The evolution of modern art unfolds as the show also tells the story of how the artists themselves considered the art they were making. Were they reacting to the events in the world around them, like Alberto Giacometti’s heavily textured sculptures? Or were they commenting on the art-making process, like Frank Stella’s “Jill,” which, according to MAM’s Chief Curator Brady Roberts, is void of symbolism. Stella’s “Jill” is, instead, an ode to the beauty of black house paint. In exploring the cultural relationships between modern artistic movements such as abstract expressionism, surrealism, pop art and Fauvism, Modern Rebels also reveals the struggle these artists faced to constantly push the boundaries of their own practices and the form itself.
The exhibit fittingly ends with Joseph Kosuth’s “Three Color Sentence,” a neon light installation that, Roberts says, is “not a representation of a thing; it is thing.” And after taking in tens of paintings that seek to capture an idea, person or emotion, it’s cerebral cap on a show about an extremely innovative and fast-paced era.
The exhibit opens June 18 and closes September 20.
