Pan American Modernism: Avant-Garde Art in Latin America

Event Details

The Gibbes Museum of Art recently opened a new major traveling exhibition titled Pan American Modernism: Avant-Garde Art in Latin America and the United States. The show, on display through January 7, 2018, showcases more than 70 significant works of art by well-known artists across the Americas, including Man Ray, Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, Romare Bearden, Lee Krasner, Frank Stella and more. The thought-provoking works in the collection explore the rich visual dialogue that flourished across the Americas from 1919–1979.

"The relationship between the U.S. and parts of Latin America today are at odds with one another, but that wasn't always the case," said Angela Mack, executive director of the Gibbes Museum of Art. "The artistic exchanges that occurred between the Americas during this span of sixty years are vital to the story of the modern and avant-garde art movement."

Pan American Modernism examines modernism as an intercontinental phenomenon, embracing the contributions of Latin American artists, including those from Cuba. Works on paper, photographs, mixed media and paintings are all featured and the exhibition analyzes how Pan American artistic exchanges, rather than stylistic transmission, constructs a fuller understanding of modernism as an international phenomenon across the Americas.

Drawn from the collection of the University of Miami's Lowe Art Museum, Pan American Modernism features the work of artists from the Pan American regions of North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean. The objects are grouped into five thematic sections: Mexican Muralism and Its Legacy, The Female Muse, Abstract Expressionism, Modernist Photography and Geometric Abstraction and Its Legacy.

Throughout the exhibition, the Gibbes will offer bilingual tours and educational programming in English and Spanish. In addition, the museum will host several events in conjunction with Pan American Modernism:

October 11 - 7:00PM: Gibbes Garden Concert featuring the Garage Cuban Band
o Guitarist Bill Carson, bassist Jonathan Gray, keyboardist Nathan Koci, and drummers Jack Burg and Ron Wiltrout perform their interpretation of street-style Cuban music. Bring a picnic and lawn chair and arrive early to claim a spot in the Lenhardt Garden. $25 Members | $35 Non-Members | $500 Reserved tables of 10

October 18 - 6:00PM: Pan American, Modernism with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra
o $20 Members | $30 Non-Members

October 26 - 2:30PM: Public Tour of Pan American Modernism with curator Pam Wall
o Free for museum members; included with museum admission for non-members.

October 27, 1:00PM: Literary Gibbes: A Book Club Discussion
o Participants will discuss One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In collaboration with the Charleston County Public Library. Discussion is free for all, but does not include Museum admission.

November 15 - 6:00PM: Film Screening: Alumbrones
o A documentary film about life in Cuba, seen through the eyes of twelve local artists. From the troubled "Special Period" following the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the uncertain future and radical changes it faces, this film captures a country at a time of significant transformation. Spanish with English subtitles. 1hr 15min. Free for Museum Members. Included with Museum admission for Non-Members

November 30 - 1:00PM: Film Screening: Alumbrones
o A documentary film about life in Cuba, seen through the eyes of twelve local artists. From the troubled "Special Period" following the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the uncertain future and radical changes it faces, this film captures a country at a time of significant transformation. Spanish with English subtitles. 1hr 15min. Free for Museum Members. Included with Museum admission for Non-Members

November 30 - 2:30PM: Public Tour of Pan American Modernism with curator Pam Wall
o Free for museum members; included with museum admission for non-members.

To learn more about this exhibition or to purchase tickets, visit www.gibbesmuseum.org.

Pan American Modernism was developed by the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, with the tour organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, DC. The exhibition is accompanied by a full-color catalog produced by the Lowe Art Museum and printed in both Spanish and English. This exhibition is made possible by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and the Ethel-Jane Bunting Endowment Fund.

About the Gibbes Museum of Art
Home to the Carolina Art Association, established in 1858, the Gibbes Museum of Art is recognized among the oldest arts organizations in the United States. Housing one of the foremost collections of American Art from the 18th century to the present, the museum's mission is to enhance lives through art by engaging people of every background and experience with art and artists of enduring quality and by providing opportunities to learn, to discover, to enjoy and to be inspired by the creative process. For more information, visit www.gibbesmuseum.org.