James Ward presents: American Modernism
A much overdue re-evaluation and celebration of American Modernism at JC Gallery - we look at the key figures who paved the way for later generations in their daring innovations and provocative ideas. From John Marin to Arthur Dove, we look deep into the network of thinkers and recontextualise their relevance in today’s landscape, hoping to bring light to new discoveries for a London audience.
Modernism swept across the world in the early part of the 20th Century originating in Europe with a group of pioneering artists whose ground breaking ideas would shape the world we live in today.
The Americans, who were going through an immense shift due to the industrial revolution, an influx of immigration pouring into its major cities and music exploding with stimulating Jazz, had their own group of artists creating work, abandoning local colours for objects and replacing them with colour, revealing states of feeling and inner reactions to the subject.
These artists inherited attitudes of modesty towards their accomplishments shared by the American painters that preceded them in the late 19th century, particularly when compared with European painting. It was a period of bold experimentation and significant accomplishment. Many of these American modernists never quite had a platform for their important contributions to art history on a European stage. A much overdue re-evaluation and celebration of these accomplishments is at the heart of American Modernism here at JC Gallery - we look at the key figures who paved the way for later generations in their daring innovations and provocative ideas. From John Marin to Arthur Dove, we look deep into the network of thinkers and recontextualise their relevance in today’s landscape, hoping to bring light to new discoveries for a London audience.
