Dayton Art Institute Presents New Exhibition Featuring the Work Distinguished Figure in Contemporary Art, Jamie Wyeth
Monday, March 17, 2025
MEDIA RELEASE: For Immediate Release
CONTACT: Erin Wood, Marketing Communications Manager
937-271-1341 (cell) | ewood@daytonart.org
High-resolution media images:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/t5twztr1tq5a00wq38v1a/AJ_JbB4wJuFb1X_TdzZ3tFY?rlkey=p w42ww6crx57tfjbiquzf9b8e&st=68awkxme&dl=0
The 2025 Special Exhibition season kicks off with an exhibition highlighting the career of renowned artist Jamie Wyeth.
(DAYTON, OHIO) – March 17, 2025 – On view through June 8, 2025, at the Dayton Art Institute (DAI), Jamie Wyeth: Unsettled will trace a persistent vein of intriguing, often disconcerting imagery over the career of renowned artist Jamie Wyeth (b. 1946). This traveling exhibition will feature more than 50 works drawn from museum and private collections nationwide that focus on the artist’s arresting, visceral imagery, revealing fascinating insight into Wyeth and the art of visual storytelling.
A distinguished figure in contemporary art, Wyeth is recognized for his fiercely independent, realistic approach to art. This exhibition follows Wyeth’s entire career and looks at a specifically darker thread within his oeuvre of troubling and unnerving imagery. “My life has been full of ghosts,” Wyeth once said in an interview, and in many of the works in this exhibition, he shares these hauntings with the viewer.
“As the title of the exhibition suggests, Unsettled offers a fresh look within the artist’s body of work in which the ominous stillness, frightening compositions, alarming shifts in scale and strange vantage points leave the viewer feeling both uneasy and engaged,” said DAI Head Curator & Curatorial Affairs Director Jerry N. Smith. “The exhibition is divided into three distinct sections: ‘Strangers and Specters;’ ‘Natural and Supernatural Worlds;’ and ‘Haunted Places and Disturbing Spaces.’ In each of these sections, Wyeth’s work reveals his power to create a cinematic, immersive experience that evokes anxiety in the viewer.”
Wyeth stands apart in a shadowy and bizarre realm of his own creation. While frequently contradicted and even hidden by the artist’s fuller body of work—particularly his well-known coastal views, farmscapes and portraits—a consistent thread of darker, more troubling imagery has been a constant in the artist’s work over the past 60 years. Across the decades of his career, he has focused on these unnerving, even frightening events, zeroed in on uncanny experiences and become a virtuoso of the unsettled. His work has evolved from his youth’s ultra-realistic visions and skillful brushwork into a mature expressionism in which a masterful use of media, color and texture amplifies his canvases.
“Jamie Wyeth, a third-generation artist - son of Andrew Wyeth and grandson of N.C. Wyeth - is distinguished in his own right as an incredibly talented contemporary painter,” said DAI Director & President Michael R. Roediger. “This exhibition follows the development of Wyeth’s skillful shorthand, focusing on his use of visceral imagery. When viewing the work, we hope guests take their time and appreciate Wyeth’s visual storytelling, as each work invites viewers to get lost in Wyeth’s fascinating and strange world.”
Several related educational programs will be offered in conjunction with the Jamie Wyeth: Unsettled exhibition. These programs are sponsored by AES Ohio Foundation. They include:
- Community Tour
Date: Select Thursdays: March 20, April 17 and May 22 from 6–7p.m. and Select Saturdays: April 5, May 3 and June 7 from 1–2PM
Cost: Members: Free, Non-members: Included with the Price of Admission - Community Workshop: Unsettled Places and Spaces
In this workshop, guests will utilize photo-transferred images to create an unsettling scene of their own. An array of additional materials will be provided to add color, experiment with mark making and create mood in this mixed media workshop.
Date: Saturday, May 10 from 2–4PM
Cost: Members: $40, Non-members: $55 - Community Workshop: Doorways of Dayton
Jamie Wyeth’s use of doors inspires guests to examine the doorways of their own lives here in Dayton whether it be past, present, future, or those we could only dream of.
Date: Saturday, May 24 from 2–4PM
Cost: Members: $40, Non-members: $55
This exhibition was organized by the Brandywine Museum of Art and was made possible by the generous support of Benefactor Sponsors Charles D. Berry Foundation and Patty & Jerry Tatar; Director Sponsor Carolyn Brethen; Promoting Sponsor Susan Ayers; Media Sponsor Discover Classical; and Ongoing Sponsors Culture Works, Montgomery County, National Endowment for the Arts and Ohio Arts Council. Additional support provided by Suzi & Jeff Mikutis and The University of Dayton, and special thanks to The Flower Shoppe and Kohler Catering. Admission to Jamie Wyeth: Unsettled is included in the museum’s general admission, which includes access to all Special and Focus Exhibitions currently on view, as well as the museum collection galleries. General admission is $15 adults; $10 seniors (60+), active military and groups (10 or more); $5 students (18+ w/ID) and youth (ages 7–17); and free for children (ages 6 & younger). Admission is free for museum members. Membership information can be found online at www.daytonartinstitute.org/membership.
Other current and upcoming Exhibitions at the museum include Captivating Clay: Making Faces: 18 Essential Kabuki Plays (on view until March 30, 2025), Kind of Funny (on view until May 4, 2025), The Need for Beauty (on view until May 18, 2025), A Taste for Pop: gifts from S. Bradley Gillaugh (on view until May 25, 2025), Contemporary Japanese Ceramics from the Horvitz Collection (on view until September 2025) and Themes in Yoshitoshi’s 100 Aspects of the Moon: Heroism & Loyalty (on view from April 12–July 13, 2025).
For more information about planning a visit, including current museum hours and updates, go to www.daytonartinstitute.org/visit or call 937-223-4ART (4278). Connect with the Dayton Art Institute on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for additional information, behind-the-scenes photos and videos, and exclusive offers.
ABOUT DAYTON ART INSTITUTE
MISSION: Through art, we create transformative and diverse experiences, strengthen community connections and inspire imagination.
VISION: Through art, we will be a community leader recognized as a welcoming, thought-provoking and collaborative place that nurtures inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility.
The Dayton Art Institute (DAI) is the Miami Valley’s premier fine art museum, offering a full range of programming in addition to exhibiting its collection. The museum is currently open Wednesdays, 11 AM–5 PM; Thursdays, 11 AM–8 PM; Fridays & Saturdays, 11 AM–5 PM; and Sundays, noon–5 PM. Go to www.daytonartinstitute.org/visit for the latest museum information and updates. Museum admission is $15 adults, $10 seniors (60+), active military and groups (10 or more), $5 students (18+ w/ID) and youth (ages 7–17), free for children (ages 6 & younger) and free for museum members. Admission includes access to all Special Exhibitions, Focus Exhibitions, The Lange Family Experiencenter and the museum’s collection galleries. Some events and programs may carry an additional charge and include museum admission as part of that price. Free parking is available at the museum, and the facility is fully accessible. The DAI’s Museum Store and Leo are open during regular museum hours, offering unique shopping, as well as drinks and tasty treats. The Museum Store also offers online shopping at www.daimuseumstore.org. For more information about the DAI, visit daytonartinstitute.org or call 937-223-4ART (4278). The Ohio Arts Council helps fund this organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans. The DAI also receives support from Culture Works and the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District.
###