Press

By Sarah Ogden The Rollins Museum of Art recently acquired a new fall collection, which includes multiple exhibitions that touch on various themes. One exhibition, located at the front of the museum, follows the school’s Common Read theme, which this year is empathy and compassion. This exhibition is titled “Art Encounters.” Another exhibition called “Modernisms” is from […]

By Michael McLeod Abby’s Road Here’s an April 1960 entry, dateline, Katmandu, in the diary of a solitary tourist–a determined Midwestern widow named Abby Weed Grey: “My usual feelers were out, trying to find artists. Other travelers might have been suspicious or reluctant to follow the advice of a hotel clerk, but this was my […]

By G.K. Sharman Say “modernism” and many people think of Picasso, Pollock or Dali. But the artistic movement, which celebrated freedom of expression, abstraction, experimentation and occasional social and political messaging, was global in nature and influence. An upcoming exhibition at the Rollins Museum of Art, which runs between September 17 and December 31, brings […]

The Block’s Fall 2022 exhibition, Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s explores the wide range of nonfigurative art practices that flourished in the Arab world over the course of four decades. Looking critically at narratives of mid-20th-century abstraction, the exhibition rethinks art-historical canons and expands conversations around global modernisms. The exhibition keynote conversation on […]

From September 22 – December 4, 2022 the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University will present Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s.  The exhibition explores mid-20th-century abstract art from North Africa, West Asia, and the Arab diaspora—a vast geographic expanse that encompasses diverse cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. Comprising nearly 90 works […]

By Stephanie Kulke Students from the MENA Student Association and the fall quarter art history course visited the Block Museum exhibition “Taking Shape” for a tour led by Barjeel Art Foundation founder Sheikh Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi. Al Qassemi, an Emirati columnist and researcher, is the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation. All works in “Taking Shape” […]

By Sam Freeman Northwestern’s Block Museum opened an exhibition that explores abstraction in the Arab world. Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s-1980s incorporates artworks that reflect the diversity of countries, cultures and artists in the Arab world. It also examines the ways Arab abstraction relates to the international art scene. Taking Shape began at NYU, where […]