Past Exhibitions

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors

Spanning over five decades, the exhibition focuses on the evolution of the Japanese artist’s immersive, multi-relfective infinity Mirror Rooms. Free Timed Pass is required.

February 23, 2017 – May 14, 2017

Hirshhorn Museum

Bill Viola: The Moving Portrait

Video-art pioneer Bill Viola believes that cameras are the keepers of souls. From the moment he first picked up a video camera as an art student in 1970, he was captured by the technology. The exhibition Bill Viola and the Moving Portrait is the National Portrait Gallery’s first exhibition devoted to media art.

November 18, 2016 – May 7, 2017

Asian Art Museum, East Building

Kung Fu Wildstyle

This month-long exhibition and program series highlights connections between African American and East Asian art, music, and film.

April 1, 2017 – April 30, 2017

Bettina Pousttchi: World Time Clock

Over the last seven years, artist Bettina Pousttchi traveled around the globe creating World Time Clock, a serial work that consists of twenty-four photographs taken in twenty-four different time zones, in cities as far-flung as Bangkok, Auckland, Mexico City, and Tashkent

June 9, 2016 – April 23, 2017

Hirshhorn Museum

Scraps: Fashion, Textiles, and Creative Reuse

Offering creative, alternative approaches to confronting textile waste, Scraps: Fashion, Textiles, and Creative Reuse will present the work of three designers who put sustainability at the heart of the design process.

September 23, 2016 – April 23, 2017

In Memoriam: Chuck Berry

The National Portrait Gallery recognizes the life and accomplishments of rock ’n’ roll legend Chuck Berry with a collage by Red Grooms (1978), currently installed in the museum’s In Memoriam space on the first floor.

March 21, 2017 – April 9, 2017

Primordial Landscapes: Iceland Revealed

Photographer Feodor Pitcairn and poet Ari Trausti Guðmundsson reveal a land of fire, ice, hardy life, and natural beauty. Experience the remote beauty of Iceland, a land sculpted by the elements and forged by active geologic activity.

July 2, 2015 – April 3, 2017

Natural History Museum

Gene Davis: Hot Beat

Brightly colored stripes multiply in rhythmic repetitions across the surface of a painting by Gene Davis (1920-1985). Remarkably original when they first appeared in the 1960s, these paintings became the signature expression for one of the leading Color Field painters.

November 17, 2016 – April 2, 2017

Harlem Heroes: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten

This installation, presented in celebration of the opening of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, features thirty-nine images, all works from the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s permanent collection.

August 26, 2016 – April 2, 2017

Passion for the Exotic: Louis Comfort Tiffany and Lockwood de Forest

This exhibition highlights the artistic glass production of one of America's most acclaimed designers. Tiffany’s tireless experimentation with new techniques and radiant hues is given added historical dimension through the exhibition's installation in the mansion's library designed by Tiffany's former business partner, Lockwood de Forest.

March 12, 2016 – March 26, 2017

Suspended Animation

The exhibition brings together six artists who use computer animation in their work: Ed Atkins, Antoine Catala, Ian Cheng, Josh Kline, Helen Marten and Agnieszka Polska.

February 10, 2016 – March 26, 2017

Hirshhorn Museum

Everyone Plays!

An explosion of innovation and creativity has led to technological advancements in adaptive sports equipment, allowing disabled athletes to participate in a wide range of sports.

October 1, 2016 – March 26, 2017

Mending Broken Hearts: Innovation Inside the Body

Developing a successful mechanical heart valve involved years of experimentation by a small team of doctors after World War II.

September 23, 2016 – March 26, 2017

Access! Everyone! Everywhere! Elaine Ostroff and the Universal Design Movement

A pioneer of this movement was Massachusetts educator Elaine Ostroff who has advocated on behalf of people with disabilities throughout her career. Her work has improved the lives of people with disabilities and the general population as well.

December 1, 2016 – March 23, 2017

Expanding the Legacy: New Collections on African American Art

The Archives of American Art presents selections from recently acquired collections highlighting the cultural contributions and the personal stories of African Americans in the art world.

September 23, 2016 – March 21, 2017

Archives of American Art

Isamu Noguchi, Archaic/Modern

Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) was among the most innovative American sculptors of the twentieth century, creating works that were far ahead of his time. The exhibition is the first full-scale exhibition to explore how the ancient world shaped this artist’s innovative vision for the future.

November 11, 2016 – March 19, 2017

Art Pottery and Glass in America, 1880s-1920s

The Arts and Crafts movement in America took hold just as the rising middle class began to realize its potential to purchase more consumer goods. Among the manufacturers featured are the Steuben Glass Works, Phoenix Glass Company, Rookwood Pottery, Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company, Biloxi Art Pottery, Paul Revere Pottery, and Matt Morgan Art Pottery.

September 25, 2015 – March 12, 2017

Energizing the Everyday: Gifts from the George R. Kravis II Collection

From radios to furniture, the exhibition displays some of the most influential objects in the history of modernism, alongside contextual works drawn from the museum’s collection.

April 28, 2016 – March 12, 2017

Artworks by African Americans from the Collection

In celebration of the 2016 Grand Opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, SAAM will displays 184 of its most important artworks by African Americans.

September 1, 2016 – February 28, 2017

By the People: Designing a Better America

The third exhibition of Cooper Hewitt’s humanitarian design series will examine how design is challenging social and economic inequality across America.

September 30, 2016 – February 26, 2017

Inauguration 2017: Donald J. Trump

The photograph, taken in 1989 by photographer Michael O’Brien, shows Trump tossing an apple with his right hand. It was added to the collection in 2011.

January 13, 2017 – February 26, 2017