Some Things Contemporary
/Hunt Slonem, Guardians, 2010, Oil on canvas, Polk Museum of Art Permanent Collection 2011.7, Gift of Margaret Evangeline © Hunt Slonem
December 19, 2015 through April 24, 2016
Perkins Gallery
The adjectives modern and contemporary are often misused in reference to fine art. But, that misuse is understandable since the two words are synonyms in the English vernacular. It is also fairly innocent within the context of fine art where we still have art historians who often confuse the two. If someone defines contemporary art in terms of art historical chronology, it is often said to have begun in the 1960s with the rise of postmodern Pop Art. If someone prefers a more literal interpretation, however, it describes a work by any artist currently living.
For this exhibition, we sided with the latter definition; all of the works on display were produced by artists who are still around. Contemporary art is one of the primary collecting focuses for the Polk Museum of Art. As an addendum to the museum’s exhibitions of works by contemporary artists Russell Young and Michiko Fujii Fowler, we are showing a sampling of works from the museum’s permanent collection of contemporary art.