The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, at the University of California, Davis, opens three dynamic new exhibitions on Thursday, Jan. 27, that explore multiple visions of resistance and protest through video, and showcase early works by renowned artists William T. Wiley and Mary Heilmann.

The previously announced season opening of Jan. 8 was delayed due to a remote start to the academic quarter. 

Late January modification to announcement: In recognition of ongoing health and safety concerns related to COVID-19 that continue to affect events and travel, the On the Slant — A Mini-Symposium scheduled for March 4 has been canceled. Please check manettishrem.org for updates on other programs related to "William T. Wiley and the Slant Step: All on the Line." The previously announced Winter Season Celebration scheduled for Jan. 30 has also been canceled.

• “From Moment to Movement: Picturing Protest in the Kramlich Collection” — A large-scale exhibition of six video and film installations from an international, intergenerational group of artists — Shiva Ahmadi, Dara Birnbaum, Kota Ezawa, Theaster Gates, Nalini Malani and Mikhael Subotzky — explores protests from different angles: resistance, the role of media in shaping our understanding of events, and the power and politics of viewing. (Jan. 27-June 19)
• “Mary Heilmann: Squaring Davis” — Decades before she would become a preeminent contemporary abstract painter, Heilmann started studying with William T. Wiley at UC Davis and found a place whose unique life-as-art ethos meshed with her spirit and inspired her to keep creating art despite her doubts. This exhibition reunites Heilmann’s Northern California oeuvre of rarely seen ceramics from the mid-1960s, sculptures and a group of “Davis Square” paintings created in 1977. (Jan. 27-May 8)
• “William T. Wiley and the Slant Step: All on the Line” — Featuring William T. Wiley’s formative early works (1962-69), this exhibition also reunites various works inspired by the odd, iconic Slant Step art object, which jump-started conceptual art in Northern California, and debuts a brand-new digital Slant Step work by Wiley’s grad student, Bruce Nauman. (Jan. 27-May 8)

Ticketing

The museum is open Thursday-Monday with free, timed tickets, which can be reserved at manettishrem.org. All visitors must wear face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status and show the result of their Daily Symptom Survey before entering the building. For up-to-date information, see the Visitor Toolkit on the museum website.

Visitor information

• Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
• 254 Old Davis Road, Davis 95616
• manettishrem.org

Hours

• Monday, Thursday and Friday — 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday — 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Admission is free for all.