The Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM) announced this week its new exhibition, Relevant: Abstraction from GRAM’s Collection, curated by Exhibitions Curator at UICA, Juana Williams. Relevant will be on view in GRAM’s Level 3 permanent collection galleries through Jan. 5.
GRAM periodically invites guest curators to work with the Museum’s collection to bring new ideas and perspectives to its members and visitors.
“We’re excited to partner with UICA’s Juana Williams to present Relevant at the Grand Rapids Art Museum,” commented GRAM Chief Curator Ron Platt. “She brings a fresh perspective to curating the Museum’s collection, and the exhibition offers our visitors the opportunity to experience the artwork through a new lens.”
For Relevant, Williams has assembled eleven abstract paintings and works on paper from GRAM’s permanent collection, most created by artists half-a-century or more after abstraction’s invention in the early 20th century. During the 1950s through the 1970s, when most of the works in the exhibition were created, artists were evaluating whether abstraction could still be a relevant form of expression. Two works by African American artist Mavis Pusey are on view for the first time in Relevant. Pusey’s abstract screenprints are inspired by the energy and chaos of the strikes and demonstrations which occurred in Paris during the summer of 1968, illustrating how artists can use abstraction to reference real-world events.
“As an art curator, I’m always looking for ways to use art to collaborate, start conversations, and build relationships,” shared Juana Williams, Exhibitions Curator at UICA. “Having the opportunity to curate Relevant at GRAM and SPECTRA at UICA embodied those interactions, and our partnership encourages the West Michigan community to explore both venues while previewing a sampling of the history of and continued relevance of abstract art.”
Relevant is on view concurrently with the UICA’s exhibition SPECTRA, also curated by Williams. While Relevant focuses exclusively on two-dimensional 20th century abstraction, SPECTRA features works of contemporary abstract and non-representational art that break from traditional mediums and concepts and provide insight into alternative modes of expression.
Conceived together, Relevant and SPECTRA examine abstract art through historical and contemporary lenses. Together, they show how abstraction has remained relevant for over 100 years by both addressing its own history and legacy and by continually adapting and diversifying with the times.
