“New Frontiers: American Art Since 1945" at the AMAM

Monday, 16 October 2006 09:28

OBERLIN, OHIO — "New Frontiers: American Art Since 1945," an exhibition of modern and contemporary works by such artists as Willem de Kooning, Alexander Calder, Chuck Close, Jim Dine, Eva Hesse, Claes Oldenburg, Agnes Martin, Kiki Smith and Andy Warhol at the Allen Memorial Art Museum (AMAM) at Oberlin College continues through December 23.  Organized by Andria Derstine, the AMAM’s new Curator of Western Art, and drawn entirely from the Allen’s important permanent collection, the show highlights major postwar movements in American art, including Abstract Expressionism, Pop, Minimalism and Conceptual Art.

"This exhibition demonstrates the incredible vitality and originality in the work of American artists active since the end of World War II," says Stephanie Wiles, John G.W. Cowles Director of the AMAM.  "Thanks to the vision of Oberlin College's legendary art professor Ellen Johnson, our collection is particularly strong in this area, and we are excited to be able to show such a range of interesting works, some of them on view for the first time ever here."

Art Since 1945 follows the progression of American art-making over the past six decades.  It begins with the Abstract Expressionists, who moved beyond European Modernism (including Cubism, Dada and Surrealism) to create art emphasizing the physicality of paint and the act of painting.

The Allen's collection includes some outstanding early paintings and drawings by Abstract Expressionist artists.  Among the works on view are Arshile Gorky's luminous The Plough and the Song (1947), Willem de Kooning's poetically expressive pastel and charcoal drawing Two Women III (1952), as well as several powerful ink drawings by Franz Kline.

Pop art—which rose to prominence in America in the early 1960s and took as its subject matter familiar images from popular culture—is well-represented in the show, which includes such icons as Andy Warhol's Brillo Boxes (1970) and two soft sculptures by Claes Oldenburg, Soft Toaster (1964) and Giant Saw, Soft Version (Saw-Flag) (1966), complemented by his Giant Three-Way Plug (1970) located outdoors in the museum's front yard.  Other works on view from this period include Warhol's powerfully poignant silkscreen, Jackie (1963), Jasper Johns' graphite wash drawing Target (1960) and Roy Lichtenstein’s playfully forceful painting Craig (1964).

A natural reaction to Pop's excesses, comparatively austere Minimalist art emerged at the same time, but it emphasizes plain geometric shapes and often employs few colors.  Characteristic examples in the AMAM's collection include Alexander Calder's mobile Yellow Among Reds of 1964, which joins Dan Flavin's fluorescent tube sculpture, Untitled (to Ellen Johnson, fondly) of 1975, Robert Morris's Untitled of 1969 (outdoors on the museum's side yard), Richard Serra's hot-rolled steel sculpture Two Cuts of 1971 and Frank Stella's monumental painting Agbatana III of 1968.

Conceptual artists believe that the intellectual process of their art-making is more important than the artwork itself, and consider every stage in the development of their work (texts, maps, notes, drawings, etc.) as critical as the final result.  On view in the show are Joseph Kosuth's White and Black (Art as Idea as Idea series) (1966) and Sol LeWitt's drawing Four-Part Drawing with Three Colors in Each Part (1970).

The exhibition concludes with newer contemporary works from the AMAM's collection.  Chuck Close's Leslie/Fingerprint (1986) is a photogravure comprised of carefully placed thumbprints, while Renée Green's mixed-media installation Sa Main Charmante (1989) is a tribute to Sarah Bartmann, an African woman put on display in 19th-century Europe. Andres Serrano's photograph Untitled VII (Ejaculate in Trajectory) (1989) comes from his series dealing with bodily fluids. Elizabeth Murray's Switchback (1996) is a relief canvas with whimsical, exuberant shapes, and Alison Saar's mixed-media Lave Tête (2001) depicts a woman washing her hair while balancing a five-foot-tall stack of dishes on her back.

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