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ART IN STARS AND STRIPES
From Pop Art to the most recent research on social and political themes, the works in Florence from the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis depict 40 years of American art, from dream to disillusion by Micaela Zucconi
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© Kara Walker
[ ART ON BOARD ]
© Cindy Sherman. Courtesy the artist and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
“A
merican Art 1961-2001”, an exhibition at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, curated
Above, Cindy Sherman, Untitled #92,
by Vincenzo De Bellis and Arturo Galansino, covers a forty-year period from
1981, chromogenic colour print, 1/2 of
John F Kennedy’s election to the presidency of the USA and the outbreak of
an edition of 10. Minneapolis, Walker
the Vietnam War in the same year to the fateful day of September 11 and the terrorist attack
Art Center. Art Center Acquisition
on the Twin Towers. The story is told through over 80 paintings, photographs, video art
Fund, 1982.
pieces, sculptures and installations by 55 artists. The pieces are on loan from the Walker Art
Opposite, Kara Walker, Cut, 1998, cut
Center, Minneapolis, where Vincenzo De Bellis is curator and associate director of programs
paper, Minneapolis, Walker Art Center.
and visual arts. “The museum is an extremely high-profile, cutting-edge institution with a
Gift from Donna MacMillan, 2013
uniquely rich, diverse collection of over 12,000 pieces including works from famous names and less well-known artists who one day will be hailed as the new Warhol, Rauschenberg or Lichtenstein. This choice is reflected in the exhibition, in which we seek to tell the story of the art of this period and the story of a darker America through more recent figures who have handled themes like social justice, civil rights, gender equality, feminism and cross-fertilisation among art genres”, says De Bellis. The exhibition unfolds through the works of Andy Warhol, Mark Rothko, Claes Oldenburg and Cindy Sherman and Kara Walker. “The exhibition is chronological and thematic, from the Pop Art of the 1960s to Minimalism, Conceptual Art and the Pictures Generation of the 1970s, from dream to disillusion to more recent works from the 1980s, 90s and noughties, with due space for female artists. The final room is dedicated to the Afro-american Kara Walker (no connection to the Walker of the museum’s name), with a wide selection of video pieces and drawings inspired by racism, history and social satire”. The exhibition, open until 29 August, is also an opportunity to enjoy a comprehensive, unusual view of American art. It’s an experience that will create greater awareness for the next Post War and Contemporary Art sales at the big auction houses Christie’s and Sotheby’s, events that always attract a great deal of interest and exceptional results, proof of the evergreen vitality of American art.
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Minneapolis, Walker Art Center. To side, Kerry James Marshall, Blind Ambition, 1990, acrylic, collage on canvas, Minneapolis, Walker Art Center. Bottom, left, Matthew Barney, Cremaster 2: The Drones’ Exposition, 1999. Minneapolis, Walker Art Center. Collection Walker Art Center and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, T.B. Right, Andy Warhol (Andrew Warhola Jr.; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1928-New York 1987), Sixteen Jackies, 1964, acrylic, enamel on canvas,
© 1999 Matthew Barney. Production still: @1999 Matthew Barney, Photo: Chris Winget, Courtesy Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels
Minneapolis, Walker Art Center
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©The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts Inc.
Above, Robert Indiana, The Green Diamond Eat The Red Diamond Die, 1962, oil on canvas,
© Kerry James Marshall. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
© Robert Indiana By SIAE 2021
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