Pan American Modernism

Pan American Modernism explores the rich visual dialogue that occurred between 1919 to 1979 among over 60 significant artists from Argentina, Chile, Columbia, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the United States. Rather than perpetuating a North American centered hegemony, which tends to diminish and polarize works of art produced by Latin American artists, the exhibition analyzes how Pan American artistic exchanges construct a fuller understanding of modernism as an international phenomenon across the Americas.

Developed by the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, Pan American Modernism showcases more than 70 important works of art, many of which have not been previously exhibited. This exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, mixed media works, and works on paper that represent the Lowe’s diverse, multi-cultural holdings.  Several influential Pan American artists are represented, including Joaquín Torres-García, Fernando Botero, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, Diego Rivera, Eduardo Abela, Romare Bearden, Lee Krasner, Wifredo Lam, Roberto Matta, Robert Motherwell, Gordon Matta-Clark, Amelia Peláez, Man Ray, Ben Shahn, and Edward Weston among many others.  The inclusion of such seminal artists allows for the examination of topics such as Mexican muralism, abstract expressionism, modernist photography, and geometric abstraction in constructivism, minimalism, and optical art to explore commonalities and disconnects throughout the Americas.

Curated by Dr. Nathan Timpano, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and History, University of Miami, Pan American Modernism is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue published by Lowe Art Museum, with essays by Nathan Timpano, Edward J. Sullivan, and Heather Diack. The exhibition is circulated by International Art & Artists, Washington, D.C.

“Pan American Modernism clearly demonstrates the aesthetic dialogue among diverse movements and creators: Cuban avant-garde, Mexican muralism, American abstract expressionism, among others. Also explored is the impact of geometric abstraction, a tendency that left an important legacy in South America, as well as an influence on movements like Constructivism, Minimalism and Op Art.”

– Ashley Knight, Art Districts Guide Magazine