microsoft
art collection
Past Exhibitions
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Past Exhibitions |
New Acquisitions 2002
The mission and direction of the collection has not changed with a continued emphasis on emerging and mid career artists from around the world. What is changing is the physical size of the campus and the new locations to be added. Therefore new installations of the collection are being developed and organized...
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Urban Façades
The walls, the surfaces, the shades and textures of skin that line
either side of a thousand streets in a thousand cities... The
long-established dialectic between the internal and the external,
between what is denounced as "skin deep" and what is upheld as the
core, is not productive; it's better to appreciate the outside as well
as the inside. Language and the flesh are the house of being..
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Trains Trains Trains
This exhibition of train images is a great example of art imitating life. The romance with trains and engines, steam, diesel or electric continues into the 21st century. Since its invention in the 19th century, artists have found ways to use the iron horse, as it was first described in the press, in the way of subject matter or topic in their respective paintings, watercolors and drawings and, in the case of this exhibition, prints and photographs. more
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The Woodblock Print
The art of carving into a block and pulling an impression away shares something with children's games like rubber stamps, frottage or potato-stamp carving. In fact, one of the first applications for woodblocks was a children's toy - playing cards.1 The simple process involved in the creation of the woodblock print has led many observers to believe that it is one of the original art forms. For instance the 18th century French author Jean-Michel Papillon wrote: more
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New Acquisitions 2001
Along with an array of new paintings, prints, photographs and sculpture acquired for the Microsoft Art Collection in the last year is a new wall drawing created by American artist Sol Lewitt. On view in Café 34, this 20 foot high and 50 foot long multicolor drawing is painted directly on the wall. In the same cafeteria are new works on paper by Laurie Reid and a very large scale woodblock print by Jonathan Borofsky. more ...
Shadow Play
For centuries, shadows have been cast in supporting roles playing the part of the silhouette, the eclipse, the haunted reflection, and even the evil twin. In fact the shadow was implicated in the many origin legends associated with the birth of the visual arts. Pliny the Elder, the famed historian of 1st century ancient Rome, wrote in his extensive studies, Natural History: "All agree that [the origin of the art of painting] began with tracing an outline around a man's shadow." more...
Women on Paper
Driven by the need and desire to express and record personal expressions there are no rules to be broken or movements to react against. Instead this group of female artists can be said to all share the belief in the truth of knowledge. Such knowledge is not dogmatic but individualistic. Furthermore such knowledge over the past forty years has opened the doors to a vast group of artists to look inward and explore the self, male and female artists alike. more
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Figures and Landscapes
This exhibition looks at figurative works of art and landscapes theme through the works collected from the first acquisitions in the late 80s to the present. It is a brief survey touching on only a small selection of works in the Microsoft collection. At the heart of contemporary art are two classic themes, the landscape and the figure. Both are traditions in painting and sculpture, these double traditions, identify what we are as a country and who we are as a people, but also suggest what is at the root of the artistic process by those who create the things we collect. more
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New and Recent Acquisitions
In honor of the inauguration and opening of the first Microsoft campus in
Mountain View, California we have selected a group of works as an exhibition
representing some of the areas collected and ideas expressed through
Microsoft's expansive collection of contemporary art. The installation of
some 83 artists included in this exhibition is placed throughout the public
areas of the five new buildings that comprise the Silicon Valley campus.
Included in this varied group are artists from across the U.S. as well as
Canada, Great Britain and Japan.
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Works
in Series
This exhibition brings together the works of
five artists to the new Microsoft Art Collection Gallery and an additional group
of artists and their work are represented here on-line. more
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Eccentric Forms and
Structures
This
exhibition of contemporary sculpture brings together a selection of
works culled from Microsoft's art collection. Attempting to define
movements or trends is never easy. The selections of works for this
show are meant to underscore a core direction in the collection more
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Circled, but not
Constrained
Microsoft's first outdoor
sculpture, a construction of carved cedar blocks by Ursula von Rydingsvard,
cuts a rhythmic and expressive figure
The Art of Compassion
Compassion, "the
sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to
alleviate it," is the feeling that emanates from the prolific oeuvre
of renowned American artist Jacob Lawrence.
Powers of Suggestion
A selection of evocative
contemporary works from the Microsoft Art Collection
First Impressions:
Living Traditions
Native NW artists extend the
richness of their cultural heritage
Setting the Scene
Welcome to the world of artist
Fay Jones - a world in which relationships are complex and enigmatic,
protagonists struggle for identity in surprising and mysterious settings,
color is vibrant and suggestive, and composition powerful and dramatic.
Up Close and Different
We are pleased to share with you
this selection of photographic portraits by artist Marsh Burns. Ms. Burns'
process involves establishing strong relationships with her subjects based
on mutual trust, respect and understanding, and in so doing Ms. Burns
achieves portraits of striking intimacy that reveal and celebrate her
subjects' unique characteristics.
Color
Separations
Roger Shimomura helps us
understand the Japanese American experience
Hope, Anguish, and the Berlin
Wall
The story behind Microsoft's
section of the Berlin Wall, plus a chronicle of stories and images tell of
the Wall's profound impact
Illuminating the Word
Artist Michael Spafford
visualizes the Wallace Stevens poem, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a
Blackbird
Acquisition Highlights
Spring 2001 acquisition highlights
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