'Art Since 1945' at the Allen Memorial Art Museum

Thursday, 10 August 2006 11:37

OBERLIN, OHIO — The Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College is pleased to announce the fall exhibition Art Since 1945 opening August 29­ and continuing through December 23. 

Drawn entirely from the Allen’s important permanent collection, this new installation in the Ellen Johnson and Stern Galleries highlights major postwar practices in contemporary art, including Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimalism and Conceptual Art as well as a wide selection of recent art in a variety of media.  Among the artists represented are Alexander Calder, Chuck Close, Eva Hesse, Agnes Martin, Claes Oldenburg, Willem de Kooning and Andy Warhol.

Abstract Expressionism is a movement in American painting that was prominent in the 1940s-50s.  The artists moved beyond European Modernism (including Cubism, Dada and Surrealism) to create art with an emphasis on the physicality of paint and the act of painting.  The paintings were seen to represent and engender an emotional, expressive state.  This is the first American movement in painting that gained an international reputation.  In 1943 in a famous letter to the “New York Times,” written by two Abstract painters, Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb asserted that painting must have subject matter, and the subject matter, which is important and worthy of painting, is tragic and timeless; they noted that “we favor the simple expression of the complex thought.”  Abstract Expresssion was seen by the artists working in it as conveying transcendental, important, expressive ideas.  Often the dynamic, creative act of putting paint to canvas was highlighted as well.  Works from the AMAM collection include:

Arshile Gorky, The Plough and the Song (1947); Willem de Kooning, Two women III (1952); Barnett Newman, Onement IV (1949); and Jackson Pollock, Untitled (1964). 

The Pop Art movement originated in the mid-1950s in the United Kingdom, moving to the US in the early 1960s.  Pop Art focuses on familiar images and objects of popular culture, including advertising, illustration, automobile and product design, packaging, press images and mass production.  AMAM works include: Jasper Johns, Target (1960); Roy Lichtenstein, Craig (1964); Claes Oldenburg, Soft Toaster (1964); Claes Oldenburg, Giant Three-Way Plug (1970) (outside on the grounds); Richard Pettibone, Lavender Disaster (1965); Robert Rauschenberg, Combine Drawing (1960); Andy Warhol, Brillo Boxes ( 1970, enlarged refabrication from 1964); Andy Warhol, Jackie (1963).

Minimalism emerged in the 1950s-60s.  Often using industrial materials, Minimalism emphasized geometric and often monochromatic shapes, flatness, and, in painting, a non-expressive use of paint (a rejection of Abstract Expressionism, for example, no brush strokes are visible).  From the AMAM collection: Alexander Calder, Yellow Among Reds (1964): Dan Flavin, Untitled (to Ellen Johnson, fondly) (1975); Robert Morris, Untitled (1969) (outside on the grounds); Richard Serra, Two Cuts (1971); Frank Stella, Agbatana III (1968).

Conceptual Art, emerging in the mid-1960s, explores the dematerialization of the art object; the importance of the intellectual process is considered more interesting than the physicality of the work.  Every stage in the development of the artwork is considered equally important (texts, maps, notes, drawings, etc.).  Artistic intent or the germinating idea is what matters, not the object itself.  Often, conceptual art may include things that cannot be sold as objects or exhibited.

Art Since 1945 will also include newer contemporary works from the collection.  Some of these are: Chuck Close, Leslie/Fingerprint (1986) – a photogravure composed of carefully-placed thumbprints; Renée Green, Sa Main Charmante (1989) – a mixed-media installation, which is a tribute to Sarah Bartmann, the African woman put on display in early 19th - century Europe; it provokes inquiry into the West’s relationship with Africa, colonialization, and the scientific classification of peoples; Elizabeth Murray, Switchback (1996) – a relief canvas with whimsical, exuberant shapes; Alison Saar, Lave Tête (2001) – a mixed-media piece of a woman washing her hair (reminiscent of the Yoruba ceremonial washing of the head) while balancing a 5-foot pile of dishes on her back; Andres Serrano, Untitled VII (Ejaculate in Trajectory) (1989) – photograph from his series dealing with bodily fluids.

Visit the Allen Memorial Art Museum at : http://www.oberlin.edu/allenart/