AKRON, OH.- Amazingly, nearly 700 works of art were added to the Akron Art Museum’s collection over the past five years despite the fact that the museum was closed from March 2004 to July 2007 for re-construction. While many of the new pieces made their Akron debut when the museum opened its new collection galleries, hundreds of other objects wait to surprise visitors over the next few years. Unveiled: Recent Acquisitions from the Museum’s Collection, on view August 30 through November 30, 2008, in the museum’s Judith Bear Isroff Gallery, brings to light 19 of those recent gifts and introduces visitors to new, inspiring and challenging works of art.

From surreal images of the figure to conceptual and landscape photographs, 1930s industrial scenes to abstract painting and pop sculpture, the selection of art in Unveiled reveals the great depth and variety of work that has recently been given to the museum. Some works were accepted because they complement the museum’s current holdings while other objects strengthen areas of the collection where holdings were sparse.

Artists represented in the exhibition include Korean born Jungjin Lee, Pavel Banka from Prague, Americans Sandy Skoglund, Susanna Coffey, Todd Watts, Robert Stivers, twin brothers Mike and Doug Starn, as well as Margaretta K. Mitchell, Ansel Adams, Claes Oldenburg, Ben Glaha, Arnold Eagle, Margaret Bourke-White, Judy Pfaff and Michael Goldberg. Retired Kent State University art professor Craig Lucas is also represented in this exhibition.

The donors of these recent gifts range from first-time patrons to long-time supporters, and from Akronites to collectors from around the country.

One such notable donor is Kathleen Monaghan, who in the mid 1980s was curator and then director of the Akron Art Museum. In 2006, Monaghan, with her husband Richard Shebairo, donated seven works of contemporary art as a tribute to the museum’s continued success and accomplishment. Three of those works are featured in this exhibition. Among them is Sandy Skoglund’s Body Limits, a color photograph of a surreal scene where an entire room and its contents are covered in bacon.

The exhibition recognizes the generosity of the donors and their dedication to building and enriching lives through modern art.

This exhibition is organized by the Akron Art Museum and made possible by a generous gift from The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.