September 28, 2008–January 4, 2009

This exhibition presents new work by New York-based artist Sharon Louden that will visually connect the Museum’s galleries and the Sculpture Garden.

June 8 – September 7, 2008

During the immediate post-war period, the German ceramics industry experienced an explosion of form, decoration, and color on a scale unlike anything else in the 20th century. While classic forms were decorated with bold new glaze combinations, new and exaggerated forms appeared in solid colors or gentle earthtones. Post-war German potters and ceramics manufacturers absorbed it all, giving traditional products a new look. A New Twist: German Ceramics from the 1950s brings together more than 29 pieces of German ceramics drawn from a private Birmingham collection.

June 8 - September 7, 2008

The print tradition in Korea is an ancient one. Woodblock printing of Buddhist texts and images began in the 8th century, and movable metal type for printing was invented in Korea in the 13th century. A rising star in the print world, modern Seoul print master Kim Sangku (b. 1945) carries on this tradition. Sangku studied at Hong-Ik University and has shown his prints throughout Korea and Japan. His work is relatively new to the United States. This exhibition is drawn from private collections throughout the city of Birmingham and the permanent collection of the Museum.

Through Fall 2008

This exhibition brings together twelve of Charlie Lucas’s (Pink Lily, AL) large-scale sculptures in the Museum’s outdoor Sculpture Pit. Assembled from machine parts and other cast off materials, Lucas’s sculptures are remarkable for how ingeniously he fits an assortment of unwieldy parts into a cohesive whole. Each of Lucas’s works, whether taking animal, human or even alien form, comprises a series of symbolic or literal references to his own family history or to more universal social conditions. The works in the sculpture pit will be both free standing and wall bound sculptures.