanent Collection: Paintings and sculpture between the 15th
and 20th centuries
February 1–May 11, 2024
2023
Ed Wilson (American, 1925–96), Cybele, 1954, Georgia marble. Purchase from the artist
(1966.180)
Ed Wilson: The Sculptor as Afro-humanist
September 7–December 9, 2023 Organized by Adjunct Curator and Professor of Art History, Tom McDonough, with the
assistance of Claire Kovacs, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions. This exhibition
is made possible through support from the Terra Foundation for American Art. Additional
support is provided by the Gary and Connie Kunis Foundation and by Rebecca Moshief
and Harris Tilevitz ’78. Ed Wilson (American, 1925–96), Cybele, 1954, Georgia marble. Purchase from the artist
(1966.180)
Richard Yarde (American, 1939–2011), The Mirror, ca. 1976, acrylic on canvas. Gift
of Leonard Bocour (1976.4)
Memory & Soul: Black Art from the Permanent Collection
September 7–December 9, 2023 Curated by Claire Kovacs, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Richard Yarde (American, 1939–2011), The Mirror, ca. 1976, acrylic on canvas. Gift
of Leonard Bocour (1976.4)
Culture and Commodity: Inquiries into the African Art Collection
Culture and Commodity: Inquiries into the African Art Collection
September 7–December 9, 2023 Curated by Ava Fehrenbach ’24, History and Philosophy, Politics, and Law majors; and
Alyssa Itzhaki ’23, History and Philosophy, Politics, and Law majors.
What is a magic realist?
What is a magic realist?
Curated by Khanh Jamie Nguyen '23, English/Creative Writing major.
Judging a Book by Its Cover
Judging a Book by Its Cover
September 7–December 9, 2023 Curated by Matthew DelGaudio ’24, Art History and Psychology major.
Highlights of the Permanent Collection: Paintings and sculpture between the 15th and
20th centuries
Highlights of the Permanent Collection: Paintings and sculpture between the 15th and
20th centuries
September 7–December 9, 2023
Roman, Bottle, 1-3 c. BCE, glass. Museum Purchase (1973.61)
Bonds…Glass Bonds
February 2–May 13, 2023 Curated by Dr. Marvin Bolt (Curator Emeritus at the Corning Museum of Glass and Research
Fellow at Technische Universität Berlin), Dr. Gökhan Ersan (Associate Professor of
Art and Design), and Dr. Pam Smart (Associate Professor, Anthropology and Art History).
Generous support provided by IBM Endicott; a Humanities Connections grant from the
National Endowment for the Humanities; and helpful assistance from the staff at the
Corning Museum of Glass. Additional support from the Material and Visual Worlds Transdisciplinary
Area of Excellence and contributors to the Binghamton Fund for the Museum. Roman, Bottle, 1-3 c. BCE, glass. Museum Purchase (1973.61)
Rhetorics of Documentary
Rhetorics of Documentary
February 2–May 13, 2023 Curated by Tom McDonough, Professor of Art History and Adjunct Curator Dorothea Lange (American, 1895–1965) Calipatria (vincinity), California. Native of
Indiana in a migratory labor contractor’s camp. “It’s root hog or die for us folks”,
February 1937, gelatin silver print. Museum purchase with funds from Mr. and Mrs.
Morton B. Harris (1988.41)
Infinite Interpretations: A Multiplicity of Truths
Infinite Interpretations: A Multiplicity of Truths
February 2–May 13, 2023 Curated by Cameron Wallace ’23, Environmental Studies major This exhibition features the work of artists: Youngho Jeong 정영호, Hyeonwoo Lee 이현우,
Doyoung Kim 김도영, Junyoung Kim 김준영, Sunyoung Park 박선영, and Han Hyeon 한현. It was made
possible with the art direction of Kyungwoo Chun of Chung-Ang University (Seoul, South
Korea), the assistance of faculty advisor Hans Gindlesberger and support from Harpur
Edge. Translations were provided by Yeojin Kim, PhD candidate in English.
Louise Nevelson (American, 1899–1988) Federation Sculpture Edition E, 1981, wood and
paint. Gift of Jackie L. Jacobs ’76 (2020.7)
Picturing the World in Early Modern Europe
Picturing the World in Early Modern Europe
February 2–May 13, 2023 Curated by Ryan Oates ’22, Art History and Linguistics major German, “Mantua,” fol. LXXXIIII from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493?, colored woodblock.
Gift of William M. Voelkle '61 in memory of Kenneth C. Lindsay (2022.19.8)
Watching the Clock
Watching the Clock
February 2–May 13, 2023 Curated by Chloe Vecchio ’24, Art History major Lucille Usack (American, 1918– 2008) Untitled (Seated Woman), 1939, watercolor on
paper. Gift of Gil and Deborah Williams (2016.4.338)
2022
Michal Heiman: Chronically Linked
Michal Heiman: Chronically Linked
September 8–Saturday, December 10, 2022 Featuring photographs, videos, and archival materials, Michal Heiman: Chronically
Linked explores the intersections of psychoanalysis, asylums, and oppression through
a number of recent projects including Michal Heiman Tests (1997-2012); Radical Link:
A New Community of Women, 1855-2021 (2013-present); and Hearing (2020).
Death in Venice: Bright Scenes with Dark Themes
Death in Venice: Bright Scenes with Dark Themes
September 8–Saturday, December 10, 2022 Curated by Eliana Ellerton ’23, History major
Beau Idéal: American Love and Life
Beau Idéal: American Love and Life
September 8–Saturday, December 10, 2022 Curated by Taylor Garris ’23, History major
Returning to Touch
Returning to Touch
September 8–Saturday, December 10, 2022 Curated by Aaron Berkowitz ’23, Art History major
Unconventional Care: The Mission of the NYS Inebriate Asylum
Unconventional Care: The Mission of the NYS Inebriate Asylum
September 8–Saturday, December 10, 2022 Curated by Claire L. Kovacs, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
Joy, Play and Resistance in the work of Miguel Luciano and Hiram Maristany
Joy, Play and Resistance in the work of Miguel Luciano and Hiram Maristany
March 24 – May 14, 2022
Big Prints: Techniques and Technologies
Big Prints: Techniques and Technologies
March 24 – May 14, 2022
Black Imagination Patterns
Black Imagination Patterns
March 24 – May 14, 2022 Curated by Kendra Gourgue '22, Intersectionality and art studies major, Africana studies
minor
The Materiality of Medieval Manuscripts
The Materiality of Medieval Manuscripts
March 24 – May 14, 2022 Organized by Marilynn R. Desmond, Distinguished Research Professor of English, General
Literature and Rhetoric; and the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CEMERS).
The manuscripts on display in this exhibition belong to the prominent bookseller,
Les Enluminures, NY.
Red and Black to White and Blue: The Transformation of the Classical Vase
Red and Black to White and Blue: The Transformation of the Classical Vase
March 24 – May 14, 2022 Curated by Joshua Cramer ’22, Art history and anthropology major
Miseries and Misfortunes: How Jacques Callot Critiqued War
Miseries and Misfortunes: How Jacques Callot Critiqued War
March 24 – May 14, 2022 Curated by Thomas Cipro ’24, history major
The World After Us: Imaging techno-aesthetic futures
The World After Us: Imaging techno-aesthetic futures
January 27 – March 10, 2022 Generous support for this exhibition provided by the IBM Corporation located in Endicott,
NY
2021
Topographies: Changing Conceptions of the American Landscape
Topographies: Changing Conceptions of the American Landscape
October 8 – March 10, 2022 Curated by Tom McDonough, Adjunct Curator and Associate Professor of Art History,
with Clarissa Agate ’22, Shannon Doherty ’21, Sofia Fahsi ’22 and Luke McNamara ’22. Generous support for this exhibition provided by Art Bridges.
“Now form a band”
“Now form a band”
A punk exhibition in 3 chords September 10 - December 11, 2021 Organized by Claire Kovacs, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions Generous support for programming provided by Art Bridges.
Dos Mundos: (Re)constructing Narratives
Dos Mundos: (Re)constructing Narratives
April 8–May 28, 2021 Curated by Juanita Lanzo and Stephanie Lindquist and organized by En Foco, a non-profit
that supports contemporary primarily U.S.-based photographers of African, Asian, Latino,
Native American, and Pacific Islander heritage. The exhibition received funding from
the National Endowment for the Arts to travel to several SUNY galleries and museums.
1960s / 1970s / NOW
1960s / 1970s / NOW
February 11–May 28, 2021 Curated by Claire L. Kovacs, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
When Corruption Met Desire
When Corruption Met Desire
February 11–May 28, 2021 Curated by Livia Zarge ’22, Art History major
February 11–May 28, 2021 Curated by Morgan Moseley ’21, Anthropology major
Women through the Lens: Strength and Resilience
Women through the Lens: Strength and Resilience
February 11–May 28, 2021 Curated by Maranda Seebarran ’22, Art History major
Nameless Reflection: Projection and the Doppelgänger
Nameless Reflection: Projection and the Doppelgänger
February 11–May 28, 2021 Curated by Michael Mongelluzzo ’21, English major
Ralph Gibson: Portfolio
Ralph Gibson: Portfolio
February 11 - April 3, 2021 Organized by John Tagg, SUNY Distinguished Professor of Art History with assistance
from Claire Kovacs, BUAM Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
2020
The New World of Sciences
The New World of Sciences
September 10 - December 12, 2020 Curated by Michele D. Pflug, BA ’17, MA ’18 in History
Send in the Clowns
Send in the Clowns
September 10 - December 12, 2020 Curated by Clementine Sherman ’22, Anthropology major
Studio Chromatography: The Science of Color as Explained by the Artist
Studio Chromatography: The Science of Color as Explained by the Artist
September 10 - December 12, 2020 Curated by Esther Wagner ’21, Integrative Neuroscience and Art and Design majors
American Purgatory: Labor and the Promise of Paradise
American Purgatory: Labor and the Promise of Paradise
September 10 - December 12, 2020 Curated by Stephen McKee ’21, Art History and Art and Design majors
Alumni Collect and Reflect
Alumni Collect and Reflect
September 10 - December 12, 2020 Organized by John Copoulos ’73 and Stacy Newman Kandel ’99
Holy Hoaxes: A Curator Collects
Holy Hoaxes: A Curator Collects
September 10 - December 12, 2020 Organized by William Voelkle ’61, Curator Emeritus, The Morgan Library and Museum
