The Atomic age. Artists put to the test of history
The Mus茅e d'Art Moderne de Paris is inviting visitors to take a new look at the history of modernity in the 20th century via the imaginary world of the atom. The exhibition is an opportunity to explore the artistic representations sparked by the scientific discovery of the atom and its applications, in particular the nuclear bomb, whose devastating consequences changed the fate of humanity. Bringing together some 250 works 鈥� paintings, drawings, photographs, videos and installations 鈥� as well as documentation that has often been previously unpublished, the exhibition shows, for the first time in a French museum, the widely differing different stances adopted by artists in the face of scientific advances and the controversies they have given rise to. Dealing with a subject now more topical than ever, the exhibition is in keeping with the museum's desire to reflect contemporary cultural and social concerns in its programming.
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The Mus茅e d'Art Moderne de Paris is inviting visitors to take a new look at the history of modernity in the 20th century via the imaginary world of the atom. The exhibition is an opportunity to explore the artistic representations sparked by the scientific discovery of the atom and its applications, in particular the nuclear bomb, whose devastating consequences changed the fate of humanity. Bringing together some 250 works 鈥� paintings, drawings, photographs, videos and installations 鈥� as well as documentation that has often been previously unpublished, the exhibition shows, for the first time in a French museum, the widely differing different stances adopted by artists in the face of scientific advances and the controversies they have given rise to. Dealing with a subject now more topical than ever, the exhibition is in keeping with the museum's desire to reflect contemporary cultural and social concerns in its programming.
Artists on show
- Alberto Burri
- Alexander Zhitomirsky
- Amy Sillman
- Ant Farm
- Asger Jorn
- Atsuko Tanaka
- Barbara Kruger
- Barnett Newman
- Bonita Ely
- Boris Mikhailov
- Brion Gysin
- Bruce Conner
- Charles Bittinger
- Chris Burden
- Clairet & Jugnet
- Claude Parent
- Diana Thater
- Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster
- Eduardo Paolozzi
- Enrico Baj
- Erik Bulatov
- Francesco Lo Savio
- Francis Bacon
- Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- Gaetano Pesce
- Gary Hill
- General Idea
- Gianni Dova
- Gregory Corso
- Gustav Metzger
- Guy-Ernest Debord
- Gyorgy Kemeny
- Hans Grundig
- Hélène de Beauvoir
- Henry Moore
- Herbert Matter
- Hessie
- Hi Red Center
- Hilma af Klint
- Hiromi Tsuchida
- Horst Ademeit
- In膩rs Helm奴ts
- Isamu Noguchi
- Isao Hashimoto
- Isidore Isou
- Jaan Elken
- Jackson Pollock
- Jean-Jacques Lebel
- Jessie Homer French
- Jim Shaw
- Julian Charrière
- Jürgen Nefzger
- Justin Herrera
- Kazuo Shiraga
- Kikuji Kawada
- Kiyoji 艑tsuji
- Kiyonori Kikutake
- László Moholy-Nagy
- Le Corbusier
- Loie Fuller
- Luc Tuymans
- Lucio Fontana
- Marcel Duchamp
- Margaret Raspé
- Mikhail Larionov
- Mimi Smith
- Minoru Nakahara
- Miriam Cahn
- Motoharu Jonouchi
- Nancy Spero
- Natacha Nisic
- Nathalie Rebholz
- Natsuyuki Nakanishi
- On Kawara
- Otto Piene
- Peter Watkins
- Piero Manzoni
- Pierre Huyghe
- Pinot Gallizio
- Raoul Hausmann
- Raymond Pettibon
- Richard Pousette-Dart
- Robert Barry
- Roberto Matta
- Salvador Dalí
- Shigeo Hayashi
- Shomei Tomatsu
- Sigmar Polke
- Stefan Rinck
- Susanne Kriemann
- Tatsuo Ikeda
- Tetsumi Kudo
- Thomas Schütte
- Valdis Celms
- Vidya Gastaldon
- Vladimir G. Shevchenko
- Vladimir Yankilevsky
- Vyacheslav Sysoev
- Wassily Kandinsky
- Wifredo Lam
- Wolfgang Paalen
- Wols
- Yayoi Kusama
- Yoko Ono
- Yoshito Matsushige
- Yosuke Yamahata
- Yves Klein
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Profuse but incomplete, 'The Atomic Age: Artists Put to the Test of History,' focuses on artists' views of the nuclear threat, yet struggles to find coherence.
For decades, artists have responded to the possibilities of extinction-level destruction. But advances in nuclear science have also led to innovations in art.
Barnett Newman鈥檚 1946 painting Pagan Void stares you down at the start of 鈥淟鈥櫭俫e atomique: Les artistes 脿 l鈥櫭﹑reuve de l鈥檋istoire鈥� (The Atomic Age: Artists Put to the Test of History), a visual tour of modernity as seen through the lens of nuclear technology.
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