Category: Exhibits

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Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars

Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars

Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars

November 7, 2015 – March 6, 2016, Contemporary Gallery

Hassan Hajjaj: My Rock Stars presents a video installation by Moroccan-born, UK-based artist Hassan Hajjaj, along with a related series of photographs, in a salon installation designed expressly for the exhibition. The video, My Rock Stars Experimental, Volume I (2012) pays tribute to individuals who—though they may not all be famous—have inspired the artist personally. The video features nine separately filmed performances by an international group of musicians and singers whose influences include hip-hop, jazz, as well as Gnawa (traditional north African spiritual songs by descendants of enslaved west Africans). This exhibition was organized by the Newark Museum.

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American Folk Art, Lovingly Collected

Portrait of the Farley Children of Groton, Zedekiah Belknap (American, 1781–1858), about 1835, oil on canvas
Portrait of the Farley Children of Groton, Zedekiah Belknap (American, 1781–1858), about 1835, oil on canvas
Portrait of the Farley Children of Groton, Zedekiah Belknap (American, 1781–1858), about 1835, oil on canvas

Exhibition at Worcester Art Museum from July 15 – November 29, 2015

Explore the rich folk art tradition that flourished in the mid-19th-century in more than 40 works from an important private collection based in central Massachusetts, recognized as one of the best of its kind in existence. The exhibition features an array of paintings and furniture, many on display for the first time, with a particular emphasis on portraits of children, which illustrate the folk artists’ unique approach to using color and towards the figurative treatment of their subjects.

Examined in the light of the growing economic development in New England during the 1800s, American Folk Art, Lovingly Collected showcases the work of home-grown artists, who traveled from town to town to paint portraits for rural families of their loved ones. The artists represented in the exhibition showcase a distinctive folk-art practice that grew out of a popular demand for personal keepsakes, and include John Brewster, Zedekiah Belknap, Ruth Henshaw Bascom, William Matthew Prior, and Sturtevant Hamblin, among others.

For more information, visit the Worcester Art Museum.