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8/14/2010 - 12/23/2010
Organizing institution: The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia
Derived from the Museum’s growing collection of African art, the exhibition African Art: Beyond the Modernist Lens examines the way African art is currently perceived and displayed in Western museum settings.
Once considered fetishes, African traditional sculptures were displayed in 20th century galleries, arranged alongside European and American products in a manner that emphasized their artistic qualities rather than their local meaning and use. The exhibition suggests that such early displays often influenced the collection of certain types of African objects, particularly those that appealed to Western notions of artistic elegance, abstract form, and exotic appearance. However, these standards had very little to do with African aesthetic values that are expressed in ritual and quotidian objects alike. African craftsman used these prescribed concepts of beauty and associated motifs to create objects that express both artistic individuality and differences in regional styles.
Curated by Benjamin Ray, Adjunct Curator of African Art
The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Arts.
Organizing institution: The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia
Derived from the Museum’s growing collection of African art, the exhibition African Art: Beyond the Modernist Lens examines the way African art is currently perceived and displayed in Western museum settings.
Once considered fetishes, African traditional sculptures were displayed in 20th century galleries, arranged alongside European and American products in a manner that emphasized their artistic qualities rather than their local meaning and use. The exhibition suggests that such early displays often influenced the collection of certain types of African objects, particularly those that appealed to Western notions of artistic elegance, abstract form, and exotic appearance. However, these standards had very little to do with African aesthetic values that are expressed in ritual and quotidian objects alike. African craftsman used these prescribed concepts of beauty and associated motifs to create objects that express both artistic individuality and differences in regional styles.
Curated by Benjamin Ray, Adjunct Curator of African Art
The exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Arts.
Exhibition Objects (46)
Artists (19)
- African Artist
- Asante Artist
- Bamana Artist
- Bwa Artist
- Chokwe Artist
- Congolese Artist
- Fante Artist
- Gabonese Artist
- Ivorian Artist
- Kuba Artist
- Liberian Artist
- Nuna Artist
- Pende Artist
- Punu Artist
- Senufo Artist
- Sierra Leonean Artist
- Turkana Artist (active )
- Unrecorded Artist (possibly Baule)
- Yoruba Artist