UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.–The Palmer Museum of Art will present a new exhibition, "You Have to See This: Abstract Art from the Permanent Collection," from Sept. 1 through Dec. 6, on the University Park campus of Penn State.
In the world of digital reproduction, it is increasingly difficult to understand the ways in which many works of art require direct viewing in order to be understood. This is especially true of abstract art, in which artists rely on color, surface texture, size, and orientation -- all of which are almost impossible to capture through the humble JPEG -- rather than representational subject matter. Compiled and researched by Penn State students under the direction of Sarah K. Rich, the exhibition brings together important abstract works on paper from the permanent collection in order to showcase the myriad ways in which abstract art can, through material and formal means, pose radical questions about the nature of imagery itself.
Artists represented in the exhibition include Wassily Kandinsky, Morris Blackburn, Carlotta Corpron, Anne Ryan, Konrad Cramer, Aaron Siskind, Mark Tobey, Bridget Riley, Josef Albers, Adolph Gottlieb, Frank Stella, Donald Judd, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Gene Davis, Sol LeWitt, Helen Frankenthaler, Anni Albers, Norman Lewis, Janet Malcolm, Sam Gilliam, Ellsworth Kelly, Ruth Root and James Nares.
Sarah K. Rich, associate professor of art history, will lead a Gallery Talk titled "You Have to See This: Abstract Art from the Permanent Collection" at 12:10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, in the exhibition gallery.
Undergraduate and graduate students in art history will lead Gallery Conversations from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, in the exhibition gallery as part of artsUP, a celebration of the arts throughout the Arts District. For more details and events, visit artsup.psu.edu.
Theresa Cunningham, Karly Etz and Keri Mongelluzzo, graduate students in art history, will lead a Gallery Talk titled "You Have to See This: Abstract Art from the Permanent Collection" at 12:10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, in the exhibition gallery.
Also on view at the Palmer Museum of Art this fall are "Mining the Store II: American Drawings and Watercolors" from the Permanent Collection, Aug. 25 through Dec. 13, and "Archipenko: A Modern Legacy," Sept. 22 through Dec. 13. "Archipenko: A Modern Legacy" was organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C., in collaboration with the Archipenko Foundation.
The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State is located on Curtin Road and admission is free. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays and some holidays. Reduced hours: Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, through Sunday, Nov. 29, and noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, through Sunday, Jan. 10. Closed Thursday, Nov. 26; Friday, Nov. 27; and Thursday, Dec. 24, 2015, through Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016.
The Palmer Museum of Art receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.