Abstraction emerged in Western art a century ago, and it was the defining mode of expression for key modern movements throughout the twentieth century—from the utopian geometries of Suprematism and Constructivism to the heroic gestures of Abstract Expressionism and the perceptual phenomena of Op art. Today abstraction continues to play a vital role in art practice, not as a singular style or approach but as a rich and varied trove of formal languages and ideas upon which artists can draw, deliberately or indiscriminately. Its legacies extend beyond the boundaries of art to popular culture and design: artists may come to understand geometric abstraction via corporate logos or learn about Minimalist strategies through furniture design. For some artists, like Charline von Heyl, the draw of abstraction lies in its potential for hybridity, the ability to combine and recycle idiosyncratic elements within a series or a single work. For others, like Ryan Gander, abstraction’s ideological associations throughout the twentieth century—with revolution, progress, and the new—make it a powerful tool for critical reassessments of modernism today.
This exhibition focuses on the print medium, highlighting ways in which printmaking’s inherent processes, such as layering, transfer, and reproducibility, have been particularly fertile terrain for experimentation with abstraction. The term “generation” in the title refers not only to the artists featured in the show—many of whom emerged in the first years of the twenty-first century—but also to their methods of producing abstraction, often through digital technologies, the appropriation of existing source material, or the exploration of endless permutations of form. Earlier works by John Armleder, Sherrie Levine, and Stephen Prina—important points of influence from the late 1980s and early 1990s—punctuate the galleries. Featuring projects drawn exclusively from the Museum’s collection of prints and illustrated books, and complemented by a selection of artists’ books from the MoMA Library’s collection, this exhibition presents numerous recent acquisitions for the first time, in a focused look at the many forms abstraction takes now.
Philippe Decrauzat. D.T.A.B.T.W.H.A.H.E. 2010. One (recto and verso) from a portfolio of four screenprints, three double-sided, each 37 x 28 3/4" (94 x 73 cm). Publisher: Schweizerische Graphische Gesellschaft. Printer: Voumard & Chauvy, Bière, Switzerland. Edition: 125. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. General Print Fund. © 2013 the artist