DENVER, May 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- The Clyfford Still Museum (CSM) will
open Dialogue and Defiance: Clyfford Still and the Abstract
Expressionists, guest curated by scholar
Valerie Hellstein, on May 10 for Museum members and May 11 for the public in Denver, CO.
The exhibition considers the nuanced ways Clyfford Still was
part of an artists' community in the late 1940s and early 1950s,
despite his protestations. The fiercely independent Still disdained
the commercialized art world and did not think highly of artists
who participated. In line with these views, Still withdrew his
paintings from the Betty Parsons Gallery in 1951. The following
year, however, he surprised many by joining the 15
Americans group show at the Museum of Modern Art, curated
by Dorothy Miller. He agreed because
viewers could experience his paintings in a separate room but still
see them within the context of mid-century American painting.
According to Hellstein, even with his turn away from the
commercial art world, he remained in dialogue with his
contemporaries, and they discussed and explored many of the same
questions and ideas.
"When we think of abstract expressionists, we often think of
them as isolated geniuses, working alone in their studios—and I
don't want to say there's no artistic genius—but it doesn't happen
in a vacuum," said Hellstein. "Trying to put Still in a visual
dialogue with his fellow contemporary artists goes a long way
toward showing that he wasn't working in isolation. I hope viewers
walking through the galleries get a sense of Still within his
community."
The artworks, exhibition text, interactive features in the
digital guide, and archival displays highlight key conversations
within Still's community and their impacts on his art. The CSM
mobile guide in the free Bloomberg Connects arts and culture app
will include Hellstein's insights on Still's relationships and
contemporaries, an archival audio recording of Still, and a
reenactment of an excerpt from an artists' panel performed by
Buntport Theater actors.
Dialogue and Defiance follows a chronological
display of Still's works in the Museum's first four galleries and
will run until January 12, 2025.
Visit clyffordstillmuseum.org/events for events during
the exhibition.
Valerie Hellstein has
published extensively and has spoken on various aspects of Abstract
Expressionism for over 15 years.
Media Contact:
Sanya Andersen-Vie
720-354-4875
377099@email4pr.com
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SOURCE Clyfford Still Museum