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Selected works from the
38th Annual Fine Arts Exhibition
38th Annual Fine Arts Exhibition
Jul/Aug 2012
MANAMA
CAPITAL
OF
ARAB
CULTURE
2012
CAPITAL
OF
ARAB
CULTURE
2012
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Jul/Aug
Museum
PHANTOM LIMB: APPROACHES TO PAINTING TODAY
Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago
until 21 October
Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago
until 21 October
FIRST 50
Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago
until 19 August
until 19 August
ON THE occasion of the 45th anniversary of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago, the exhibition First 50 presents the first fifty objects to enter the MCA Collection, illuminating the people and events that shaped the museum's decision to become a collecting institution. These artworks, of which only nineteen remain in the collection, create a narrative of the process that built the museum’s identity. First 50 opened on May 12, will run through August 19, 2012, and is curated by MCA Marjorie Susman Curatorial Fellow Joanna Szupinska.
First 50 is presented chronologically, beginning in 1968 when the MCA accepted the unsolicited donation of the sculpture Six Women (1965-66) from Venezuelan artist Marisol. The next forty-nine acquisitions that followed between 1968 and 1974 include works by widely recognized artists such as Enrico Baj, Alexander Calder, and Chuck Close, along with unexpected works, such as the petrified whale bone sculpture Spirit (c1960) by the Inuit artist Nicodemus Nowyook.
As the MCA Chicago’s institutional identity and priorities were refined, so too was the body of objects housed, cared for, and displayed by the museum. In the initial years of the MCA, the museum continued to accept gifts from artists and other donors. In 1974, the Board of Trustees officially established an acquisition policy and a host of important contemporary artworks entered the collection, including a major body of work by the Chicago Imagists with paintings by Ed Paschke, Roger Brown, and Gladys Nilsson.
This particular group of paintings had previously been on display at the 12th Sao Paulo Bienal in the exhibition Made in Chicago, which was co-organized by then-MCA Director Stephen Prokopoff. As the parameters of the collection were defined by the curators and Board, certain objects had to be sold, or deaccessioned. Works that have been deaccessioned by Jacques Chemay, Henri Matisse,
Bridget Riley, and others are represented in the exhibition by related archival materials.
First 50 is presented chronologically, beginning in 1968 when the MCA accepted the unsolicited donation of the sculpture Six Women (1965-66) from Venezuelan artist Marisol. The next forty-nine acquisitions that followed between 1968 and 1974 include works by widely recognized artists such as Enrico Baj, Alexander Calder, and Chuck Close, along with unexpected works, such as the petrified whale bone sculpture Spirit (c1960) by the Inuit artist Nicodemus Nowyook.
As the MCA Chicago’s institutional identity and priorities were refined, so too was the body of objects housed, cared for, and displayed by the museum. In the initial years of the MCA, the museum continued to accept gifts from artists and other donors. In 1974, the Board of Trustees officially established an acquisition policy and a host of important contemporary artworks entered the collection, including a major body of work by the Chicago Imagists with paintings by Ed Paschke, Roger Brown, and Gladys Nilsson.
This particular group of paintings had previously been on display at the 12th Sao Paulo Bienal in the exhibition Made in Chicago, which was co-organized by then-MCA Director Stephen Prokopoff. As the parameters of the collection were defined by the curators and Board, certain objects had to be sold, or deaccessioned. Works that have been deaccessioned by Jacques Chemay, Henri Matisse,
Bridget Riley, and others are represented in the exhibition by related archival materials.
PHANTOM LIMB: Approaches to Painting Today at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago showcases the evolution of contemporary painting from its modern gestural roots to the intersection of the machine and the hand-made, which is influencing many of the boldest young painters today. Primarily based on the MCA’s own collection, and augmented with works from the Chicago community, the exhibition maps a historical skepticism about painting. This exhibition is curated by James W. Alsdorf Curator Michael Darling, opened on May 5, is on view until October 21, 2012.
Phantom Limb contributes to the dialogue among artists and critics that challenges painting’s relevance through an analysis of its rules and biases to trace the medium’s artistic evolution and present its current influential status. Artists from Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol to Christopher Wool and Wade Guyton question the role of the hand-made as an indicator of artistic genius or authenticity. This ambivalence towards the hand inspired the exhibition’s title, Phantom Limb, which brings together a wide cross-section of painterly activity by artists who are defining the terms by which we understand this tradition today. The exhibition is presented in four thematic sections: Beyond the Brush, Abstraction & Adaptation, Privileging Process, and Enter the Street.
The exhibition features works by artists intent on rethinking painting, including Rauschenberg and Warhol who pioneered collage and silk-screening in the 1960s. During the 1990s, European artists like Sigmar Polke incorporated diverse textures onto their canvases with fabric and other materials. Chicago native Christopher Wool’s strong presence in the exhibition attests to his challenging of painting’s rules. Meanwhile, a new generation of artists builds on the earlier breakthroughs by using printing techniques, staining, spraying, and other methods. Artists as diverse as Wade Guyton, Rebecca Morris, Sergej Jensen, Kerstin Brätsch, and Sterling Ruby connect and extend these ideas-the phantom limb of painting-into the present and future.
Phantom Limb contributes to the dialogue among artists and critics that challenges painting’s relevance through an analysis of its rules and biases to trace the medium’s artistic evolution and present its current influential status. Artists from Robert Rauschenberg and Andy Warhol to Christopher Wool and Wade Guyton question the role of the hand-made as an indicator of artistic genius or authenticity. This ambivalence towards the hand inspired the exhibition’s title, Phantom Limb, which brings together a wide cross-section of painterly activity by artists who are defining the terms by which we understand this tradition today. The exhibition is presented in four thematic sections: Beyond the Brush, Abstraction & Adaptation, Privileging Process, and Enter the Street.
The exhibition features works by artists intent on rethinking painting, including Rauschenberg and Warhol who pioneered collage and silk-screening in the 1960s. During the 1990s, European artists like Sigmar Polke incorporated diverse textures onto their canvases with fabric and other materials. Chicago native Christopher Wool’s strong presence in the exhibition attests to his challenging of painting’s rules. Meanwhile, a new generation of artists builds on the earlier breakthroughs by using printing techniques, staining, spraying, and other methods. Artists as diverse as Wade Guyton, Rebecca Morris, Sergej Jensen, Kerstin Brätsch, and Sterling Ruby connect and extend these ideas-the phantom limb of painting-into the present and future.
