Monochrome Multitudes

Monochrome Multitudes revisits a notoriously hermetic art to reveal its creative possibilities and conceive pedagogical strategies that make abstraction accessible from multiple perspectives. Building on classic North American Modernism featuring “essentialist” flatness, idealized form, and perceptual theories, Monochrome Multitudes opens monochrome art up to culturally resonant color, a range of media, and global influence. The works presented enrich and expand existing histories of “the monochrome” in three ways: articulating cultural, social, political, racial, or gendered meanings of color; emphasizing the hermeneutic significance of materials and media; and engaging North American art in a global dialogue. 

Part of the Museum’s “Expanding Narratives” series, the exhibition reevaluates canonic histories and curatorial strategies through an installation largely drawn from our permanent collection that foregrounds the artistic practices of women, artists of color, and other marginalized communities. What is more, the exhibition will position the “Expanding Narratives” series as a central pillar of the Museum’s future—showcasing progressive museum practices, curricular engagement, and new scholarship.

(C) Smart Museum Arturo Herrera’s work includes collage, works on paper, sculpture, relief, wall painting, photography, and felt wall hangings. His work taps into the viewer’s unconscious—often intertwining fragments of cartoon characters with abstract shapes and partially obscured images that evoke memory and recollection. Using techniques of fragmentation, splicing, and re-contextualization, Herrera’s work is provocative and open-ended. Following his MFA degree from the University of Illinois, Chicago, he has had solo and project-based exhibitions have been held at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK; The Art Institute of Chicago; Whitney Museum of American Art, NY; Dia Center for the Arts, NY; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, NY; Americas Society Art Gallery, NY; ICA Philadelphia; The UCLA Hammer Museum; Museum of Modern Art, NY; and The Renaissance Society of the University of Chicago. Herrera will be represented in Monochrome Multitudes with a Smart Museum-owned work of cartoon characters contemplating monochrome art. 

Arturo Herrera will deliver an artist’s talk on October 6, 2022, 6:00pm (CDT).