{"id":87461,"date":"2024-10-02T08:11:10","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T15:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=87461"},"modified":"2025-01-07T12:58:49","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T19:58:49","slug":"breaking-down-modern-art-byus-exhibition-offers-an-entry-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/breaking-down-modern-art-byus-exhibition-offers-an-entry-point\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Down Modern Art: BYU\u2019s Exhibition Offers an Entry Point"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Art

Installation view of Counterpoint: Selections from the MOA Collection from the 1960s and Beyond<\/em>, featuring abstract designs and sculptures. Image by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cI could do that in five minutes.\u201d<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s a common refrain, frequently and flippantly said, usually while looking at a Pollock-esque paint splatter worth an amount north of your mortgage, but, really, it\u2019s said of any kind of modern art.<\/h4>\n

Which is unfair, because \u201cmodern art\u201d can mean so many things at once that it often ends up meaning hardly anything at all.<\/h4>\n

When you say \u201cmodern art,\u201d are you referring to Pop art with its plays on recognizable commercial and cultural symbols, or to the migraine-inducing optical illusions of Op art? To the color explosion of Abstract Expressionism, the gentle seeping of Color Field, or the strict boundaries of Hard Edge? Are you referring to Dada or to\u00a0 neo-Dada? Minimalism or post-Minimalism? Comic or cosmic? Or are you referring to body art, conceptual art, installation art, video art, sound art, kinetic art, land art, new media art, activist art?<\/h4>\n

You get the idea.<\/h4>\n

Perhaps the initially dismissive approach to modern art we often take is a form of fight or flight. Modern art is so much to take in that it may feel easier to dismiss it entirely. But what a shame to miss out on such an interesting, expansive universe of art.<\/h4>\n

Maybe you\u2019re not ready to dive in, but how about a dip? If you\u2019re ready to be introduced to the packed, productive, paradoxical world of modern art, then the Brigham Young University Museum of Art has just the thing for you.<\/h4>\n
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\"Sculpture

The joint exhibitions, Off Kilter, On Point and Counterpoint, provide a stirring survey of art since the 1960s. Robert Indiana’s “Love” (1975) is at center. Image by Candace Brown.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a double exhibition hosted by BYU (Counterpoint: Selections from the MOA Collection from the 1960s and Beyond<\/em>) and Colorado State University (Off Kilter, On Point: Art of the 1960s from Colorado State University<\/em>). It\u2019s a sampling of works from well-known artists (Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp, Roy Lichtenstein) and lesser-known artists (Albert Kotin, Agathe Sorel, Lee Lozano). It\u2019s a cross-section of Abstract Expressionism, Pop art, Op art, and more. It\u2019s the modern art equivalent of Billy Joel stuffing 119 historical references into five minutes of music.<\/h4>\n

If that sounds like more of the deep end than I promised, fear not: there is a road map. Actually, it\u2019s a flow chart, right at the entryway, there to help you begin making simple distinctions among the dozen artistic movements you\u2019ll encounter. Make sure to read the disclaimer: \u201cMany artists do not fit in a neat category, and some even resist being placed in one.\u201d<\/h4>\n

If it makes you feel better, it\u2019s a tool. Use it.<\/h4>\n

But remember, modern art isn\u2019t about the category it fits in. So take it as it comes.<\/h4>\n

And you will come across treasures.<\/h4>\n
\n
\"Gallery

Works from the Counterpoint exhibit at the BYU Museum of Art, including a series of serigraphs by Betty Gold, left, portraits by Andy Warhol, center, and Dorothy Grebenak’s “Bugatti” (1964), right. Image by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

You\u2019ll find a classic example of pop art in a wool rug by Dorothy Grebenak. Grebenak\u2019s hooked rug is a painstaking recreation of the Bugatti logo, perfect down to the exact number of red dots circling the emblem\u2019s perimeter. In contrast to the chrome, metal and glass associated with the luxury car brand, Grebenak\u2019s rug is cozy, the kind of thing you\u2019d want to warm a cold, tile floor or brighten a sterile room.<\/h4>\n

You\u2019ll find a humming electromagnetic sphere by Greek artist Takis (born Panayotis Vassilakis). Like a baby\u2019s mobile, it hangs from the ceiling and moves in small circles, pulled by its magnetic base. The more you listen, the more you\u2019ll hear the music being made from invisible electromagnetic waves.<\/h4>\n

You\u2019ll find a disposable paper dress, inspired by Andy Warhol\u2019s iconic Campbell\u2019s Soup Can prints. The dress is one of many that the soup company made and distributed as part of a promotional campaign. Wrinkles and creases disrupt the regular pattern of soup can labels and remind you that this dress is meant to be lived in.<\/h4>\n

You\u2019ll find a selection of contributions to the affordable art subscription service, the S.M.S. (So Much Shit) portfolio, from more than a dozen artists. Their contributions include a print of Leonardo da Vinci smoking a cigar, a burned bow tie, and a small booklet with the wry thesis, \u201cAll men are hardly created equal.\u201d<\/h4>\n

You\u2019ll find shaped canvases, optical illusions, a tribute to the moon landing, and a ginormous charm bracelet.<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

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\"Close-up

Jann Haworth, “French Charm Bracelet” (2007) is part of Counterpoint, an exhibition featuring works from the collection of the BYU Museum of Art. Image by Shawn Rossiter<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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\"Exhibit

Works in BYU Museum of Art’s Off Kilter, On point including, from left, Robert Indiana, “American Dream 1928-1963,” Andy Warhol “The Souper Dress,” (1966), and, far right, Charles Hinman’s “Cascade” (1965). Image by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Finally, you\u2019ll find that the art scattered throughout this exhibition representing a vast array of art movements are united in exemplifying what may be the core tenets of modern art.<\/h4>\n

Art can be anything. It can be a pattern of repetitive lines and shapes creating a hypnotic visual effect in the Op art of Bridget Riley and Edna Andrade. It can be the pure, vibrant spectrum of colors on display in Herbert Bayer\u2019s “Spectral Gate and Two Chromatic Corners.” It can be a hand, dabbing a foot with a cotton swab in Roy Lichtenstein\u2019s “Foot Medication.”<\/h4>\n

Art can be anywhere. It can be in a signature scrawled across a liquor store receipt, as in Andy Warhol\u2019s “Paris Review Poster.” It can be in the letter N, painted bright red and marched in straight rows and columns across a board by Chryssa Vardea-Mavromichali. It can even be in Robert Motherwell\u2019s rough sketch of a three-sided rectangle on blue paper.<\/h4>\n

And most of all, art is for everyone. It\u2019s for Marilyn Monroe and Queen Margrethe II, and it\u2019s for Wilhelmina Ross, a transgender model and drag queen photographed by Andy Warhol in Manhattan, around the same time he appropriated images of Marilyn and the former Danish queen. It\u2019s for the patrons who commissioned the sculptures designed and sketched by Anthony Magar, and the Central American weavers who fixed Anthony Calder\u2019s swirling patterns into fibrous mats. It\u2019s for the person who drives a Bugatti, and the person who wears a paper dress.<\/h4>\n

It\u2019s for the artists who dedicate their lives to creating something meaningful, and it\u2019s for each of us who makes a rough sketch of a three-sided rectangle. Even if it only takes five minutes.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Gallery

Portraits by Andy Warhol, center and right. Image by Shawn Rossiter.<\/p><\/div>\n

Off Kilter, On Point: <\/em><\/em>Art of the 1960s from Colorado State University<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and Counterpoint: Selections from the MOA Collection<\/em> from the 1960s and Beyond<\/em>, BYU Museum of Art<\/a>, Provo, through Dec. 7.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI could do that in five minutes.\u201d It\u2019s a common refrain, frequently and flippantly said, usually while looking at a Pollock-esque paint splatter worth an amount north of your mortgage, but, really, it\u2019s said of any kind of modern art. Which is unfair, because \u201cmodern art\u201d can mean […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1724,"featured_media":87471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_piecal_is_event":false,"_piecal_start_date":"","_piecal_end_date":"","_piecal_is_allday":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exhibition_reviews","category-visual_arts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/IMG_4629-scaled-e1728228509685.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-28 17:16:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1724"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87461"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87477,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87461\/revisions\/87477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}