Nasher offers Modern tastes

Kitty litter on the floor, pie in a glass case and modern masters on the wall: What else could it be but the Nasher's latest exhibit?

The Nasher recently opened Taste of the Modern, an exhibit that focuses on modern art in America from the 1950s and 1960s.

The exhibit's main draws are six works on loan from Los Angeles's Museum of Contemporary Art. The four artists on display-Franz Kline, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and Mark Rothko-are considered modern masters. Oldenburg's art is in the style of pop art, while the other three deal in abstract expressionism.

The curator also supplemented the exhibit with other kindred on-loan works and pieces from the Nasher's collection, some of which have never been on display.

"[The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles has] so many extraordinary things that they can't show all the time," said Anne Schroder, curator of academic programs for the Nasher. "To complement the exhibition I added works from our permanent collection that are related in time to the MOCA pieces and resonated with them, some of which have not yet been on view in the new building."

The theme, Taste of the Modern, reflects a special moment in American art history. The 1950s and 1960s were a period when American artists were distancing themselves from more conventional American Realism. Schroder said the artist of the time sought a new vision after World War II.

"These works are truly of the moment," Schroder said. "This is when they are really exploring [art].... It's that moment when America is really embracing the modern and America is taking the center stage in the modern art world."

While the artists were influenced by European surrealism and abstraction, the art was distinctively theirs and American.

Of the abstract expressionists in the exhibit-Rothko, Kline and Rauschenberg-each artist has a different style. Kline and Rothko employ color to impact feelings, yet they each do so in different manners. The Kline work "Hazelton", is a simple work of black and white. Rothko, on the other hand, juxtaposes warms hues in "No. 46 (Black, Ochre, Red Over Red)" (1957) to elicit entirely different feelings.

In a different vein of abstract expressionism, Rauschenberg goes beyond simply using paint in his work and incorporates a variety of media. "Painting with Grey Wing" (1958), one of his two featured works, incorporates oils, printed reproductions, paint by numbers, fabrics, a bird wing and multiple other materials.

Known for his large-scale sculptures of everyday objects, Oldenburg, rather than deal with abstraction, dealt with familiar images of what the mind already knows. "Hamburger and Pickle with Ochre" (1960) and "Pie a la mode" (1962), the two Oldenburg pieces in the exhibit, appear exactly as they sound and are painted sculptures.

"Is it sculpture? Is it painting? It's both," Schroder said of the Oldenburg works.

Schroder added that though the exhibit is painting heavy, she likes to incorporate sculpture.

"Sculpture enlivens space," Schroder said. "You can experience art three-dimensionally. You do engage with it. It's nice to have different media to see how ideas can be expressed."

Alex Katz's portrait of the Duke Chancellor Emeritus William G. Anlyan and works by Jasper Johns are among the added pieces that enhance the experience.

Taste of the Modern is a diverse showcase honoring some of the most significant artists of the twentieth century and an important moment in art history.

Taste of the Modern will be on exhibit at the Nasher Museum until Sept. 14, 2008.

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