Off the Wall: postmodern art at Reynolda

When postmodernism was first used to describe contemporary culture during the 1960s, it referred not only to works of art made after the period of modernism but also to art that was against modernism, marking an end to the dominant art movement that had begun with the twentieth century. A simplified explanation of modernism is that artists increasingly embraced the formal qualities of art—its material properties and the processes used to create it. Accordingly, paintings were flat, stretched canvases with surface paint application (no frames needed); sculpture occupied space as a three-dimensional object and emphasized the physical properties and manufacture of its material (clay, wood, marble, and metal). By deliberately placing itself in opposition to modernism, postmodernism was intended as a non-movement and an alternative to the status quo. Artists were free to challenge or ignore any restrictions regarding concept, execution, and presentation of their work.

What, then, does it mean for art (architecture, literature, dance, music, film, fashion) to be “postmodern”? This gallery brings together works of art that are very different, and yet this pluralism of style, subject, and media is in itself postmodern. Why off the wall? Several works are wall relief sculptures and/or have a dimensional element; they are also off the wall in their unorthodoxy, exuberance, and daring.