”A Fantasy Meeting of Santa Claus with Big Julie and Tyrone at McDonalds”, 1978, by Katherine Westphal. Resist-dyed cotton, 28 1/2 x 49 1/2 inches. San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, San Jose, CA. Image courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2019.
American Art to Wear at Philadelphia Museum of Art Philadelphia Museum of Art presents ‘Off the Wall: American Art to Wear’, a major exhibition that highlights a distinctive American art movement that emerged in the late 1960s and flourished during the following decades. November 10, 2019 – May 17, 2020]]>
Source: Philadelphia Museum of Art
The exhibition examines a generation of pioneering artists who used body-related forms to express a personal vision and frames their work in relation to the cultural, historical and social concerns of their time. Focusing on iconic works made during the three decades between 1967 and 1997, the exhibition features over one hundred one-of-a-kind works by more than fifty artists.
”Off the Wall” is arranged in nine sections; the titles of some are derived from popular music of the ‘60s and ‘70s to suggest the wide-ranging concerns of the artists. The introductory section, “The Times They Are A Changin’” (Bob Dylan, 1964), contains works by Lenore Tawney, Dorian Zachai, Claire Zeisler, Ed Rossbach, and Debra Rapoport to illustrate how textile artists in the late ‘50s and ‘60s liberated tapestry weaving from the wall, adapting it to three-dimensional sculptural forms inspired by pre-Columbian weaving. The next section, “Good Vibrations” (Beach Boys, 1966), traces the migration of many of these young artists from the East Coast to the West Coast where they joined California’s vibrant artistic community and connected with Sandra Sakata’s Obiko.
“Come Together” (The Beatles, 1969) responds to the popular use of assemblage in art-making, especially the use of nontraditional materials. It also looks at the art of performance, reflected in Ben Compton and Marian Clayden’s Nocturnal Moth, 1974, inspired by Federico Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita (1960). “Other Worlds” explores fantasy and science fiction, two genres that offered young people an escape from the period’s cultural and political upheavals. A section called “I Am Woman” (Helen Reddy, 1971) underscores the ways in which artists invoked feminism directly and indirectly in “Art to Wear”. “Colour My World” (Chicago, 1970) reflects the buoyant rainbow color spectrum that was ubiquitous during this era. The final section “Everybody’s Talkin’” (Harry Nilsson, 1969) explores the use of text in Art to Wear.
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