Medieval to Metal: The Art and Evolution of the Guitar

Medieval to Metal: The Art and Evolution of the Guitar opens at the New Mexico Museum of Art on February 5, 2016 with a free public reception from 5.30 to 7.30pm. The exhibition examines the craftsmanship, design, and history of this popular musical instrument.

Medieval to Metal is a companion exhibition to two others opening the same evening at the New Mexico Museum of Art, First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare and Stage, Setting, Mood: Theatricality in the Visual Arts. Together, these three exhibitions look at the importance of the stage whether in life or imagination.

The forty instruments in Medieval to Metal span centuries, ranging from an intricately inlaid Moorish oud, a six-foot long Renaissance theorbo, to guitars displaying the modern Italian design of Eko, and one with a stunning transparent acrylic body by California’s BC Rich guitars.