Drawn from the Allen’s permanent collection, this exhibition spotlights pivotal moments in figuration and abstraction in the 20th century. Spanning Europe, the U.S., Peru, Mexico, and China, this presentation contextualizes canonical figures in the history of modern art alongside those often overlooked.
The dark, brooding tone in some of these works stems from experiences of war, trauma, mental illness, racism, and sexism. Yet even the most fractured, disorienting compositions are punctuated with glimpses of light and resilience. The simultaneity of hope and despair, light and dark, advances and setbacks, is as central to this selection of works as it is to the sociopolitical forces that shaped modernity.
From Cubism to Abstract Expressionism, the Harlem Renaissance, and Feminist art making, the exhibition includes works by Magdalena Abakanowicz, Richmond Barthé, Louise Bourgeois, Amedeo Modigliani, Louise Nevelson, Isamu Noguchi, José Clemente Orozco, Betty Parsons, Pablo Picasso, Horace Pippin, Miriam Schapiro, Fernando de Szyszlo, Bob Thompson, and Zao Wou-ki, among others.
Curator : Sam Adams