Tuesday 22 November 2016

London Calling | Royal Academy of Arts presents Abstract Expressionism



Tuesday, November 22, 2016 - An exhibition organized by the Royal Academy of Arts, London with the collaboration of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, reveals the full breadth of a movement that will forever be associated with the boundless creative energy of 1950s New York. In the “age of anxiety” surrounding the Second World War and the years of free jazz and Beat poetry, artists like Pollock, Rothko and de Kooning broke from accepted conventions to unleash a new confidence in painting. Often monumental in scale, their works are at times intense, spontaneous and deeply expressive. At others they are more contemplative, presenting large fields of colour that border on the sublime. These radical creations redefined the nature of painting, and were intended not simply to be admired from a distance but as two-way encounters between artist and viewer. It was a watershed moment in the evolution of 20th-century art, yet, remarkably, there has been no major survey of the movement since 1959. This autumn we bring together some of the most celebrated art of the past century, offering the chance to experience the powerful collective impact of Pollock, Rothko, Still, de Kooning, Newman, Kline, Smith, Guston and Gorky as their works dominate our galleries with their scale and vitality. We also acknowledge the lesser-known figures who contributed to the development of the movement. Finally, we include photography and sculpture to complete an ambitious re-evaluation of the phenomenon that saw New York take over from Paris as the capital of the art world. The exhibition is curated by the independent art historian Dr David Anfam, alongside Edith Devaney, Contemporary Curator at the Royal Academy of Arts. Dr Anfam is the preeminent authority on Abstract Expressionism, the author of the catalogue raisonné of Mark Rothko’s paintings and Senior Consulting Curator at the Clyfford Still Museum, Denver.

Abstract Expressionism was born from the common experience of artists living in 1940s New York. Two World Wars, the Great Depression, atomic devastation and an ensuing Cold War prompted early works reflecting the darkness of these times, and fed into the movement’s concerns with contemplation, expression and freedom. In his catalog essay Anfam reminds us that these artists did not work in isolation. They were part of a generation whose art must be understood within its historical context. The majority of these fellows grew up poor, lived through the Great Depression, the Spanish Civil War, World War II, the concentration camps, the Atomic Bomb, and the start of the cold war. Only rarely did painters or sculptors associated with Abstract Expressionism respond directly to current events; however, they conveyed  ideas and notions inexpressible in words through a universal language of abstraction. Abstract Expressionist art invites artist and viewer to meet. While the artist expresses their emotions and conveys a sense of their presence in the work, the viewer’s perception is the final component in the mix. Abstract painting “confronts you”, Pollock said in 1950. As the Rothko Chapel in Houston exemplifies, the intensity of this encounter can be heightened by the way the work is displayed.

Up till January 2,  2017
Saturday – Thursday 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
Main Galleries, Burlington House
£17 (£19 with donation). Concessions available. Friends of the RA and under 16s go free. Tickets include a multimedia guide and both Friends of the RA and their family guest will receive one for free.

In addition, the exhibition will be shown at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao from February 2 to June 4, 2017.

Browse by keyword / Βρείτε αυτό που ψάχνετε

Activism Amfissa An Athenian Outsider Andros Animation & Comics Antiparos Art Fairs Art Therapy ArtMarket Athens Auctions Audio/Video Australia Awards Books&Manuscripts Call for entries & Competitions Ciné qua non Cinema Collage Collectives Columnists: www treasures Commentary & Documentation Conferences CulturalContent/Tourism Cyprus DESIGN Digital Art DJs Documentary EDITO ElefsisCultureCapital ENGLISH Fashion Festivals & Biennales Florina Fundraising Gastronomy Halkida Iconography Ioannina Jewllery Lesvos LGBTQI+ Lifestyle London Calling Loutraki Multimedia & Installations Art Museums Myconos Naxos News Opera Party Performance Printmaking Projects Restoration/Συντήρηση Rethymnon Retrospective Sculpture & Ceramics Shqipëri Sikinos StreetArt Symposiums Syros Tattoo Teri Paschos textileArt Thessaloniki US Venue Virtual Watercolor whoISwho Workshops & Masterclasses Αγρίνιο Αίγινα Αίγιο Αλεξανδρούπολη ΑΝΑΦΗ ΑνδριανήΤζίμα Άνδρος ΑΝΤΙΚΑ Αντίπαρος Απόψεις ΑΠΟΨΗ Άργος Αρχαιολογία Αρχιτεκτονική Βέροια Βόλος Γειτονιές Δελφοί ΔΗΜΗΤΡΙΑ Δημοπρασίες Διαλέξεις/ΔημόσιεςΣυζητήσεις Δίον-Λιτόχωρο Δράμα Έβρος Εγκαίνια Έδεσσα Ειδικά Θέματα ΕικαστικέςΔράσεις Εκδηλώσεις Εκθέσεις Εκπαίδευση ΕΛΕΥΣΙΝΑ Επίδαυρος Έρευνα Ζάκυνθος Ζωγραφική Ηράκλειο Θέατρο Θρησκεία Ιδρύματα Ιεράπετρα Ιστορία Ιστορίες για γάτες ΙΩΑΝΝΙΝΑ Καβάλα Καλαμαριά Καλαμάτα Καλλιγραφία Καστελλόριζο Καστοριά Κέρκυρα ΚΕΦΑΛΟΝΙΑ Κίμωλος Κοζάνη ΚΟΡΟΝΟΪΟΣ Κρήτη Κως Λάρισα Λέσβος Λευκάδα Λήμνος Λόγος Λύκειον Ελληνίδων Μεσολόγγι Μουσική Ναύπακτος Ναύπλιο Νεκρολογία ΞΑΝΘΗ Ξεναγήσεις Ολυμπία Ορεστειάδα Παιδαγωγικά Παιδιά Πάρος Παρουσιάσεις Πάτμος Πάτρα ΠεριΟινουΣκιας Πόρος Πρόσωπα Προσωπικότητες Ρόδος Σάμος Σαντορίνη Σκηνογραφία Σκιάθος Σπέτσες Στήλη Άλατος Στυλ & Εποχές Συλλογές Συναυλίες Συνέντευξη ΤΑΥΤΟΤΗΤΑ Τέχνες Τέχνη Τεχνολογία Τζια ΤΗΝΟΣ Τρίκαλα Τρίπολη ΥΔΡΑ Υποτροφίες Φλώρινα ΦΟΛΕΓΑΝΔΡΟΣ Φωτογραφία Χαλκίδα Χανιά Χειροτεχνίες Χίος Χορηγίες Χορός Ψηφιδωτό Ψυχολογία Ψυχολογία στην καθημερινότητα