ARTISTS
Curated by Teens: Death as a Constant Companion
For this exhibition, five teenagers from public high schools in the Boston area collaborated with the MFA鈥檚 Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA) to explore death and decay. The works on view convey death in various ways鈥攆rom the choice of subjects to how artists represent them. Even the material conditions of certain objects comment on the theme: some seemingly defy age through careful conservation, while others show the wear and tear of time. Although primarily featuring work from the MFA鈥檚 collection of Dutch and Flemish art, the exhibition also includes paintings, prints, and drawings from France, Germany, the United States, and elsewhere.
Over the course of the 2023鈥�24 school year, local students participating in Curatorial Study Hall, a core component of the MFA鈥檚 Teen Programs, organized this exhibition from start to finish, developing the theme, selecting the artworks, designing the gallery space, and writing the text鈥攁ll in consultation with staff from the CNA and across the MFA more broadly. In addition to providing firsthand curatorial training, this experience gives the teen curators a platform to share their unique perspectives and insights with a wide audience.
This is the fourth in a series of collaborations between the CNA and its academic partners that draws on the Museum鈥檚 deep collection of Dutch and Flemish art in new and unexpected ways, bringing fresh perspectives and diverse voices to the forefront while showcasing cross-disciplinary scholarship. Previous displays included 鈥淎 Modern Art Market,鈥� on view from November 2021 through October 2022; 鈥淢ichaelina Wautier and The Five Senses: Innovation in 17th-Century Flemish Painting,鈥� on view from November 12, 2022, through November 5, 2023; and 鈥淭hinking Small: Dutch Art to Scale,鈥� on view from November 18, 2023, through December 8, 2024.
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For this exhibition, five teenagers from public high schools in the Boston area collaborated with the MFA鈥檚 Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA) to explore death and decay. The works on view convey death in various ways鈥攆rom the choice of subjects to how artists represent them. Even the material conditions of certain objects comment on the theme: some seemingly defy age through careful conservation, while others show the wear and tear of time. Although primarily featuring work from the MFA鈥檚 collection of Dutch and Flemish art, the exhibition also includes paintings, prints, and drawings from France, Germany, the United States, and elsewhere.
Over the course of the 2023鈥�24 school year, local students participating in Curatorial Study Hall, a core component of the MFA鈥檚 Teen Programs, organized this exhibition from start to finish, developing the theme, selecting the artworks, designing the gallery space, and writing the text鈥攁ll in consultation with staff from the CNA and across the MFA more broadly. In addition to providing firsthand curatorial training, this experience gives the teen curators a platform to share their unique perspectives and insights with a wide audience.
This is the fourth in a series of collaborations between the CNA and its academic partners that draws on the Museum鈥檚 deep collection of Dutch and Flemish art in new and unexpected ways, bringing fresh perspectives and diverse voices to the forefront while showcasing cross-disciplinary scholarship. Previous displays included 鈥淎 Modern Art Market,鈥� on view from November 2021 through October 2022; 鈥淢ichaelina Wautier and The Five Senses: Innovation in 17th-Century Flemish Painting,鈥� on view from November 12, 2022, through November 5, 2023; and 鈥淭hinking Small: Dutch Art to Scale,鈥� on view from November 18, 2023, through December 8, 2024.
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