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SLAM will present Simmons collection in summer exhibition ‘Catching the Moment’

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Enrique Chagoya, American (born Mexico), born 1953; “Illegal Alien's Guide to Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, 2010; lithograph with chine colle; sheet: 24 5/8 x 40 3/4 inches, image (variable): 23 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 487:2020; © Enrique Chagoya

ST. LOUIS, May 19, 2022—The Saint Louis Art Museum next month will open “Catching the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection,” an exhibition celebrating the 2020 acquisition of more than 800 works of art that has elevated the museum’s holdings of postwar American prints.

The exhibition presents more than 190 objects from this collection—a rich variety of prints, drawings, collages, artists’ books, photographs, a painting and editioned three-dimensional objects by a diverse group of 39 artists, predominantly active in the United States from the mid-20th century to today. Key works on view include Bruce Conner’s “BOMBHEAD,” Helen Frankenthaler’s “Savage Breeze,” Wayne Thiebaud’s “Candy Apples,” Kara Walker’s “Keys to the Coop” and H. C. Westermann’s “The Connecticut Ballroom.”

Ted L. Simmons is the former St. Louis Cardinals catcher and switch hitter, who was named to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2020. Maryanne Ellison Simmons is an artist and a printer-publisher who established her own fine-art printing press, Wildwood Press, in St. Louis in 1996. The acquisition is a partial gift and partial purchase: the married couple donated 50 percent of the value of the entire collection and the museum purchased the remaining stake.

As collectors, the Simmonses focused on art and artists of their own time, and the couple was particularly drawn to works that addressed social issues and historical moments that were important to them, including the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War and the AIDS crisis. “Catching the Moment” explores artists’ responses to these and other issues while helping visitors understand the many connections between works from artists across the Simmons collection.

Tom Huck, American, born 1971; “The Great War-Madillo (For A.D.)”, 2017; chiaroscuro woodcut; sheet: 16 1/2 x 18 1/8 inches, image: 14 3/8 inches x 16 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 717:2020; © Tom Huck

The Simmonses collected some artists in depth, and “Catching the Moment” reflects this with expanded presentations of work by artists like Kiki Smith, whose work explores the body and self as well as environmental concerns; Enrique Chagoya, who deploys a global array of visual culture in his critique of colonialism and injustice; and Tom Huck, a master of rural Missouri scoundrel epics in woodcut form.

Peter Hujar, Paul Thek and David Wojnarowicz were friends and peers of Smith, and they worked within the community of artists that coalesced before and during the AIDS crisis. H. C. Westermann’s nightmarish evocations of the Pacific chapter of World War II appear alongside Bruce Nauman’s often biting socio-political commentary and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith’s forceful foregrounding of Native American history. The exhibition also highlights the appropriation of historical and contemporary visual material found in the work of Jane Hammond, Roger Shimomura and Tony Fitzpatrick.

Catching the Moment will remain on view through Sept. 11. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and students, and $6 for children aged 6 to 12. The exhibition is free on Fridays and it is free anytime for museum members. Tickets are available in person at the museum or through MetroTix, which charges an additional fee.

The exhibition is curated by Elizabeth Wyckoff, curator of prints, drawings, and photographs; Andrea L. Ferber, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs; and Clare Kobasa, assistant curator for prints, drawings, and photographs. “Catching the Moment” is accompanied by a 172-page, hardcover catalogue that includes an interview with the Simmonses and essays by the co-curators, as well as Sophie Barbisan, the museum’s associate paper conservator.

CONTACT: Matthew Hathaway, 314.655.5493, matthew.hathaway@slam.org

Maryanne Ellison Simmons and Ted Simmons

Press images for 'Catching the Moment'

Click on any the images in this gallery to download.

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    David Wojnarowicz, American, 1954-1992; “Untitled (One Day This Kid...)”, 1990-91, 2012 edition; letterpress; 8 1/2 x 11 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 859:2020; Courtesy of the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P·P·O·W, New York

  • David Wojnarowicz, American, 1954-1992; “Untitled (Face in Dirt)”, 1991; gelatin silver print; image: 19 inches x 19 3/4 inches, sheet: 19 7/8 inches x 24 inches, framed: 25 3/4 x 26 3/8 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 858:2020; Courtesy of the Estate of David Wojnarowicz and P·P·O·W, New York

  • Kara Walker, American, born 1969; “The Keys to the Coop”, 1997; linocut; 46 1/4 x 60 1/2 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 847:2020; © Kara Walker

  • Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Enrolled Salish, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, MT, born 1940; “Cowboys and Indians, Made in America”, 1995; collagraph; image: 71 3/8 x 47 1/4 inches , sheet: 77 5/8 x 53 3/8 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 800:2020; © Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York

  • Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Enrolled Salish, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, MT, born 1940; “Celebrate 40,000 Years of American Art”, 1995; collagraph; image: 71 1/4 x 47 3/8 inches , sheet: 78 1/8 x 53 3/8 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 798:2020; © Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York

  • Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Enrolled Salish, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Nation, MT, born 1940; “Celebrate 40,000 Years (Posole Stew)”, 1995; collagraph; plate: 16 15/16 x 23 5/8 inches, sheet: 21 7/8 x 28 1/4 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 794:2020; © Jaune Quick-To-See Smith, Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York

  • Roger Shimomura, American, born 1939; “Kansas Samurai”, 2004; lithograph; image: 38 3/4 inches x 26 inches; sheet: 44 3/4 inches x 31 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 787:2020; © Roger Shimomura

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    Edward Ruscha, American, born 1937; “SHIP”, 1986; lithograph; sheet: 45 inches x 33 9/16 inches, framed: 52 1/2 x 41 5/16 inches; Saint Louis Art Museum, Gift of Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons; and funds given by the Marian Cronheim Trust for Prints and Drawings, Museum Purchase, Friends Fund, The Sidney S. and Sadie Cohen Print Purchase Fund, and the Eliza McMillan Purchase Fund 777:2020; © Ed Ruscha

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Catching the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection

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