It's not just a solid black print. Creep in and notice six veiled geometric squares.
Kresge Art Museum curator April Kingsley says she included the Ad Reinhardt piece as a challenge in the new Blast From The Past exhibit, which opened today. All the art is owned by Kresge and has been taken from storage to make up the groovy exhibition. There are 55 works in the exhibit.
The exhibit is partitioned into two rooms. One room contains art, which is done simply for art's sake. There is no message; just colors, strokes and prints. One of the rooms contains color field paintings with bare canvases left exposed with experimental paint forms and shapes in the forefront.
One wall in the room is dedicated to pop art. The pop art movement started in the 1950s, but only really took off in 1962. A screen of Jacqueline O'Nassis done by Andy Warhol is the most recognizable. It's a purple background with a double of O'Nassis printed over it.
Roy Lichtenstein translates cartoons to art. He has a painting in the exhibit of a young blonde woman singing into a microphone. Also featured is Chaes Oldenberg whose painting was a proposal for a structure in Lansing that never came to fruition.
Other art styles are op art, or optical art. Included is an eye-spinning holographic painting done by Joseph Levi. There also are pieces done in the geometric abstraction style. The focus of these are, as the name relays, on shapes.
The next room is a melange of figurative expressionism and abstract expressionism. The colors of the paintings in the room are slightly dimmer. There are truly some treasures ensconced in this room, including paintings of the human figure done in abstract undertones. Lester Johnson's "Three Figures" is an entrancing black and white canvas of three men created with drips of paint. A Nicholas Marsicano nude piece of two women is a prime example of melting pot between abstract and real human form. Also notable is the Robert DeNiro Sr. painting and Grace Hartigan piece that's done entirely of body parts done in striking oranges, blues and shades of burgundy.
Many art students came to see the paintings on opening day.
"You can see it in the books, but it's the visual dynamism that comes in," said Daniel Berhanemeskel, a studio art graduate student.
He pointed to the largest painting in the collection as his favorite.
"It kind of swallows you, moves you," he said.
Rob Kolomyski, a studio art graduate student also attended the exhibit.
"I'm getting to see artists I've never heard of, but there's a lot of lesser-known artist with strong work here," he said.
The exhibit is far out, yet manages to bring interesting experimental art from the '60s to the present. The styles of art on display are interesting to look at, but lack the essentially provocative aura.
This specific aesthetic caters to anyone with an interest in modern art and the exhibition will be at Kresge until March 19.
