About the Exhibition:
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder is best known for his mobiles—abstract sculptures made of independent parts that incorporate natural or mechanical movement. This installation, which includes early mobiles and wire sculptures, focuses on works created between the late 1920s and the late 1940s, prior to Calder's shift to monumental constructions and public works. These works demonstrate the humor, visual sophistication, and inventiveness of his approach to making art, which quietly revolutionized ideas about what modern sculpture could be.
Multiplex: Directions in Art, 1970 to Now
Around 1970, a period in which established values and institutions came into question generally, there was also a shift in critical thinking about art. The term "pluralism" came to describe a complicated artistic terrain with a range of widely divergent approaches. Some of these practices defined new sensibilities, while others that had long been ignored gained new relevance. Mediums like video, photography, and performance challenged the authority of painting and sculpture, and some artists took to the streets or intervened in the landscape to escape the confines of the art gallery. An earlier view of modern art, with a mainstream flowing from one "ism" to another, had given way to a broader consideration of disparate practices. This framework for understanding art is still in place today.
The installation in these galleries, made up of works from The Museum of Modern Art's collection, is intended to demonstrate the variety of coexisting attitudes and strategies in contemporary art by presenting three of what could be many distinct currents. These categories are not meant to be restrictive, since individual artists and particular artworks could be at home in other thematic groupings as well. Rather, they are meant to convey the sense of vitality and possibility in art since 1970. The first section here is devoted to formal and conceptual approaches to abstraction. The next deals with the thematic issue of mutability, in which change and memory play important roles. The final area is devoted to art that provokes, whether ironic, humorous, outrageous, or disturbing.
Just In: Recent Acquisitions from the Collection
This installation draws from acquisitions made over the past two years by the Department of Architecture and Design, many exhibited here for the first time. The selection represents the diversity found in contemporary design practice, with a focus on the latest innovations in architectural, industrial, and graphic design. Highlights include Mattias Bengtsson's Spun Chaise Lounge, woven from carbon fiber on a robotic arm developed by NASA; videos and drawings of Diller + Scofidio's ephemeral mist construction, the Blur Building; and a selection of designs from the graphic design firm 2x4.
About the Museum
Founded in 1929 as an educational institution, The Museum of Modern Art is dedicated to being the foremost museum of modern art in the world. Through the leadership of its trustees and staff, The Museum of Modern Art manifests this commitment by establishing, preserving, and documenting a permanent collection of the highest order that reflects the vitality, complexity, and unfolding patterns of modern and contemporary art; by presenting exhibitions and educational programs of unparalleled significance; by sustaining a library, archives, and conservation laboratory that are recognized as international centers of research; and by supporting scholarship and publications of preeminent intellectual merit. Central to The Museum of Modern Art's mission is the encouragement of an ever deeper understanding and enjoyment of modern and contemporary art by the diverse local, national, and international audiences that it serves.
|
