Connecticut’s Aldrich Museum Plans a Recurring Survey of Local Artists

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut will launch a brand new recurring survey, referred to as the Aldrich Decennial, and true to its title will happen each 10 years.

In its function as “the state’s solely establishment completely devoted to modern artwork,” per a launch, the Aldrich has determined to focus its decennial on artists dwelling and dealing in Connecticut. Moreover, chosen artists is not going to have exhibited in Connecticut beforehand, and the work on view may have been made inside the final decade.

Operating June 27, 2026, to January 10, 2027, the primary iteration of the decennial will take the title “I’m what’s round me” and is organized by chief curator Amy Smith-Stewart and publications supervisor Caitlin Monachino, who carried out over 100 studio visits as a part of their analysis.

The curators have pared that right down to a global group of 40 artists, together with some high-profile names like Dominic Chambers, Tammy Nguyen, Em Rooney, Aki Sasamoto, and Julia Wachtel. The oldest artist within the exhibition is Lucy Sallick, who was born in 1937, whereas the present’s youngest is Remy Sosa, who is sort of six many years youthful than Sallick, having been born in 1995.

The primary decennial will span everything of the Aldrich’s campus, from its 8,000 sq. toes of galleries to its not too long ago renovated three-acre grounds, which features a sculpture backyard. The exhibition, which shall be accompanied by a catalog, goals to “discover the various inventive expressions of generations of artists who’ve chosen to reside and work outdoors main artwork facilities,” per a launch.

“Whereas The Aldrich’s expansive mission highlights the work of dwelling artists from round the USA and the world, over the previous 60 years the Museum has additionally had an everlasting curiosity in artists dwelling and dealing in Connecticut,” government director Cybele Maylone stated in an announcement. “With the debut of this inaugural sequence we’re so proud to highlight the immense expertise in our small however mighty state.”

The pacing of the Aldrich Decennial is uncommon inside the artwork world. The one different main exhibition to observe this mannequin is Sculpture Initiatives Münster in Germany, which is able to maintain its sixth version in 2027. Most recurring exhibitions happen each two years (biennials) or each three years (triennials). The Carnegie Worldwide now takes place each 4 years and the Getty Basis’s PST ART not too long ago switched to a quinquennial mannequin. Documenta in Kassel, Germany, has occurred each 5 years for the reason that hole between its fifth and sixth editions within the Seventies.

“Connecticut has at all times been a website for visionary artists and daring concepts,” Smith-Stewart stated in an announcement, which famous that artists like Anni and Josef Albers, Kay Sage and Yves Tanguy, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, Jasper Johns, Barkley Hendricks, and Sol LeWitt as soon as referred to as the state house. “This survey spotlights artists who name this place house—artists whose work is deeply rooted within the Museum’s group but resonates far past it. It’s an honor to share their highly effective voices with the world by means of this new exhibition sequence.”

The total artist listing for the 2026 version follows beneath.

Faustin Adeniran (b. 1988)

Ellen Altfest (b. 1970)

Scott Carrillo Azevedo (b. 1983)

Jen Bervin (b. 1972)

Carlos Bautista Biernnay (b. 1969)

Lula Mae Blocton (b. 1947)

Gary Burnley (b. 1950)

Dominic Chambers (b. 1993)

Carl D’Alvia (b. 1965)

Chris Domenick (b. 1982)

Anindita Dutta (b. 1973)

Azza El Siddique (b. 1984)

Anoka Faruqee (b. 1972) & David Driscoll (b. 1964)

Enrique Figueredo (b. 1980)

Lizzie Gill (b. 1989)

Renee Gladman (b. 1971)

Dan Gunn (b. 1980)

Edward Henderson (b. 1951)

Huê Thi Hoffmaster (b. 1982)

Kristy Hughes (b. 1987)

Jilaine Jones (b. 1959)

Arghavan Khosravi (b. 1984)

Sonja Langford (b. 1994)

Emily Larned (b. 1977)

Jihyun Lee (b. 1979) 

Beck Lowry (b. 1980)

Danica Lundy (b. 1991)

Tammy Nguyen (b. 1984)

Grace O’Connor (b. 1974)

Em Rooney (b. 1983)

Lucy Sallick (b. 1937)

Kern Samuel (b. 1990)

Aki Sasamoto (b. 1980)

John Shen (b. 1990)

Remy Sosa (b. 1995)

Philip Taaffe (b. 1955)

Felandus Thames (b. 1974)

Amanda Russhell Wallace (b. 1986)

Julia Wachtel (b. 1956)