MPT Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Colleen Wright
August 24, 2001 Marketing Communications Account Executive
Telephone: (410) 581-4293
E-mail: colleenwright@mpt.org
MPT. This is bigger than television.

Maryland Public Television airs first broadcast series
focusing exclusively on contemporary American visual art and artists

OWINGS MILLS, MD: What makes contemporary artists tick? How does the creative process work? Meet the artists and hear them speak about their ideas, processes, experiences and inspiration in a new PBS documentary series about contemporary visual art in America and the artists who make it. Premiering Friday, September 21, from 9:00 p.m. — 11:00 p.m. on Maryland Public Television (MPT), Art:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century, consists of four one-hour programs each profiling four-to-five diverse artists who discuss their lives, their work, and their visions as they define the visual arts for a new millennium.
Both established and emerging, these artists work in a wide range of media — painting, sculpture, photography, video, public art, earthworks and more — and are filmed on location from San Francisco to Ohio to Virginia to New York. The series offers a unique glimpse into 21 artists' personal experiences, sources of inspiration and creative processes — revealed candidly in their own words.
In Chicago, Kerry James Marshall draws comic books in which ancient African sculptures battle a cyberspace elite, a struggle evoking conflict between tradition and the modern world. Off the coast of Denmark, California-born Andrea Zittel constructs an artificial island and films herself living there as part of her artful experiments in living. Calling on his Puerto Rican heritage and background as a social worker, Pepón Osorio creates sculptural installations that expose personal memory to the public eye, and in a dazzling fusion of detailed miniature painting and large-scale murals, Pakistani-born Shahzia Sikander combines contradictory religious images to subvert age-old stereotypes.
At the dawn of the 21^st century, American artists are taking self-expression and the artistic process into uncharted territory. Using an enormous variety of media and techniques, drawing on sources ranging from pop culture and politics to ethnic heritage and classical models to deeply personal life experiences, today's artists are engaging the world — and their audiences — in vital and surprising new ways.
"By showing how these artists use new and varied media and techniques to respond to new phenomena in the real world, this series illustrates the direct relevance of contemporary art to everyday life and offers new definitions of what art is today," says executive producer Susan Sollins. "At the same, the series gives viewers a rare opportunity to get to know these artists as individuals, as real people with families and friends, dreams and fears. Listening to their words and watching them at work, we get a unique insight into where they are coming from, what art means to them and why they do what they do.
The 21 artists profiled in the series were chosen by Sollins in consultation with the Art 21 Advisory Council, a group of distinguished contemporary art curators and museum directors. Painters, sculptors, photographers, video and film makers, collagists, and creative innovators whose works defy categorization, the 21 featured artists represent a striking variety of backgrounds and philosophies. Viewed individually, each offers a distinct perspective on what it means to be an artist. Taken as a whole, they and their works are testament to the astonishing richness and scope of American artistic production today.
Much in the way art exhibitions do, each of the four episodes of Art:21 group the artists under an organizing theme — Place, Spirituality, Identity, and Consumption. All four programs begin with creative video introductions produced by accomplished artists and featuring well-known hosts who are passionate and knowledgeable about contemporary art. These opening segments, each a small artistic work in itself, provide a lens through which viewers may better explore and understand the art they will see.
Place (Introduction and video art by Laurie Anderson): Program one considers the influence of place — physical, conceptual or psychological; regional national or transnational

Spirituality (Introduction by S. Epatha Merkerson in a video created by Beryl Korot): References to spirituality abound in today's art, and this program addresses the continuing examination of the spiritual in art and life as we enter the new millennium.

Identity (Introduction created by Steve Martin and William Wegman): This program examines how artists confront the questions "Who am I?" and "Who are we?" in today's pluralistic, multicultural world.

Consumption (Introduction by John McEnroe in a video created by Barbara Kruger): The final program turns its eye on the mutual influences a consumerist society and pop culture exhibit on contemporary art and vice-versa.
A companion Web site, to be launched in July at PBS Online (www.pbs.org), is designed to encourage creativity, provide a research archive of information on artists featured in Art:21, and make educational materials easily available for teachers, students and others interested in further exploration of the series content.
A series of outreach activities will extend the meaning and value of Art:21 into communities and schools. Three major outreach programs will take place around the country, including the contemporary artists featured in the series. Through residencies, courses, and workshops, these programs will encourage art-making among local citizens, prepare teachers to include contemporary art in their curricula; and promote thinking about the place of art in our culture and the many roles of artists in our society.
A 32-page educator's guide for secondary schools has been produced in conjunction with the series and is free upon request while supplies last.
A companion book, rich with illustrations, an introduction and four scholarly essays, is being published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Funding for Art:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century was provided by The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service, the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc., The National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, The Allen Foundation for the Arts, The Broad Art Foundation, The Jon and Mary Shirley Foundation, the Bagley Wright Fund, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Foundation-To-Life, Inc., and The New York Times Company Foundation.
Executive producer and curator for Art:21 Art in the Twenty-First Century is Susan Sollins. Executive producer is Susan Dowling. Director for "Place" and "Identity" is Catherine Tatge. Director for "Spirituality" and "Consumption" is Deborah Shaffer. Creative consultant is Ed Sherin.
Maryland Public Television is a not-for-profit, state-licensed public television station which serves the citizens and communities of Maryland and beyond through a variety of broadcast and nonbroadcast activities.
MPT is a national leader in the production of broadcast programming for public television. MPT's local/regional television credits include public affairs, original performance, documentary, and entertainment programs for the citizens of Maryland.

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