Monster Roster

The group of postwar artists dubbed the Monster Roster established the first unique Chicago style. Spearheaded by Leon Golub and united by a shared interest in the figure during a period that is often seen as dominated by abstraction, the group created deeply psychological works that drew on classical mythology and ancient art.

Organized by the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art, this is the first major museum exhibition to examine the history and impact of the Monster Roster, which has been overlooked despite being one of the most important Midwestern contributions to the development of American art. It examines the complex aesthetics and personal styles of Golub and his compatriots, including Cosmo Campoli, June Leaf, Dominick Di Meo, Seymour Rosofsky, and Nancy Spero, among others. Monster Roster brings together approximately 60 major paintings, sculptures, and works on paper from the Smart Museum and other collections in order to provide the definitive account of the movement, from the formation of Exhibition Momentum in 1948 to the group’s dispersal in the mid 1960s.

Artists
Robert Barnes, Don Baum, Fred Berger, Cosmo Campoli, George Cohen, Dominick Di Meo, Leon Golub, Theodore Halkin, June Leaf, Arthur Lerner, Irving Petlin, Seymour Rosofsky, Franz Schulze, Nancy Spero, Evelyn Statsinger, and H. C. Westermann

Related programs
See a full list of free public programs including a panel discussion, film screenings, poetry evenings, and a curator tour.

Catalogue
The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue featuring historical photographs, a detailed chronology, and new essays by the exhibition curators and Dennis Adrian, Jon Bird, Thomas Dyja, Mark Pascale, and Arlene Shechet.

Curators
Monster Roster is curated by John Corbett and Jim Dempsey, independent curators and gallery owners; Jessica Moss, Smart Museum Curator of Contemporary Art; and Richard A. Born, Smart Museum Senior Curator.

Support
The exhibition and catalogue have been made possible in part by the Estate of Gerald and Eunice Ratner, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Smart Museum’s Pamela and R. Christopher Hoehn-Saric Exhibition Fund, the Efroymson Family Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, and The Biff Ruttenberg Foundation. Additional support is provided by Ulrich E. and Harriet H. Meyer and the Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture at the University of Chicago.