Fall 2022 & Spring 2023
Yun-Fei Ji (Chinese, b. 1963)
The Three Gorges Dam Migration, 2009
Hand-printed watercolor woodblock mounted on paper and silk
Purchase, William G. Roehrick ’34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund
Dialogues Across Disciplines celebrates the ten year anniversary of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art. Featuring a selection of artworks acquired through gifts and purchases over the last decade, the exhibition highlights the museum’s ongoing commitment to building a globally representative collection that is reflective of the academic and cultural richness of Hamilton College.
Nicola López (American, b. 1975)
Tattered Sunset, from the series “Sunsets and Blue Skies,” 2018
Sugarlift with inkjet print, chine collé, and laser engraving, 20 1⁄2 × 17 7⁄8 in. (52.1 × 45.4 cm)
Purchase, The Edward W. Root Class of 1905 Memorial Art Purchase Fund (2019.7.2)
Featuring over 7,000 works of art and artifacts—2,000 of which have been acquired since the Wellin was established in 2012—the Wellin’s collection represents a broad range of cultures, historical periods, artistic practices and movements. As a teaching museum, the Wellin has worked to activate its holdings to engage the curiosity of students, faculty, staff, and the community, and advance interdisciplinary learning by introducing new ideas and perspectives to classroom conversations.
Priya Kambli (Indian, b. 1975)
Me (Flour), 2009
Archival inkjet print, 11 × 14 in (27.9 × 35.6 cm)
Purchase, The Wynant J. Williams ’35 Art Collection Fund (2020.8.28)
The works included in this exhibition mirror Hamilton’s liberal arts mission more broadly by highlighting a plurality of voices and viewpoints using art as a means of addressing subjects relevant to a range of disciplines from the humanities to the sciences. To foreground this, members of the Hamilton community have been invited to lend their personal and expert perspectives by writing texts to accompany the artworks on display.
“In Romero’s Naomi, the figure wears her traditional dance regalia and smokey-eye makeup, signifying that she is not set in the past or should be depicted as unchanging with time. The hot pink of the box and the black-and-white triangular border simultaneously put Naomi in a doll-box aesthetic, set her in “contemporary” times, and act as important signifiers to the Northern Chumash tribe and to Naomi as a woman. According to Romero in a 2019 interview with ESMoA—a self-described “art laboratory” located in El Segundo, California—the color combination of hot pink, black, and white have a “California vibe,” which is appropriate for the Northern Chumash tribe of San Luis Obispo County in California, while the triangular border pattern is a reference to the importance of pinecones to this group.”
label excerpt written by
—Jane Jeong, Class of 2025
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi, b. 1977)
Naomi, 2018
Archival pigment print, 50 5⁄8 × 43 15/16 in. (128.6 × 111.6 cm)
Purchase, William G. Roehrick ’34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund (2021.7.2)
This collaboration both deepens our understanding of individual works, but also underscores how the active participation of faculty, students, staff, and administrators enrich the collection and bring the artworks to life.
Cara Romero (Chemehuevi, b. 1977)
Julia, 2018
Archival pigment print, 50 × 40 in. (127 × 101.6 cm)
Purchase, William G. Roehrick ’34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund (2021.7.1)
To spark responses to the themes in the exhibition, educational prompts are situated throughout the gallery interspersed between artworks highlighting the interrelationship between the curatorial and education aspects of the museum.
Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers) (American, b. 1976)
They Already Got Yo Kids (“Tricked my wisdom with the system that imprisoned my son”), 2013
Acrylic, ink, coffee, and tea on paper, 43 1/2 × 30 1/2 in. (110.5 × 77.5 cm)
Purchase, William G. Roehrick ’34 Art Acquisition and Preservation Fund (2013.2)
Artists featured in the exhibition include Berenice Abbott, Firelei Báez, Romare Bearden, Ilse Bing, Rhona Bitner, Akea Brionne, Charles Burchfield, René Burri, Margarita Cabrera, Sang-ah Choi, Mark Citret, Larry Colwell, Gerald Cyrus, Yvan Dalain, W.E. Dassonville, Edwin Dickinson, Francesca DiMattio, Mike Disfarmer, David Driskell, Judith Eisler, Liat Elbling, Chris Enos, Spencer Finch, Bisson Frères, Jason Fulford, Jeffrey Gibson, Burt Glinn, Marion Greenwood, Karen Hampton, Donté K. Hayes, Ken Haymen, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Candida Höfer, Katushika Hokusai, Henry Horenstein, Walter Iooss, Julia Jacquette, Yun-Fei Ji, Priya Kambli, Clarence Kennedy, Yashua Klos, Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Jacob Lawrence, Deanna Lawson, Nate Lewis, Sharon Lockhart, Nicola López, Louis Lozowick, Roberto Lugo, Danny Lyon, Édourd Manet, Julian Martinez, Maria Poveka Martinez, Christine Nofchissey McHorse, Joel Meyerowitz, Jean-François Millet, Inge Morath, Wright Morris, Ray Mortenson, Eamon Ore-Giron, Bill Owens, Elizabeth Peak, Margaret Rhodes Peattie, Beverly Pepper, Howardena Pindell, Al H. Qöyawayma, Michael Rakowitz, Umar Rashid (Frohawk Two Feathers), Wendy Red Star, Marc Riboud, Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Cara Romero, Arthur Rothstein, Casey Ruble, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Allison Saar, Ibrahim Said, Collier Schorr, Charles T. Scowen, Jamel Shabazz, Yinka Shonibare MBE, RA, Alyson Shotz, Elias Sime, Laurie Simmons, Dayanita Singh, Erika Stone, Jason Stopa, Lou Stoumen, Renée Stout, Judith Taylor, Toyen, Giuseppe Vasi, Barbara Walker MBE, Sidney Waugh, Dyani White Hawk, Dorothy Wilding, and Letha Wilson.
