Exploring new ways of abstraction based on process and experimentation
August 24–December 23, 2017
Artists: Rachel Beach, Morgan Blair, Amy Ellingson, Brittany Nelson, Alyse Rosner, Barbara Takenaga, Anne Vieux
Reception & artist talk: September 6, 6:30–9pm
Film screening: October 18, 7–8:30pm, shorts by influential women directors Maya Deren, Germaine Dulac, Joyce Wieland
Walk-through tour: November 11, 12–1pm, lead by New Orleans’ collective Painters Painting Painters
Honoring the Newcomb College legacy of focusing on women artists, the Newcomb Art Museum of Tulane University presents Unfamiliar Again: Contemporary Women Abstractionists from August 24 through December 23, 2017.
The exhibition features the work of seven artists who hail from across the United States: Rachel Beach, Morgan Blair, Amy Ellingson, Brittany Nelson, Alyse Rosner, Barbara Takenaga, and Anne Vieux. Their works defamiliarize common imagery, precluding figurative recognition and easy comprehension.
Museum director Monica Ramirez-Montagut explains, “While major institutions are increasingly looking at the history of women abstractionists, we are highlighting current contributions to the field that focus on the creative process.” Such examinations, she adds, “offer a critical counterbalance to the longstanding narrative of male artists working within the abstract tradition.”
The methods of the exhibition’s artists are nuanced, time-intensive, and often drawn from unlikely modernized sources. These include “DIY” videos on YouTube, Photoshop errors, digital distortions, smart phone apps, and manipulated or synthetic materials such as scanned iridescent paper and digitally printed faux suede.
Ramirez-Montagut continues, “By devoting themselves to process, these artists experience revelation in the deliberate progression of steps of creative expression. Yet such discovery may remain elusive—even unfamiliar—for viewers as the artists encourage inquiry rather than immediate, cohesive answers.”
