This winter, Southern California is hosting several notable exhibitions ideal for art lovers and curious visitors. At the Palm Springs Art Museum through Feb. 20, 2017, Go West! Art of the American Frontier presents 90 paintings and sculptures by artists such as George Catlin, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Remington, Charles Russell and N.C. Wyeth. The exhibition traces visual interpretations of the American West from roughly 1830 to 1930 and includes objects created by members of Sioux, Cheyenne and other Native American communities. Organized by the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming, the show reveals how popular imagery of the frontier developed over a century.
Also in Palm Springs, The Architecture and Design Center hosts MetaModern through Feb. 27, 2017. The exhibition highlights contemporary responses to Modernist design across a variety of media, with works by Terence Gower, Edgar Orlaineta, James Welling, Conrad Bakker, Clarissa Tossin and Elmgreen & Dragset. The presentation explores how modernist ideas are being reinterpreted in the present day.
At the Palm Springs Art Museum in Palm Desert, Glass for the New Millennium: Masterworks from the Kaplan-Ostergaard Collection is on view through March 7, 2017. This selection of studio glass from the private collection of David Kaplan and Glenn Ostergaard showcases important technical and artistic achievements in glassmaking and offers a focused look at contemporary glass art.
Meanwhile, The Galen Gallery is presenting the first major museum exhibition by artist Pat Lasch. Through March 25, 2017, Journeys of the Heart offers a 40-year retrospective featuring Lasch’s stitched canvas panels, bronze sculptures and dresses fashioned from hand-painted lace. The exhibition highlights the artist’s long-term engagement with textile techniques and sculptural form.
Taken together, these exhibitions provide a range of perspectives on American art and design—from historical paintings and Native American objects that shaped the mythology of the West, to contemporary design and studio glass, to a career-spanning survey of a textile-based sculptor. Each show offers a chance to experience distinct media and narratives, making Southern California a rich destination for museumgoers this season.