The exhibition at Ahmanson Gallery, Making a Mark, features twenty-one artworks by twenty artists from the Ahmanson Collection. The exhibition offers a cross-generational survey of contemporary positions in abstraction that demonstrate its vitality.
In the exhibition, established artists such as Sam Gilliam and Maja Lisa Engelhardt create a fertile framework for a younger generation of artists such as Genesis Tramaine and Linnea Spransy who are pushing the boundaries of abstraction. Artists Sheila Hicks and Miranda Fengyuan Zhang use the medium of textiles to open up new conceptual conversations that are far removed from their craft origins. Playing with the opposing poles of geometric abstraction and expressive brushwork, the paintings and objects in this exhibition provide a celebratory counterpoint to an angst-ridden tradition of abstraction by introducing an inversion of scale, switching materials and introducing elements of personal narrative into the mix.
In her art-historically rich catalogue essay, Jennifer R. Gross states that: "We come to art to exchange values, to wrestle with what it means to be human, to strive to bridge the gap between what we know and the mysteries inherent in life." The beauty and energy of the Making a Mark exhibition are a visual manifestation of the creativity of the human spirit.
ARTISTS: El Anatsui, Karel Appel, Heather Day, Leonardo Drew, Maja Lisa Engelhardt, Sam Gilliam, Ale Groen, Tim Hawkinson, Sheila Hicks, Erin Lawlor, Meg Lipke, Zoe Paul, Linnea Gabriella Spransy, Liliane Tomasko, Genesis Tramaine, Patricia Treib, Christine Turner, Merrill Wagner, Patrick Wilson, Miranda Fengyuan Zhang.