Milwaukee Art Museum will spotlight five recently acquired woodcut prints from LaToya M. Hobbs' "Carving Out Time" series, along with the original carved wood panels from which the prints were made, in a new show opening in September.
"Currents 39: LaToya M. Hobbs, Carving Out Time," opens Sept. 6 in the Bradley Family Gallery, where it will be on view through Jan. 5, 2025.
Baltimore-based Hobbs created the monumental "Carving Out Time" series – which documents a typical day balancing work and family in her life – in 2020-21 as part of a larger project, called "Salt of the Earth."
The work, says Hobbs, explores the role that Black women play as, "preservers of family, culture, and community,” a MAM announcement noted.
"Carving Out Time" is made up of five scenes that measure 8 by 12 feet each, and include a self-portrait, the morning routine, homeschooling her children, doing chores, eating dinner with family and the bedtime ritual.
The works were originally created as carved wooden panels from which Hobbs then made prints. This show will be the first time the panels and prints are shown together.
"Hobbs' Carving Out Time is a significant acquisition for the Milwaukee Art Museum as it is one of the most technically accomplished and awe-inspiring prints I have seen,” said MAM's Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, Nikki Otten.
“I look forward to sharing the series with visitors, because it contributes to the legacy of Black artists shaping art history. I hope it will present opportunities for more people to see themselves and their experiences in the museum.”
The upcoming exhibition – which is part of the ongoing Currents series of contemporary art shows, inaugurated in 1982 – will be the first time the pieces, which were acquired by MAM in December 2023, will be on view here.
"The Milwaukee Art Museum received immense support from Milwaukee-based donors and foundations to acquire 'Carving Out Time,' demonstrating both the community’s and the institution’s dedication to growing the collection to tell more diverse, representative stories,” said MAM's Director Marcelle Polednik, PhD.
The acquisition of these prints marks the third time Hobbs' work has been added to the collection.
In 2020, MAM acquired the inaugural portfolio "Continuum" (2020) by Black Women of Print, which Hobbs co-founded and three years later, the museum acquired another Black Women of Print portfolio, "Lore: What We Were Told | What We Saw | What We Tell Ourselves."
The artist will come to Milwaukee for the opening and will do an artist talk on Saturday, Sept. 7 at 1 p.m.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
