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Founded in 1912, the Newport Art Museum is one of the oldest continuously operating and most highly regarded art museums and schools of its kind in the country.
The Newport Art Museum’s collection consists of approximately 3,000 works of art in a range of media including works on paper (prints, drawings, watercolors, and photographs), paintings, sculptures, decorative arts, installation works, and textiles and is expanding to include new media. Concentrated on American art and contemporary art, the Museum’s collection includes works of art from the 18th century to present.
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By supporting the Newport Art Museum Annual Fund at any level, you help make a positive difference in the lives of many. Our exhibitions, public programs, education, and community outreach, which includes a diversity of artistic voices, would not be possible without you. Help the Newport Art Museum continue to spark reflection, inspiration, discovery and build lasting connections by making your tax-deductible contribution today. We thank you for believing in the transformative power of art and allowing us to make art accessible to all for generations to come. Help the Newport Art Museum continue to spark reflection, inspiration, discovery, and build connections by making your tax-deductible contribution TODAY!
Are you a business owner who is looking for new ways to engage and connect with local Newport customers on a year round basis? We have the perfect opportunity. Sponsor a Newport tradition - The Newport Art Museum - Make NAM part of your marketing plan in 2025. We have an array of events and exhibits to offer you. Our first exciting event is the 2025 Winter Speaker Series in its 97th Year.
For over twenty years, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew has been making photo-based works of art that deal with lesser known histories and immigration. Born in England, raised in India, and now living in the United States, Matthew draws on her personal experience and identity, and also collaborates to tell the stories of others from South Asia. These experiences and collaborations culminate in powerful and evocative works of art. Although she began her career as an accomplished still photographer, Matthew’s artistic practice has expanded to include installations and sculptures, which incorporate a unique blend of still and moving images and sound. These new works draw on archival photographs for their inspiration and re-examine historical narratives and the legacies of colonization.
This exhibition features early work by the artist, such as her dreamlike black and white film photographs from the series Memories of India and her thought-provoking self-portraits based on Edward S. Curtis’ photographs of Indigenous peoples for An Indian from India. This show also includes a selection of the artist’s compelling recent works about the traumatic aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947 and the forgotten history of Indian soldiers who fought for the British during World War II: Open Wound–Stories of Partition and The Unremembered–Indian Soldiers from the Italian Campaign of WWII. Blending photographs, video, sound, sculpture, text, and narrative for her works, Matthew creates a dynamic and immersive experience for viewers while she recovers many all-too neglected histories.
A passionate mentor to students and emerging artists, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew is a Professor of Art at the University of Rhode Island where she also served as the Director of the Center for the Humanities and the Silvia-Chandley Professor of Nonviolence and Peace Studies. She has exhibited in solo shows at the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada; Nuit Blanche (Toronto); and sepiaEYE, NYC. Selected group exhibitions include: the RISD Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; San Jose Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Victoria & Albert Museum; 2018 Kochi-Muziris Biennale; 2009 Guangzhou Photo Biennial; and Smithsonian Institution. Matthew has received many grants and fellowships including two Fulbright Fellowships, a MacColl Johnson Fellowship, and grants from the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts. She was also an artist in residence at Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony. Matthew is represented by sepiaEYE, New York City.
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, crystal experimentation for The UNREMEMBERED, 2021. Annu Palakunnathu Matthew Courtesy of the Artist & sepiaEYE, NYC.
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, An Indian from India—Warpaint, 2001. Archival digital print; left: 19th-century photo Black Bear Jr. Arapahoe" by F. A. Rinehart from the Denver Public Library, Denver, Colorado. Annu Palakunnathu Matthew Courtesy of the Artist & sepiaEYE, NYC.
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Memories of India – Woman at River, 2002. Archival digital print. Annu Palakunnathu Matthew Courtesy of the Artist & sepiaEYE, NYC.
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, The UNREMEMBERED – The Italian Campaign, 2018. Still from video installation. Annu Palakunnathu Matthew Courtesy of the Artist & sepiaEYE, NYC.
Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Re-Generation - Sneha, 2010-15. Still from photo-animation. Annu Palakunnathu Matthew Courtesy of the Artist & sepiaEYE, NYC.