When visiting a modern-art exhibit, one inevitably hears remarks
such as, “I just don’t get it,” or “They
paid millions for that? I could have done that with
Crayolas!” Indeed, 20th-century modern art is grossly
misunderstood and thus greatly underappreciated. While Salvador
DalÃ’s surrealist landscapes and Piet Mondrian’s
primary-colored grids have become a part of the American cultural
vernacular, many people still shy away from the modern wing of art
museums.
This disconnect between viewer and object can be attributed to a
lack of information about the artist’s motivations, subject
matter and personal life. A viewer must first know the artist to
properly understand the work.
“It’s very helpful to understand the life of the
artist. So many works come out of their personal and historical
experiences,” said John Farmer, head of academic initiatives
at the UCLA Hammer Museum.
The Hammer Museum’s newest exhibition, “The
Société Anonyme: Modernism for America,”
successfully bridges this gap for viewers, as it focuses on the art
as well as the artist.
The Société Anonyme was the first organized movement
of modern artists in the United States. Founded in 1921 by
Katherine Dreier, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray, the society’s
purpose was to promote and popularize modernist movements such as
Dada, Abstraction and Cubism.
In the 1920s modern art had found an audience in Europe but had
yet to gain a following in the United States.
“Due to lack of an audience, there were very few spaces
for this kind of art. (World War I) put a pause on things,”
said Susan Greenberg, assistant curator at Yale University Art
Gallery, which will be the final stop on the exhibit’s
national tour.
The society’s accomplishments are remarkable because they
represent a revolution in American art that was carried out
entirely by artists.
“The movement’s major goal was to emphasize the
artist. This was a group of artists, not curators,” Greenberg
said.
Society members were free to produce the kinds of work they
enjoyed; they were not constrained by financial or curatorial
concerns. This freedom accounts for the diversity of art in the
Hammer Museum exhibition.
“Their mission was educational,” Greenberg said.
“This is one of the essential reasons (Yale) wanted to pair
the Hammer and UCLA. We wanted to continue their
mission.”
The members were actually the first group of artists that
produced literature to accompany their works. This innovative
aspect of the movement is of particular importance because it
allowed the artists, as opposed to critics or scholars, to control
how their works were interpreted. Most of these writings were
extended brochures explaining the artists’ products and
visions.
“Katherine Dreier wanted sufficient documentation of the
exhibitions. She was conscious of the role of the media,”
Greenberg said.
As visitors walk through the exhibit they will notice a growing
sense of disorder as pieces from many art genres are displayed
together. This is due to the society’s hesitance to
categorize art and artists.
“They were not interested in classifying artists into
groups,” Greenberg said. “Duchamp was against
labels.”
As the Hammer Museum recreates the 1921 Inaugural Show and the
1926 Brooklyn International Exhibit, it honors the society’s
anticategorization mantra.
Although the exhibit features works of many well-known artists,
it also displays art from lesser-known figures. This is in keeping
with the experimental nature of the society’s
exhibitions.
“The exhibit is an overarching picture of the whole
organization, including a lot of artists who aren’t as
well-known today,” Greenberg said.
The unusual richness of the Hammer Museum’s exhibition is
found in its expansive collection of society letters, journals and
pamphlets, all of which offer a holistic view of the group’s
contributions to 20th-century American art. These articles give
unique insight into the society and its artists. For example,
Farmer points out that Duchamp’s “Laughing Ass”
letterhead demonstrates to visitors the self-consciously humorous
nature of the society and its art.
“These articles give a full, complex sense of the history
of the Société Anonyme. They give a flavor of the society
as a living entity and trace its development over time. They show
the society’s relationship to the broader culture,”
Farmer said.
This self-awareness is then translated to the exhibit’s
walls in works such as Francis Picabia’s “Midi,”
made with materials such as feathers and pasta, or Duchamp’s
“In Advance of the Broken Arm” or “Snow
Shovel.” The latter work is literally a snow shovel hanging
from the gallery ceiling. The purpose of such art was to provoke
discussion and create a sense of self-awareness in viewers.
Society members were cognizant of their role as creators and
wanted their humor to translate to viewers. Duchamp mastered this
trick, as he even added lace paper doilies to the frames of many of
his paintings.
“Duchamp was about humor; it was part of his point,”
Greenberg said. “Duchamp wanted the viewer to reflect on what
he was laughing at.”