by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
It all started when a Bank of America executive from New York visited the Museum of Contemporary Art Jacksonville last August. After she was given a tour, she and George Kinghorn, the director of MOCA Jacksonville, began talking about the possibility of developing an exhibit together.
Those discussions evolved into Bank of America loaning 71 pieces of art, hand picked by Kinghorn, from the bank’s corporate art collection for the exhibit titled “Contemporary Currents.” The exhibit is currently on display on the 3rd floor of MOCA Jacksonville and will be there through Aug. 26.
“This is a unique opportunity for the museum and it is the first time the Bank of America has closely collaborated with a museum,” said Kinghorn, the curator of this exhibit. “Bank of America was very generous to allow the museum to pick pieces from their extensive corporate collection.”
The exhibit features paintings, sculptures, works on paper and prints that cover major art movements from the 1950s to the 1980s, said Kinghorn. Some artists, whose works are a part of this exhibit include Andy Warhol, Sol LeWitt, James Rosenquist, Helen Frankenthaler and Jackson Pollock.
“This exhibit is allowing the public access to view some of the bank’s collection of art,” he said. “The works of art came from Bank of Americas across the nation.”
Greg Smith, Bank of America market president for Jacksonville and Northeast Florida, said the company has a great relationship with MOCA Jacksonville.
“We have had a partnership with them with the Bank of America Sunday Free Days and that relationship led to this endeavor,” said Smith. “We have always had a very strong partnership and working relationship with George and the museum.”
Smith added that Kinghorn did a great job curating the exhibit and working with the team at Bank of America.
“This is the first time we have done a partnership like this with an outside museum,” he said. “We decided to do this with MOCA Jacksonville because we have a big market presence in Jacksonville and a great relationship with MOCA Jacksonville.”
The art that Kinghorn selected fit the theme of “Contemporary Currents” and some of the pieces that were chosen have never been displayed in public before.
The exhibit opened April 28 and Smith said they got a lot of nice feedback from people in the community who were excited to see an exhibit that features a broad array of artists and media.
“It (the exhibit) is really very exciting and there are some really interesting pieces,” said Smith. “George did a nice job of picking out the pieces and he put together a really nice exhibit.”