Amarillo Museum of Art goes for the gold in its newest exhibition.
No, it’s not a timely Olympics show. Cultural Currency: Contemporary Art from the Reimer Collection instead focuses on cold, hard cash. And bars. And coins.
“There’s a wide variety of artworks including sculpture, photography, painting, printmaking and collage,” said Alex Gregory, AMoA curator of art. “Each of the artworks is made of money or has to do with money in one way or another.”
Forty artists will be represented by more than 75 works in the exhibition, which will be on view Sunday through March 22 at the museum, 2200 S. Van Buren St.
“The resulting works address various issues, including race, capitalism, politics, national and cultural identities, and much more,” Gregory writes in his curatorial statement, which he shared with me before the show’s opening Sunday. “However, it is the psychological toll brought on by monetary rule that is shared by all artists in the show—from humor to desire to desperation—the emotional impact is palpable as money seems to be an abstract, illusive object for many.”
Each work comes from the extensive collection of California-based investment advisers Davis Riemer and Louise Rothman-Riemer, who’ll be celebrated Saturday at AMoA’s Achievement in Art: Emerald City Gala.
“Universally relevant, visually stunning, and at times critical, Cultural Currency asks us to consider how the definition of currency can be reshaped into a multifaceted object steeped in meaning and intrigue,” Gregory writes.
Also going on view Sunday is a collection of works by Amarillo native Ken Little, who retired in 2020 as a sculpture professor at the University of Texas–San Antonio.
Little and a Cultural Currency artist will be featured at a special event in February. Little’s work will be on view through April 19.
For information, call 806-371-5050.
This week’s other can’t-miss options:
Discover for a Dollar: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday; Don Harrington Discovery Center, 1200 Streit Drive; admission $1; 806-355-9547
Candlelight Concerts: Rock Favorites on Strings: 6:30 p.m. Friday; Amarillo Little Theatre Allen Shankles Mainstage, 2019 Civic Circle; tickets $30.50 to $42.50; 402-249-2445
Candlelight Concerts: Queen vs. ABBA: 8:30 p.m. Friday; Amarillo Little Theatre Allen Shankles Mainstage, 2019 Civic Circle; tickets $30.50 to $42.50; 402-249-2445
The Chancy Bernson Band: 9 p.m. Friday; Western Horseman Club, 2501 E. Interstate 40; 806-379-6555, Ext. 2999
Discover for a Dollar: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday; Wildcat Bluff Nature Center, 2301 N. Soncy Road; admission $1; 806-352-6007
Amarillo Card Show: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday; Amarillo Civic Center Complex Regency Room, 401 S. Buchanan St.; topnotch-cardshows.com
Plemons Bridge with Danny Freeze: 8 p.m. Saturday; Old Tascosa Taproom and Brewery, 3100 S.W. Sixth Ave.; 806-681-4050
Lee Scheetz & Borderline: 9 p.m. Saturday; Whiskey River, 4001 S.W. 51st Ave.; cover $7; 806-367-6163
The Roman Carbajal Band: 9 p.m. Saturday; Western Horseman Club, 2501 E. Interstate 40; 806-379-6555, Ext. 2999
Ghosts of Gray County: 10 p.m. Saturday; The Blind Pig, 609 S. Independence St.; 806-412-4251
Bert Kreischer: 7 p.m. Sunday; Amarillo Civic Center Complex Auditorium, 401 S. Buchanan St.; tickets $71 to $147, plus service fees; 806-378-3096
Movie options:
Opening Thursday: Sci-fi thriller Mercy and horror sequel Return to Silent Hill (Cinemark Hollywood 16, 9100 Canyon Drive, and Cinergy, 9201 Cinergy Square)
Special engagements: Madagascar 20th anniversary screenings (through Thursday, Cinemark Hollywood 16); The Lord of the Rings extended edition trilogy (through Jan. 29, Cinemark Hollywood 16); Hard Boiled (Sunday through Jan. 28, Cinemark Hollywood 16)
