ST. LOUIS, MO - The Saint Louis Art Museum announced the opening of Abstraction in American Photography, an exhibition of nine photographs from the Museum's collection by such artists as Aaron Siskind and Minor White that explores the potential for abstraction in photography. The exhibition complements the featured exhibition Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning and American Art, 1940–1976, on view in the Main Exhibition Galleries October 19, 2008–January 11, 2009.

Created between the early 1940s and the early 1960s, the images in the exhibition highlight a variety of techniques for pursuing abstraction ranging from formal exercises generated in the darkroom to spiritual explorations of the physical world. They were largely produced in association with the influential photography program at the Institute of Design, the graduate school of design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Curated by Eric Lutz, assistant curator of prints, drawings and photographs, Abstraction in American Photography will be on view in Gallery 321 through December 14, 2008.

The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the nation's leading comprehensive art museums with collections that include works of art of exceptional quality from virtually every culture and time period. Areas of notable depth include Oceanic art, pre-Columbian art, ancient Chinese bronzes and European and American art of the late 19th and 20th centuries, with particular strength in 20th-century German art. The Museum offers a full range of exhibitions and educational programming generated independently and in collaboration with local, national and international partners. Admission to the Saint Louis Art Museum is free to all every day; featured exhibition admission is free on Fridays. For more information about the Saint Louis Art Museum, call 314.721.0072 or visit www.slam.org .