The Des Moines Art Center Shows "Black White Gray Blue" ~ Civil War Print Exhibition

Written by Charles Braugher Thursday, 15 December 2011 01:11

Des Moines, Iowa.- The Des Moines Art Center is pleased to present "Black White Gray Blue" on view until February 5th 2012. "Black White Gray Blue" features an unusual mix of historical and contemporary prints and works on paper from the Des Moines Art Center’s permanent collection. The exhibition presents works in which artists revisit the horrors of slavery in America; witness, depict, and interpret the War Between the States; and confront this nation’s ongoing legacy of racism. More than just an historical commemoration, Black White Gray Blue invites viewers to consider the ways that modern and contemporary artists Robert Colescott, Jacob Lawrence, Glenn Ligon, Dario Robleto, and Kara Walker have envisioned and interpreted the war, its causes, and its outcomes.

The exhibition compares artistic strategies represented in the exhibition, from Winslow Homer’s narrative depictions drawn on site in Union military camps, battlefields, and on the home front, to Kara Walker’s and Glen Ligon’s appropriations and works “in the style of” 19th-century popular prints and works on paper. It also examines how an artist’s choice to work in a particular printmaking medium affects the ultimate realization of the artist’s vision. The exhibition’s title, Black White Gray Blue, signifies highly-charged color words, inviting viewers to contemplate a series of polarities. Filled with symbolism and metaphoric meaning, the colors Black and White evoke ideas ranging from race relations to absolute certainties, and to the very graphic media in the exhibition—wood engraving, etching, photogravure, lithography, and silhouettes. Gray and Blue allude to the uniforms of the Confederate and Union armies, but also suggest lack of certainty, shadows, and bodily, emotional and spiritual wounds.



Recognized by international art critics as a world-class museum in the heart of the Midwest, the Des Moines Art Center has amassed an important collection with a major emphasis on contemporary art. The collection’s overriding principle is a representation of artists from the 19th century to the present, each through a seminal work. This accounts for an impressive collection that ranges from Edward Hopper’s Automat to Jasper Johns’ Tennyson, Henri Matisse’s Woman in White, Georgia O’Keeffe’s From the Lake No. 1, Francis Bacon’s Study after Velásquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X, Bill Viola’s Ascension, and Cecily Brown’s Half-Bind. The Art Center’s physical complex marries with the collection for a totally integrated experience. The collection is housed in three major buildings, each designed by a world-renowned architect - Eliel Saarinen, I. M. Pei, and Richard Meier. With the exception of special events, admission to the museum is free. In September 2009, the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park opened in Des Moines’ Western Gateway Park. Philanthropists John and Mary Pappajohn have provided funding for and donated 27 sculptures by internationally acclaimed contemporary artists to the Des Moines Art Center. The collection of sculptures by such artists as Louise Bourgeois, Deborah Butterfield, Keith Haring, Ellsworth Kelly, Willem de Kooning, Jaume Plensa, Richard Serra, Joel Shapiro, and Mark di Suvero, is the most significant donation of artwork to the Art Center in a single gift in the museum’s history. The Pappajohn Sculpture Park is a collaboration of the Pappajohns, the City of Des Moines, the Des Moines Art Center, and numerous corporate and private donors. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.desmoinesartcenter.org

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