Truthful Illusions: Realism in the Age of Abstraction
Through July 6, 2025
Fort Wayne Museum of Art (FWMoA), Indiana
fwmoa.org
From the Museum:
Throughout the 20th century, artists absorbed new ideas in philosophy, politics, and aesthetics, spurred in part by European-American cultural exchange and giving rise to what we call “modern art.” The surrealist Salvador Dali illustrated the vivid inner world of dreams and the subconscious as theorized by neurologist Sigmund Freud, while other artists, influenced by Marxist philosophy, saw traditional forms of art and their standards as oppressive.
The years leading up to the two World Wars engulfed Europe in various forms of totalitarianism. American Abstract Expressionists like Jackson Pollock (1912-1952) and Mark Rothko (1903-1970), disillusioned by these repressive regimes, saw art as the embodiment of freedom and sought to throw off all its constraints. For Pollock, even awareness of painting was a constraint, writing in 1947, “When I am in my painting, I am not aware of what I’m doing,” and for Rothko, the painting had a life of its own: “I think of my pictures as dramas; the shapes are the performers…Neither the action nor the actors can be anticipated or described in advance.”
This quest for pure art, unconstrained by standards of skill or even consciousness, was a century-long attempt at answering these questions: What is art, and how does it represent reality? This exhibition of what is called “realism” provides another answer with work by artists whose obvious technical skill supports and does not constrain their artistic intent. They create by the forms, patterns, and embodied nature of the world, savoring what can be seen and showing us its truth.
The exhibition includes 39 works from the FWMoA collection and borrowed works. Featured artists are Aaron Bohrod, Will Cotton, Gabriela Gonzalez Dellosso, Gary Erbe, De Scott Evans, Andrea Kowch, Clio Newton, Yigal Ozeri, Joel Daniel Phillips, Robert Schefman, Maria Tomasula, Robert Vickrey, N.C. Wyeth, and Renee McGinnis.
“My work attempts to distill all I know of our formidable species and the natural systems that sustain us down to a sorrowful beauty, speaking visually about humanities’ triumphs and tragedies and how these conditions continually co-exist,” said McGinnis. “Distilling all I know of our species and the fragile systems that sustain us down to a gentle yet startling beauty, the mid 20th century luxury liner is a metaphor for the earth herself, breathtaking behemoths, benchmarks of technology, human arrogance and aesthetic attention.”
To learn more about Truthful Illusions: Realism in the Age of Abstraction, visit the museum’s website at fwmoa.org.
Attention Art Collectors!
May 20-22, 2025: Visit the Plein Air Convention & Expo’s robust pop-up art gallery at the Nugget Casino Resort in Reno, Nevada, where hundreds of artists, including our master faculty, will have studio and plein air works on display and ready to purchase. Register for the full event at PleinAirConvention.com now.
View more art museum announcements here at FineArtConnoisseur.com.
