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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot)

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot)

@miacontemporary.bsky.social

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Sharing artworks from the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Contemporary Art department. Not associated with the Minneapolis Art Institute. Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 5h

Bess https://collections.artsmia.org/art/127082/

two dimensional object with a mixture of photographs and collage-like elements; surface is slightly raised with photographs and shapes imbedded like puzzle pieces; gray textured backing; series of red plus signs dispersed across upper half; two horizontal red lines-one in upper left quadrant and one in upper right quadrant; red vertical line on upper middle right side, and runs downward to bottom, intersecting with a small square-shaped black and with photograph of a cratered rock; five red circles with photographs of space, portraits and life scenes placed in middle of circle; other photographs of life scenes and space dispersed across surface; various colored dots in orange, blue, red, black and white decorate background
Sadie Benning has become known for experimental video narratives that explore aspects of identity, memory, and loss that are indicative of the artist’s experiences as a gay youth. More recently, Benning has explored “Construction” or “Jigsaw” paintings—large intensely hand- worked aqua-resin paintings and mixed media works that consist of found images and painted shapes that are each individually cut out of wood and reassembled into a relief. Here the work titled “Bess” and the prominent use of crosses and circles in the composition directly reference the self-taught artist Forrest Bess (1911- 1977), an influential American painter who created a complex visual language that at once spoke to abstraction, but was also symbolic of his controversial ideas regarding transgender identity. In particular, Benning's work appears to directly reference Bess' painting Untitled #42 (1950) which symbolically depicts male and female genders as the embodiment of life and death. Forrest Bess undoubtedly represents a pioneering figure for transgender identity and experimentation for an artist like Sadie Benning, making this work very much an homage to the late painter.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 8h

A Sheltered Spot https://collections.artsmia.org/art/83849/

three white columns on a porch, with siding visible at L; view between columns of bright, dense trees and foliage

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 11h

Hammering Man https://collections.artsmia.org/art/24309/

mechanical figurative sculpture with a moving arm holding a hammer

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 12h

Pink Nude Banner https://collections.artsmia.org/art/2605/

Artist's multiple; reclining female nude

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 16h

Departure, Red Rock Variation: Lake Superior Landscape https://collections.artsmia.org/art/4567/

Landscape.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 1d

Vicki! I--I Thought I Heard Your Voice! https://collections.artsmia.org/art/2606/

Artist's multiple published in an edition of 8
As America moved into the prosperous postwar years of the 1950s and early 1960s, artists shifted their focus from emotional subjects like war and the nuclear age to commentaries on American prosperity, consumption, and commercialism. Roy Lichtenstein’s paintings embody this shift. His work first captured the world’s attention in the 1960s with a signature style borrowed from mass culture—particularly comic books and advertising—which brought the look and feel of commercial printing to fine art. Lichtenstein adapted the imagery and techniques of comic strips: black outlines, stripes, Benday dots, brushstrokes, flat fields, foils, and patterns. Appropriating such imagery from popular culture transformed the artist into a leader of the international Pop art movement along with such artists as Andy Warhol.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 1d

Moll https://collections.artsmia.org/art/114499/

full-length portrait of a woman with straight blonde hair standing in a landscape wearing a dark purple jacket with fuschia trim, short white skirt with purple dots and blue shoes; mounted on aluminum stretchers with aluminum "frame" (applied before painting was completed)
British artist Chantal Joffe is a talented young painter who, while building on art historical traditions in painting and portraiture, has found her own voice within those genres. Her paintings tend to be dominated by girls and young women who exude the complexities of female sexuality. The young woman in Moll could be described as elfin-faced, with haunting eyes and a Lolita-like sensuality. Seemingly small in stature, she is a ten-foot giantess who can't be contained by the painting. She looms out at the viewer, anxious, intelligent, and strangely seductive. A similar description could be made of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's Seated Girl (Franzi Fehrmann), painted exactly 100 years before the Joffe. Both artists convey a clear attraction to using adolescents in their paintings and are drawn to the sensual qualities of their models. The artists also share distinct stylistic similarities, including strong color, harsh contour lines, and a deliberate and forceful use of brushstroke, announcing the intent to reveal raw emotion without apologies. For artists coming of age in the 21st century, the history of art is widely accessible via books, museums, art galleries, and the internet. Joffe is certainly familiar with the work of early 20th century German Expressionist painters such as Kirchner, as well as the great figurative painters working in the second half of the 20th century. While painters and sculptors have responded to the work of their predecessors throughout time, the ease with which earlier styles and images can be assimilated is greater than ever.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 1d

Black Aces https://collections.artsmia.org/art/10515/

multi-colored vertical stripes of uniform width

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 1d

Maquette https://collections.artsmia.org/art/61956/

black steel; curving, zigzag-edged and rough edged forms extending upward

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 1d

Incomplete Open Cube 8/3 https://collections.artsmia.org/art/2210/

Cube
In 1974 Sol LeWitt produced a series of 122 sculptures, entitled Variations of Incomplete Open Cubes. The different combinations of three to eleven edges, or "parts," encourage the viewer to mentally construct a complete cube--for LeWitt, a symbol of three-dimensionality. Here you see the third combination of eight parts that imply a cube. Although LeWitt rejects the term "minimalism" as demeaning to his art, his use of forms pared down to their pure geometric essences links him to the Minimalist movement. LeWitt considers himself a conceptual artist and emphasizes the process of creation, from initial idea to finished work. In his view, "The idea becomes the machine that makes the art."

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 2d

Alixa and Naima https://collections.artsmia.org/art/109328/

five detaching sections of mixed media construction that is painted primarily maroon in center section with embracing couple
Street artist Swoon considers her work an addition to the naturally occurring collage of the city. She usually pastes her life-size, woodcut block print portraits directly onto a wall of a city street, enjoying the way it flakes and decays over time. In this multi-media piece, Swoon has transplanted a collaged cityscape into a gallery space by constructing a sculptural canvas out of salvaged urban materials. The scrap metal and wood wraps around a corner of the gallery, breaking the boundaries of traditionally hung artworks, and suggestive of a street setting. In much the same way that Swoon inscribes her subjects into the urban milieu, she has inscribed the urban milieu into a museum gallery. The two figures depicted in this sculpture are Brooklyn-based poets and fellow street artists Alixa and Naima, who together form the duo Climbing PoeTree. Known for using art and poetry as tools for education, community organizing, and social activism, Climbing PoeTree seeks to overcome destructive elements with creativity. The two women hold each other, eyes closed and unaware of the viewer, who has been allowed to share in this intimate, loving, and joyful moment.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 2d

#34 https://collections.artsmia.org/art/89588/

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: If you made it across the river, Thai officials take you to a refugee camp to register. Although the refugee camps are a lot better, Thai police often abuse the refugees' human rights.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 2d

#14 https://collections.artsmia.org/art/89568/

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: Laos was already under the control of the French. The French needed money to run their colony. Opium was a great cash crop for the French. Since the Hmong lived on land that was good for cultivating opium, they were encouraged to grow as much opium as possible. When collecting taxes the French preferred opium to cash.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 2d

Two Up-One Down, Contrapuntal https://collections.artsmia.org/art/19334/

The slender steel fingers, honed to their most elemental shapes, move, intersecting each other. Affixed to marble base.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 2d

#23 https://collections.artsmia.org/art/89577/

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: Before the war the majority of the Hmong were just simple farmers. Many had never seen a vehicle before. During the war, the Hmong quickly learned to use modern technology. Many excelled at it. One of the best fighter pilots in the world was Lee Lue, the fearless Hmong pilot who logged over 500 missions before he was shot down. As a pilot he flew two to three missions per day. Most American pilots went home after logging 100 sorties.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 3d

Untitled (Greenheads) https://collections.artsmia.org/art/119228/

two square images next to each other--comic-strip fashion; image at left has two figures with round green heads wearing black masks around their eyes and orange shirts with green vests; figure at left has two Band-Aids on its face and holds its PR hand on the stomach of reclining figure with a green face, open mouth and wide eyes wearing a white leotard; image at right has same figures with reclining figure's mouth open wider and two standing figures appear to be talking
This work is part of Laylah Ali’s renowned "Greenheads" series, in which the artist collides her comic-book aesthetic with psychological and inherently violent narratives. The Greenheads figures are dressed in costumes inspired by superheroes featuring distinctive power belts, tight sport gear, and Ku Klux Klan or religious clergies’ outfits. Small, minimal, and meticulously detailed, these paintings offer a commentary on the conflicting power struggles that are at the root of many civil rights issues related to racial and gender inequality. Ali’s graphic short hand is similar in style to Persian miniatures and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs from which viewers decipher complex sociopolitical meanings in their simple yet ambiguous scenes.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 3d

#42 https://collections.artsmia.org/art/89596/

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: The Boy Scouts of America was a natural fit for the Hmong boys. We get to learn about America in a safe environment. We also get to explore the woods like our parents used to do back in Laos.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 3d

Prospects https://collections.artsmia.org/art/4394/

Abstraction with six horseshoe shapes.
Guston was a renowned painter of abstract art when he turned to figurative painting in the mid-1960s. "There is something ridiculous and miserly in the myth we inherit from abstract art,” he said. “That painting is autonomous, pure and for itself, therefore we habitually analyze its ingredients and define its limits. But painting is ‘impure.’ It is the adjustment of ‘impurities’ which forces its continuity. We are image-makers and image-ridden.” This statement and sentiment became a professional motto. Using a lexicon of light bulbs, shoes, cigarettes, clocks, and other consumer goods, Guston’s work becomes a contemporary poem ridden with images.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 3d

Joan https://collections.artsmia.org/art/107978/

kneeling hyper-realistic life-sized nude woman, with elbows on knees and PR hand under chin, leaning forward; long blonde hair in messy ponytail; pearl earrings
John De Andrea is an American sculptor and a contributor to the superrealist art movement; he was part of the original art movement that began in the late 1960s. He has become famous for his life-like sculptures of nude models, the majority of which are idealized figures of women. Cast from life and finished with the utmost detail, these sculptures are usually elegant and casually posed. Their glossy hyperrealism, however, ultimately detracts from their beauty - much as surgical enhancements mar the natural beauty of so many women today. In this sense, especially, these works are a fascinating expression of contemporary culture. Joan is a quintessential example of DeAndrea's superrealist sculpture, in which he explores his interest in trompe l'oei and his ideas about female beauty.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 3d

Mountain Journey https://collections.artsmia.org/art/27731/

N.B.Replacement pieces(TV Trays) for this work are located in MS R3A2.2
This metal collage's tall, narrow shape and many of its images refer to Chinese hanging scrolls depicting mountain landscapes. In "Mountain Journey", artist Tony Berlant used contemporary techniques and materials to pay homage to the Chinese landscape tradition, paintings of which can be found in our Asian galleries. At the bottom, you will notice a large red house, which symbolizes the traditional scholar's or poet's dwelling, surrounded by water and foliage. As you look up, you will see more rivers, as well as waterfalls, clouds, and blue sky. At the middle, upper right appears a smaller scholar's house and a Chinese character that stands for the concept of "within." In addition to recalling Chinese art, this work also alludes to our world here in Minnesota. For instance, the artist has said that the large blue drops near the red house suggest both rain and Minnesota's numerous lakes, which he noticed so clearly during flights here from his native California. Berlant produced this collage over a one-year period using found scrap metal. He cut the metal into the shapes of drawings he had made directly on the wooden support. Once arranged, the pieces were carefully nailed into place. "Mountain Journey" was commissioned especially for Mia's front lobby and installed on September 11, 1991.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 4d

Pink Honey https://collections.artsmia.org/art/131299/

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 4d

#2 https://collections.artsmia.org/art/89556/

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: Two brothers were working in the field. An old man appeared and told the brothers that a great flood was going to come. Because the older brother treated the old man unkindly, he instructed the older brother to build a metal drum while telling the younger one to build a wooden drum. When the flood came the younger brother and his sister got into the wooden drum. The older brother in the metal drum was lost in the flood, but the wooden drum floated for days until the earth dried. Because the brother and sister were the last two humans on earth they agreed to marry each other. Out of incest they gave birth to a big pumpkin. The brother cut the pumpkin into pieces and each piece turned into a human being. These beings became all the clans of the Hmong family.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 4d

#16 https://collections.artsmia.org/art/89570/

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: To fight the well-equipped French army, the Hmong made homemade cannons out of wood. They lured the French soldiers into the middle of an empty village using a shaman. Once in position, the Hmong fired the homemade cannons killing many French soldiers.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 4d

Morning Security Briefing at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, basement door open onto the Guard Lounge Pet Wall https://collections.artsmia.org/art/127306/

seated portrait of six people; woman with blond bobbed haircut seated in center wearing blue knee high socks, tan skirt, tie blue sweater and blue shirt with radio at waist; three men to PR of woman wearing similar clothing as seated woman; man to PR of seated woman wearing dark pants, white shirt, sunglasses and orange backwards baseball hat with radio at hip; woman with short gray hair to PL of seated woman who wears white shirt, dark slacks and zippered bag around waist; man with long dark hair, glasses and beard sitting to PL of seated woman also dressed in tie, tan pants, blue shirt and dark sweater; blue wall in background, sign in top middle reading "Lounge"; bulletin board behind man wearing hat with various pamphlets attached; several photos of pets attached to wall behind seated long haired man; green and brown checkered floor
Upon arriving at Mia, Aliza Nisenbaum, like most visitors, was first met by the museum’s guards. While Mia’s guards represent the museum’s first line of defense against theft and damage to the collection, they also serve a vital role in facilitating the museum-going experience. Clad in their uniforms, our museum guards are an often- overlooked community unto themselves, some of whom live in the surrounding Phillips and Whittier neighborhoods. Over the course of her residency, Nisenbaum befriended a number of guards, learning about their hobbies, pets, and life stories during their time together in her studio. Here, six guards are shown at rest in the lounge, a private space where they take breaks and gather before and after their shifts. Sitters from left to right: Jason Ressler, Desmond Griffin, Bruce Morrow, Katherine Lamb, Gina Carchedi, Jesse Nagamatsu

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 4d

Model for Proposed Exhibition https://collections.artsmia.org/art/12087/

Rectangular box, painted on 4 sides; four photos attached to top; model of a baffel for an exhibition