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Collection 1980s–Present

203

Art as a Verb

May 8, 2021–Jun 1, 2023

MoMA

Howardena Pindell. Memory: Past. 1980–81. Acrylic, dye, paper, thread, tempera, photographic transfer, glitter, and powder on canvas, 126 × 84" (320 × 213.4 cm). Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds and gift of The Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art. © 2021 Howardena Pindell. Courtesy of the artist and Garth Greenan Gallery, New York
  • MoMA, Floor 2, 203

In their 1988 exhibition Art as Verb, curators Lowery Stokes Sims and Leslie-King Hammond wrote that artists “moved the art ‘object’ from a static state . . . to explore kinetic properties related to the human experience.” The artists in that exhibition—many of whom have work on view in this gallery—used unconventional and tactile materials to highlight everyday actions, anchor bodily presence, and expand their work into installations.

Under the influence of feminist and pan-African thought, and reflecting technological changes of their time, these works continue to offer generous models of ritual and change.

Organized by Lanka Tattersall, Laurenz Foundation Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, and Thomas (T.) Jean Lax, Curator, Department of Media and Performance, with Lydia Mullin, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Painting and Sculpture, and Gee Wesley, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Media and Performance.

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