FIU’s Frost Art Museum unveils new exhibitions June 8

Jeannette Stargala, ‘The Fleetingness of the Color Red,’ 2017. Courtesy of the artist

MIAMI – The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU, part of Florida International University, launches the summer of art in Miami with two original new exhibitions. “Abstraction in the United States from 1970s to the Present” examines a multigenerational group of artists who challenge painting surfaces by making cuts, carvings and indentions. “Spheres of Meaning: An Exhibition of Artists’ Books” presents more than 30 works ranging from manipulated texts to new narrative forms. It features more than 20 artworks by leading abstract artists, including Al Loving, Elizabeth Murray and Jack Whitten.

“Abstraction in the United States from the 1970s to the Present” expands on narrow definitions of American art. “For too long, the narrative of American abstraction has been limited in scope. This show reassesses what it means to be an abstract artist living and working in the United States,” said Dr. Jordana Pomeroy, the director of the Frost Art Museum FIU.

During the 20th century, many American abstract artists challenged traditional methods of art-making, using a palette knife instead of a paintbrush, soaking their canvases in diluted paint, and other ways of “cutting” that transformed their two-dimensional abstract paintings into three-dimensional works.  For some of these artists, their “cuts” were seen as incisively political. For others, the new ways they pierced their canvases or cut the paint itself were investigations into the very materials they used.

The American abstract icon Jack Whitten once stated: “I cut paint, I laminate paint, I grind paint, I freeze paint, I boil paint.”  The exhibition also explores the important role that abstraction played in positioning American art onto the international arena, expanding traditional perceptions of American art since the mid-20th century and how the work of these artists changed those perceptions. By presenting different generations of artists alongside each other, CUT demonstrates how these abstract artists executed a striking array of methods to manipulate their work, through the 1970s, the ’80s, ’90s and today.

Also opening on June 8, Spheres of Meaning: An Exhibition of Artists’ Books celebrates artists’ books by creatives who are either living in Miami or have called Miami home, including Purvis Young, Margarita Cano, Lydia Rubio, Diego Gutierrez, Carlos Macia, Jeannette Stargala, and Rosemarie Chiarlone.

The opening reception for both shows is on Saturday, June 8 from 4 to 7 p.m. The new exhibitions are curated by Dr. Amy Galpin, chief Curator. Saturday at 3p.m., Galpin will lead a conversation with Miami-based artists Loriel Beltran and Carol Todaro.

Both exhibitions remain on view through August 25.

Click to visit the Frost Art Museum online.

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