Abstract World
We visited the exhibition “Abstract World” at The National Museum of Art, Osaka.
The exhibition surveys European and American abstract art from 1980 to the present — a span of roughly 40 years — through the work of 13 artists.
It includes works by historically significant artists, and is a venue that presents mainly paintings alongside some sculptures.
The venue removed partition walls and made expansive use of the space in its display method.
With an open field of view, a great deal of visual information from the works enters the eye at once. Curation is by Hiroyuki Nakanishi, Chief of the Curatorial Section at The National Museum of Art, Osaka.
The exhibition comprises 42 works by the following 13 artists.
Participating Artists (13 artists)
- Ellsworth Kelly (1923-2015)
- Raoul De Keyser (1930-2012)
- Daan van Golden (1936-2017)
- Franz West (1947-2012)
- John Armleder (1948-)
- Günther Förg (1952-2013)
- Michael Krebber (1954-)
- Christopher Wool (1955-)
- Heimo Zobernig (1958-)
- Ugo Rondinone (1964-)
- Tomma Abts (1967-)
- Sterling Ruby (1972-)
- Richard Aldrich (1975-)
In an open, unpartitioned space, we could take our time with the large works.
It was a comfortable viewing experience that also included artists we were seeing for the first time.
Some works were hard to describe as strictly abstract,
but the diversity of works by the 13 artists gathered here seemed to reveal the depth and appeal of abstract expression.
