The Kimbell Art Museum is opening a rare exhibit of African Art. The collection comes from museums and private collectors. Some of the pieces have never been seen on public display.
"It's not very often that you have an African exhibition of this scale," Kimbell Art Museum Curator of African, Asian, and Ancient American Art Jennifer Casler Price said.
The exhibit includes more than 200 works of art. It spans two galleries and 12,000 square feet, representing nearly 60 African cultures.
"We think of art for art's sake, which is the piece that you have on a pedestal in the middle of a gallery or hangs over your couch in your home," Price said. "This is art for life's sake. So this art that you see; every piece has a function in daily life."
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From masks to headdresses, to sculptures and vessels; everything on display serves a purpose. Price said to be useful, everything must be beautiful.
"But beauty in the eyes of the people that made them," Price explained. "It may be different from our perception of beauty."
Price pointed out artists like Picasso were influenced by some African art.
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While the exhibit spotlights beauty in all its forms, it also shows a flip side.
"Which is intentional ugliness," Price said. "Which also serves a purpose."
Masks and statues with menacing appearances fill some of the gallery space.
"The surfaces are rough and scaly," Price said. "To kind of put the fear into you to be a good person."
The exhibit is coordinated by the Art Institute of Chicago but will debut in Fort Worth at the Kimbell Art Museum.
"I hope it teaches them that every culture has a different ideal of beauty," Price said. "And that it's just as relevant."
'The Language of Beauty in African Art' opens Sunday, April 3 and runs through July 31.
