It's a Mod, Mod World

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 3, 2011) − The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky is excited to present "Mid-Century Modern from the Huntington Museum of Art," a new exhibition which opens Jan. 9 and runs through March 20. Paintings, prints and sculptures by some of the art world’s leading figures, including Joseph Albers, Alexander Calder, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Stuart Davis, Hans Hoffmann, Franz Kline and Robert Motherwell are showcased.

By the middle of the 20th century, abstraction had become the predominant visual language of the art world, and New York—not Paris—had become its center. "Mid-Century Modern" explores these exciting shifts that occurred in the late 1940s and 1950s and continued to influence art through the end of the century. Built around significant pieces from the Huntington Museum of Art in West Virginia, this exhibition also features major works from the permanent collection of the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky and a special loan from the Vilcek Foundation in New York.

The exhibition ranges from the precise geometric abstraction of artists like Albers to the delicate colors and organic shapes of work by Frankenthaler. It examines abstract expressionists like Motherwell, who created free-flowing compositions that drew on the artist’s inner world and exploited the element of chance in art making--like allowing paint to drip or stain the canvas.

"Mid-Century Modern from the Huntington Museum of Art" at the Art Museum at the University of Kentucky was made possible through the generosity and support of the Huntington Museum of Art and the Friends of the Art Museum, as well as the Vilcek Foundation, which loaned a piece by Stuart Davis for this exhibition.

Admission for "Mid-Century Modern from the Huntington Museum of Art" is $8 for the general public and $5 for senior citizens. All students and UK faculty, staff and alumni are free. The exhibition is free to everyone on Friday evenings from 5 to 8 pm. The Art Museum at UK is open from noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesday through Sunday and from noon to 8 p.m. Friday. For more information on this exhibition, contact the museum at (859) 257-5716.