Chaos and Awe: Painting for the 21st Century

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Chaos and Awe: Painting for the 21st Century is a sweeping survey of contemporary art from around the world that weaves together images of the physical world, memories, emotions, and the virtual world.

Works from thirty-six international artists dramatically suggest the powerful, exciting, and destabilizing effects of 21st-century forces such as globalism, mass migration, radical ideologies, and the rapid expansion of technology.

Chaos and Awe’s thesis stems from the 18th-century philosophical idea of the sublime, feeling overwhelmed by the immeasurable nature of God and the natural world. The profound nature of the subject matter, paired with the masterly technique on display, may overwhelm, disturb and thrill audiences. These reactions affirm the enduring ability of painting to communicate nascent and often unnamable ideas, emotions, and sensations.

Chaos and Awe Exhibition — Ghada Amer (b. 1963, Cairo; based in New York)
*Revolution 2.0*, 2011
Embroidery and gel medium on canvas
Collection of Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins, New York
© Ghada Amer, Photo courtesy of Cheim & Read, New York

Watch more artists discuss their works on view in the exhibition.

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Ali Banisadr (b. 1976, Tehran; based in New York) Contact, 2013 Oil on linen Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Mrs. Georgia M. G. Forman, by exchange; Bequest of Arthur B. Michael, by exchange; Elisabeth H. Gates Fund, by exchange; Charles W. Goodyear and Mrs. Georgia M. G. Forman Funds, by exchange; Philip J. Wickser Fund, by exchange; Gift of Mrs. Seymour H. Knox, Sr., by exchange; Gift of Miss Amelia E. White, by exchange, 2014, 2014:8 © Ali Banisadr. Photo: Tom Loonan — Ali Banisadr (b. 1976, Tehran; based in New York)
*Contact*, 2013
Oil on linen
Collection Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York; Gift of Mrs. Georgia M. G. Forman, by exchange; Bequest of Arthur B. Michael, by exchange; Elisabeth H. Gates Fund, by exchange; Charles W. Goodyear and Mrs. Georgia M. G. Forman Funds, by exchange; Philip J. Wickser Fund, by exchange; Gift of Mrs. Seymour H. Knox, Sr., by exchange; Gift of Miss Amelia E. White, by exchange, 2014, 2014:8
© Ali Banisadr. Photo: Tom Loonan

Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga (b. 1991, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; based in Kinshasa) Tambour II, 2016 Acrylic and oil on canvas Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint, MI, 2016.899 © Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga — Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga (b. 1991, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; based in Kinshasa)
*Tambour II*, 2016
Acrylic and oil on canvas
Mott-Warsh Collection, Flint, MI, 2016.899
© Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga

Jiha Moon (b. 1973, Daegu, South Korea; based in Atlanta) Pied de grue, 2012 Ink and acrylic, fabric, and embroidery patches on hanji (mulberry paper) Courtesy of the artist, Curator’s Office, Washington, DC © Jiha Moon — Jiha Moon (b. 1973, Daegu, South Korea; based in Atlanta)
*Pied de grue*, 2012
Ink and acrylic, fabric, and embroidery patches on hanji (mulberry paper)
Courtesy of the artist, Curator’s Office, Washington, DC
© Jiha Moon

Chaos and Awe: Painting for the 21st Century was organized by the Frist Art Museum, Nashville, Tennessee. This exhibition is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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