Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is featuring “Donald Sultan: The Disaster Paintings,” an exhibition organized by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas.
The exhibition, which features a series of large-scale, industrial landscapes, is on display at Sheldon through May 13. Sheldon is the final stop in the exhibition’s national tour.
The “Disaster Paintings” exhibition depicts robust man-made structures, such as industrial plants and train cars, which exhibit a level of fragility in their susceptibility to be unhinged by catastrophic events. Combining such subject matter with industrial materials, such as tar and Masonite tiles, the works explore the vulnerability of the most progressive manufactured elements of modern culture.
Donald Sultan and his sister Terrie Sultan, director of the Parrish Museum in Water Mill, N.Y., will discuss the “Disaster Paintings” at Sheldon at 6 p.m. March 8. The event is free and open to the public.
A disaster film series is being held in conjunction with the exhibition. The series, which is free and open to the public, includes: “Poseidon Adventure” on Feb. 15; “Twister” on March 1; and “Contagion” on April 12. Each screening begins at 6 p.m.
The “Disaster Paintings” are in many prominent public collections, including the Broad Museum, Los Angeles; Cincinnati Art Museum; Cleveland Museum of Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh; and Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, New York.
Donald Sultan was born in 1951 in Asheville, North Carolina, and lives and works in New York. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1973 and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1975. Sultan has exhibited extensively, both nationally and internationally.
Other current exhibitions at the Sheldon include:
“Original Behavior” — A small group of large works by artists who share an affinity for depicting the figure in a cartoonish, comic style. Featured painters include Peter Saul, Robert Colescott and Carroll Dunham.
“Sheldon Treasures” — An ongoing, rotating gallery installation that highlights some of the museum’s most important and best-known artworks.
“Re-seeing the Permanent Collection” — Sheldon’s permanent collection galleries which explore unique ideas and installations to give visitors the chance to see and experience artworks in new ways.
Learn more about Sheldon, including exhibition details and hours of operation.
