Extreme Abstraction

Friday, July 15, 2005–Sunday, October 2, 2005

Entire Museum and Campus

Extreme Abstraction was a major exhibition surveying of the history and future of abstraction that spanned the Albright-Knox’s three buildings and extended onto its outdoor campus during the summer and fall of 2005. Site-specific commissions by contemporary artists were juxtaposed with seminal works and recent acquisitions from the museum’s collection to shape a visual trajectory of abstraction in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Allowing contemporary artists to revisit the museum’s history and filter it through their own perspectives, this intermingling of historical and contemporary art emphasized the Albright-Knox’s ongoing support of artists working in abstraction in all of its varied forms, from emotive and highly gestural expressions to cool and crisp architectonic explorations of design and structure.

This exhibition was organized by Director Louis Grachos and Associate Curator Claire Schneider.

Exhibition Sponsors

This exhibition was made possible through the generous support of Charles W. and Penny Banta; Collins & Maxwell, LLP; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Dirikson; Judge and Mrs. John T. Elfvin; Mr. and Mrs. Peter B. Flickinger; Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro; Roberta and Michael Joseph; Kevin W. and Karen Kennedy; The Seymour H. Knox Foundation Inc.; Dolly and Herbert Ladds, Jr.; Rosina Lee Yue and Bert Lies, Jr.; Norman Mack II; Nancy and Robert Magoon; Moog Inc.; The John R. Oishei Foundation; Joann and Gifford Phillips; Deborah Ronnen; Mr. and Mrs. Barclay Simpson; Sotheby’s; Howard and Leslie Zemsky; and an anonymous donor.

The Liver Is the Cock's Comb, 1944

Arshile Gorky

Abstract shapes loosely resembling animal or human body parts populate this abstract landscape. These forms, painted in many different hues of red, yellow, blue, orange, white, and green, boldly stand against a background in more neutral shades of brown and gray-blue. Thin black lines delineate some of the forms, while others are boundless fields of color.

New York, N.Y., 1953

Franz Kline

An abstract arrangement of broad black brushstrokes appears against a mostly solid white background. One stroke extends from the top to bottom of the painting along its right edge and another two of similar length appear near the left edge. Other, shorter strokes extend horizontally and diagonally among these vertical elements. The black lines could resemble in outline the type of buildings and bridges that populate New York City’s skyline.

Convergence, 1952

Jackson Pollock

Orange and Yellow, 1956

Mark Rothko

Two hazily painted rectangles, one yellow and the second a burnt orange, float against an orange creamsicle colored background, which is visible along the margins of the canvas and in a strip separating the two rectangles. The yellow rectangle is smaller, extending about a third of the way down from the top of the canvas. The burnt orange rectangle fills much of the bottom two thirds of the canvas.

Sommernachtstraum (Summer Night's Dream), 1957

Hans Hofmann

Femme et oiseaux dans la nuit (Woman and Birds in the Night), 1945

Joan Miró

No. 15, 1952

Ad Reinhardt

The Whiteness of the Whale, 1957

Sam Francis

Royal Game I, 1961

Louise Nevelson

Instabile-continuel lumière (Unstable-Continual Light), ca. 1962

Julio Le Parc

Acceleration #15, Series B, 1962

Jean-Pierre Yvaral

Orange Crush, 1963

Larry Poons

Light blue polka dots randomly pepper the solidly orange-colored surface of this large square canvas. Neat rows of six or seven dots line the painting’s edges. The contrast between the vibrant orange and pale blue creates an optical effect that makes it appear as if the blue dots are vibrating.

Alpha, 1960

Morris Louis

Stripes of orange, black, yellow, blue, and red stream from the left and right sides of this large, horizontally oriented abstract painting. The stripes are thickest near the top of the canvas and grow thinner as they reach the bottom. A large expanse of raw canvas yawns between these colored passages.

Yellow Half, 1963

Kenneth Noland

Atmosphère chromoplastique no. 106 (Chromoplastic Atmosphere No. 106), 1963

Luis Tomasello

Rythme coloré (Colored Rhythm), 1958

Sonia Delaunay

Untitled, 1962-1963

Robert Irwin

Untitled, 1964

Larry Bell

Untitled (#B-133), 1964

Tadasuke Kuwayama

Fez, 1964

Frank Stella

Bois-tiges de fer, 1964

Jesús Rafael Soto

Lens Picture No. 15, 1964

Karl Gerstner

Gandabrod Ball II, 1965

Henry Pearson

Bora III, 1964

Victor Vasarely

Simurgh, 1965

Josef Levi

Iridescence, 1965

Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz

Drift 2, 1966

Bridget Riley

Interférences Optiques (Optical Interferences), 1965

Martha Boto

Untitled, 1966

Craig Kauffman

Bronze Star, 1967

Howard Jones

Polarity, 1966

Peter Sedgley

Kinetic Painting III, 1967

Francis Michael Celentano

Zig-Zag, 1967

Beverly Pepper

Structure permutationnelle (Permutational Structure), 1963-1966

Francisco Sobrino

Blue, Yellow and Red, 1968

Ellsworth Kelly

Flat Rate II, 1969

Lyman Kipp

Scarlet Diamond, 1969

Ilya Bolotowsky

Untitled (#E-111), 1969

Tadasuke Kuwayama

Vega-Nor, 1969

Victor Vasarely

A brightly colored grid stands out in sharp contrast against the dark blue and green background of this large-scale square painting. At the center of the work, the artist distorted the grid to create the optical illusion of a large spherical shape bulging out of this flat surface.

Bond, 1969

Alexander Liberman

Relief No. 278, 1970

Sérgio de Camargo

Serie 14 No. 2, 1970

Julio Le Parc

Roundabout, 1970

Jack Youngerman

Free Standing Painting, 1971

Yaacov Agam

Structure transparente (Transparent Structure), 1969

Martha Boto

Sequential, 1972

César Paternosto

Untitled, 1973

Leon Polk Smith

No image available,
but we’re working on it

Sequel, 1975

Bridget Riley

The Tree, 1965

Agnes Martin

Tutti-Frutti, 1966

Helen Frankenthaler

Vein, 1985

Bridget Riley

Hors Concours, 1974

Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi

Eyeballer 6, 2003

Gregory Kucera

Reclining Figure, 1935-1936

Henry Moore

This wooden sculpture could abstractly resemble a reclining female body. The dark brown wood is polished to reveal the wood grain and knots throughout the form. The figure’s legs seem to be gently bent, and she appears to be resting on her elbows, with her head propped upright. The artist left the torso as an empty space, allowing viewers to see through the sculpture.

Composition No. 11, 1940-42--LONDON, with Blue, Red and Yellow, 1940-1942

Piet Mondrian

Peut-être No. II (Maybe No. II), ca. 1959

Jean Tinguely

Red Rhythm (Series developed from "The Mathematical Basis of Art"), ca. 1934

Joseph Schillinger

Reclining Figure No. 1, 1959

Henry Moore

The Cry, 1962

Isamu Noguchi

January 1947, 1947

Clyfford Still

1949-H, 1949

Clyfford Still

1949-M, 1949

Clyfford Still

October 1950, 1950

Clyfford Still

November 1950-No. 2, 1950

Clyfford Still

January 1950-D, 1950

Clyfford Still

Peristyle: Five Lines, 1963-1964

George Rickey

Spatiodynamique 22, 1954

Nicolas Schöffer

Diamond—#I of III, 1967

Antoni Milkowski

Cubi XVI, 1963

David Smith

Cigarette, 1961 (fabricated 1967)

Tony Smith

Homage to the Square: Terra Caliente, 1963

Josef Albers

Transparent Sculpture IV, 1968

Louise Nevelson

Homage to the Square: Dedicated, 1955

Josef Albers

Constellation-Punctuation, 1956

Jean (Hans) Arp

Animated Circle Picture, 1935

Sophie Taeuber-Arp

Composition with Circles and Semi-Circles

Concetto spaziale, Attese (Spatial Concept, Waiting), 1960

Lucio Fontana

Big Red, 1970-1971

James Rosati

Untitled, 1969

Donald Judd

Ten identical boxes industrially fabricated out of galvanized iron and orange Plexiglas protrude seemingly weightlessly from the wall in a vertical stack. Each box is separated from the unit above and below by a space equal to its height. When lit from above, the sculpture casts a dramatic pattern of orange and gray shadows on the adjacent walls and floor.

Wild Indigo, 1967

Kenneth Noland

Twenty-eight stripes of different colors and widths run the width of this horizontally oriented painting. The very clearly defined bands are separated by pencil-thin stripes of unpainted canvas. While the colors used vary, they are mostly distinct hues of red, green, and blue.

Cock, 1963

Carl Andre

untitled (to Donna) 6, 1971

Dan Flavin

A square of fluorescent tube lights mounted in white aluminum fixtures sits on the floor in front of a corner of the gallery space. The lights that make up the top and the bottom of the frame shine bright blue light outward. The lights that make up the right and left of the frame cast yellow and pink light into the corner behind the sculpture.

Study for "Autour d'un point", ca. 1912

František Kupka

Rouleau de grillage au chiffon rouge (Roll of Chicken Wire with Red Rag), 1970

Antoni Tàpies

D IV, 1922

László Moholy-Nagy

Black Spot No. 3, 1919

Georgia O'Keeffe

Rounded biomorphic forms fill the majority of this painting. Those at upper left are blue, those in the bottom half are cream, those at the base and upper right are turquoise, and a sliver of lilac is wedged between dark blue and turquoise forms at top center. Two black diagonal stripes overlap in the center of the picture’s upper half and are held within a pistil-like, white form tinged rose that rises diagonally from the lower right.

Zinkkiste (Zinc Box), 1970

Joseph Beuys

Achrome, 1961

Piero Manzoni

Letter Tenement, 1960

Claes Oldenburg

3-B Half-Off Piece, 1971

Sol LeWitt

Composition, ca. 1921

Alexandra Exter

Color-Construction, 1919

Georgy Stenberg

Traits, plans, profondeur (Lines, Planes, Depth), ca. 1920-1922

František Kupka

Untitled No. 19, New York, 1938

Charles Joseph Biederman

Composition, ca. 1918-1920

Alexander Rodchenko

Reconstruction #28, 1977

Lucas Samaras

Four Untitled Pieces from The Twenty-six Series, 1967

Richard Tuttle

#28-1960, 1960

John McLaughlin

Dusk, 1970

Richard Joseph Anuszkiewicz

Untitled (#B-125), 1964

Tadasuke Kuwayama

Cercles et demi-cercles, 1952

François Morellet

5th Study of Masurian Lakes, 1981

Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe

Four Chances, 1982

Kenneth D. Snelson

Untitled, 1969

Jean Pierre Pincemin

Crowded Hearts, 1987

John Chamberlain

Crumpled and compacted pieces of red, silver, and white metal from old cars form freestanding, pillar-like shape. The metal is mostly shiny but is battered and rusted in some places.

Citadel, 1962

Gene Davis

Kitty Hawk, 1983

Richard Serra

Fallen Painting, 1968

Lynda Benglis

Over the Edge, 1992

Peter Halley

A light gray-green square sits slightly above center and fills much of this square canvas. L shapes of varying widths in cream, burnt orange, black, and mustard yellow extend from the square into the taupe-colored margins above and to the left and right of the square. Two additional brighter yellow L shapes, one dramatically thicker than the other, extend from the square into the burgundy-colored margin below the square.

[No title], 1994

Jessica Stockholder

STRIPSEARCH, 1998

Jason Martin

Unruhiges Bild mit Einseitigem Gewicht, 1986

Helmut Federle

Abstraktes Bild (Abstract Painting), 1984

Gerhard Richter

Abstraktes Bild/No.522-1 (Abstract Painting /No.552-1)

49 Greys, 2001

Peter Wegner

Surprise, Surprise, 2003

Tim Bavington

Buckminster Fuller's Proposal to Isamu Noguchi for the New Abstraction of Total Reflection, 2003

Josiah McElheny

Pushed, Pulled, Depleted, & Duplicated #7, 2002-2003

Karin Davie

Localised Discussion Screen, 2001

Liam Gillick

Whitey, 2003

Kenneth Price

Color Ritual, 1971

Lynda Benglis

Pools - Cocowalk [Miami], 2003

Sarah Morris

Half the Time, 2003

James Nares

Untitled, 2003

Ruth Root

Untitled, 2003

Andy Collins

Double Orange Climber, 2001

Teresita Fernández

Vision Master I, 2003

Ara Peterson

Le petit sphinx (The Small Sphinx), 1942

Jean (Hans) Arp

Spectrum of Hackney Road I, 2002-2003

David Batchelor

Fold #88, 2004

Linda Besemer

Untitled, 2002

Olivier Mosset

Boldwood, 2003

Lisa Stefanelli

Luxe (DeLuxe, ReDux), 2003

Yek

Rainbow Rotation, 1995

Linda Stark

Reckless from the series "Fallen Paintings", 1998

Polly Apfelbaum

Arrow, 1991

John McCracken

#515, 2001-2004

David Reed

Gray-Blue from the series Fog, 2003

Susie Rosmarin

G.E Standard Lightbulbs, 2004-2005

Louis Cameron

Stacked Revision Structure, 2005

Liam Gillick

Light Matrix, 2005

Leo Villareal

Small white dots of varying brightness speckle a wall of ten panels of dark-colored glass as seen from the outside. These dots seem to fit into a matrix of horizontal and vertical rows but without a discernable pattern. This wall of windows only fills the bottom half of the image, and a sky filled with ominously dark clouds is visible above.

Failed Back, 2004

Clare Woods

American Express, 2004

Louis Cameron

Reynolds Wrap, 2004-2005

Louis Cameron

Plaza, 2005

Jim Lambie

Citoanima Demopylea, 2003

Ernesto Neto

PMU No. 22, 2005

Roxy Paine

Untitled (right leaning yellow 51), 2005

Paul Sarkisian

Untitled, 1993

Jennifer Steinkamp

Curious Orange, 2005

John Tremblay

Koolpop #12, 2003

Carrie Yamaoka

Painting PTG.0030 A-K, 2005

Eric and Heather ChanSchatz

PLW.0061-PLW.0077, 2005

Eric and Heather ChanSchatz

Meeting Point 3, 2004

Franz West

Malerei, 2002-2004

Adrian Schiess

Yellow Painting, 1997

Joseph Marioni

2001, 2001

Liz Larner

Idiot Stick 16, 2005

David Batchelor

Mod Lang, 2001

Jeremy Blake

Zobop (Stairs), 2003

Jim Lambie

Extreme Abstraction

Exhibition Sponsors

Related Artworks

The Liver Is the Cock's Comb, 1944

New York, N.Y., 1953

Convergence, 1952

Orange and Yellow, 1956

Sommernachtstraum (Summer Night's Dream), 1957

Femme et oiseaux dans la nuit (Woman and Birds in the Night), 1945

No. 15, 1952

The Whiteness of the Whale, 1957

Royal Game I, 1961

Instabile-continuel lumière (Unstable-Continual Light), ca. 1962

Acceleration #15, Series B, 1962

Orange Crush, 1963

Alpha, 1960

Yellow Half, 1963

Atmosphère chromoplastique no. 106 (Chromoplastic Atmosphere No. 106), 1963

Rythme coloré (Colored Rhythm), 1958

Untitled, 1962-1963

Untitled, 1964

Untitled (#B-133), 1964

Fez, 1964

Bois-tiges de fer, 1964

Lens Picture No. 15, 1964

Gandabrod Ball II, 1965

Bora III, 1964

Simurgh, 1965

Iridescence, 1965

Drift 2, 1966

Interférences Optiques (Optical Interferences), 1965

Untitled, 1966

Bronze Star, 1967

Polarity, 1966

Kinetic Painting III, 1967

Zig-Zag, 1967

Structure permutationnelle (Permutational Structure), 1963-1966

Blue, Yellow and Red, 1968

Flat Rate II, 1969

Scarlet Diamond, 1969

Untitled (#E-111), 1969

Vega-Nor, 1969

Bond, 1969

Relief No. 278, 1970

Serie 14 No. 2, 1970

Roundabout, 1970

Free Standing Painting, 1971

Structure transparente (Transparent Structure), 1969

Sequential, 1972

Untitled, 1973

Sequel, 1975

The Tree, 1965

Tutti-Frutti, 1966

Vein, 1985

Hors Concours, 1974

Eyeballer 6, 2003

Reclining Figure, 1935-1936

Composition No. 11, 1940-42--LONDON, with Blue, Red and Yellow, 1940-1942

Peut-être No. II (Maybe No. II), ca. 1959

Red Rhythm (Series developed from "The Mathematical Basis of Art"), ca. 1934

Reclining Figure No. 1, 1959

The Cry, 1962

January 1947, 1947

1949-H, 1949

1949-M, 1949

October 1950, 1950

November 1950-No. 2, 1950

January 1950-D, 1950

Peristyle: Five Lines, 1963-1964

Spatiodynamique 22, 1954

Diamond—#I of III, 1967

Cubi XVI, 1963

Cigarette, 1961 (fabricated 1967)

Homage to the Square: Terra Caliente, 1963

Transparent Sculpture IV, 1968

Homage to the Square: Dedicated, 1955

Constellation-Punctuation, 1956

Animated Circle Picture, 1935

Concetto spaziale, Attese (Spatial Concept, Waiting), 1960

Big Red, 1970-1971