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Perception and Technique in Abstract Art

December 15, 2021
- July 24, 2022

Perception and Technique in Abstract Art presents longstanding Museum highlights by Sam Gilliam, Thomas Downing, Helen Frankenthaler, Sam Francis, Ellsworth Kelly, Gene Davis, Paul Reed, and Victor Vasarely.

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In the years following World War II, many artists experimented by pouring, dripping, or thickly dabbing wet paint onto their blank canvases. They prioritized the act or event of painting over the final picture, creating abstract works where we see traces of techniques as opposed to traditional subjects. These artists took their lead from Jackson Pollock, famous for his drip paintings, and from Helen Frankenthaler, who poured paint onto raw canvas and then used brushes and other tools to produce washes of color. As Frankenthaler said: “There are no rules, let the picture lead you where it must go.”

In opposition to the artists who took their lead from Pollock and Frankenthaler, there was another group of abstract artists, who produced works that made the artist’s hand or physical activity mostly disappear. These artists produced paintings, sculptures, and prints that at first appear to be colorful exercises in geometry, with their precise circles, squares, and straight lines. However, through our own active participation as viewers, these equally experimental works yield illusionistic or even distorting effects that ultimately provide very different, at times almost hallucinogenic, experiences.

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Paul Reed (American, 1919–2015). Step, 1968. Acrylic on canvas. Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Gift of the Paul and Esther Reed Trust, 2017.055
Frankenthaler2
Credit: Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923-2015) Red Blue (detail), 1963. Oil on canvas. Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Museum purchase, Washington Gallery of Modern Art Collection, 1968.155

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Let's play a game! It's International Scavenger Hunt day and we challenge you to find all the objects hidden in this painting titled Cattle in the Meadows of Holland by Johannes Hubertus Leonardus de Haas. Comment your favorite emoji when you find them all!  Swipe right to see all of the object locations!  Johannes Hubertus Leonardus de Haas (Dutch, 1832–1908). Cattle in the Meadows of Holland, no date. Oil on canvas. Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Gift of Carolyn S. Burford, 1971.058
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12 Steps to Turn an Art Museum Visit Into Mindfulness Meditation

Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923–2015). Red Blue, 1963. Oil on canvas. Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Museum purchase, Washington Gallery of Modern Art Collection, 1968.155

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From the Golden Age to the Moving Image

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Perception and Technique in Abstract Art

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