An exhibition in two parts, Abstract Now and Then draws on BAM/PFA’s extensive collection of nonfigurative painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture to consider diverse approaches to abstraction. Abstract Then focuses on the period from the 1940s to the 1980s and presents exceptional Abstract Expressionist works by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and others, as well as key examples of Minimalist and Conceptual approaches to abstraction by such artists as Robert Irwin, Sol LeWitt, Dan Flavin, Lee Bontecou, Carl Andre, and Eva Hesse. Abstract Now comprises pieces made between 1985 and 2010 that highlight the diverse ways in which earlier tendencies in abstraction have been reinterpreted, challenged, and reborn by artists of a younger generation, including Suzan Frecon, Joseph Marioni, Rosie Lee Tompkins, Xylor Jane, Jim Drain, and the collaborative team of Kyle Ranson and Daniel Higgs.
