America: eclecticism and ambivalence | Montmontcalm

The National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec (MNBAQ) presents until September 5, 2022 the exhibition America – Between dreams and realitiesthe result of a collaboration with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington DC

Navigating more than a century of artistic production in a few rooms is a major challenge, both for the curators in charge of the exhibition and for visitors fond of emotions and a change of scenery. The thematic approach proposed by the MNBAQ for America helps to highlight the richness of this production, the socio-cultural and economic issues inherent in the United States, but also the gray areas of a divided and polarized society.

Through paintings, photos, collages, video montages and sculptures, and in an abundance of colors, the American dream is in turn dissected, analyzed, abused, revisited, praised and hidden. We sail between surprises, discoveries, uneasiness and surges of rage; few exhibitions can pride themselves on arousing such epidermal reactions.

The themes “The social body” and “Pluralisms” are by far the most interesting. Lesser-known artists are presented there, but with a sharp eye and strong social criticism. By questioning the American dream, by deconstructing propaganda and stereotypes, by questioning identity and gender, these artists, including Charles White, Lois Mailou Jones, Beverly Semmes and the Guerrilla Girls, are claiming their place in the sun and campaigning for a full inclusion.

The striking force of certain groupings of works is to be underlined, by the messages they send and the associations they provoke. From the first room, the superposition of an Andy Warhol detailing the lips of Marilyn Monroe in garish colors with a Julian Schnabel presenting a wounded, tormented Andy Warhol in the twilight of his 15 minutes of fame is particularly striking. So are the proximity between human invisibility explained by Glenn Ligon and the occupation of social space as imagined by Nick Cave, and the core of works criticizing war and nuclear power. Robert Arneson’s sculpture is therefore a must in the exhibition.

Faced with such an artistic offer, with overflowing creativity and eclecticism, we come out a little dazed, a little saturated, in an overdose of American consumption, but stimulated despite everything to have discovered strong voices with remarks that are still relevant. .

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America – Between dreams and realities : go there initially for the big known names (Rothko, Hopper, O’Keefe, Pollock), stay there and appreciate it for emerging artists and those we know less and who deserve special attention.

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