ArtExhibitionsBreaking Up
Exhibition

Breaking Up

02/26/2022 to 08/14/2022 Located in Katz Wing for Modern Art

Breaking Up illuminates the many ways in which contemporary artists explore themes of deconstruction and fragmentation through their evolving practices.

Cornelia Parker, Mass (Colder Darker Matter) (Montón [materia más oscura más fría]), 1997. Burnt wood, wire and string. Museum purchase with funds provided by Jan and Howard Hendler.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

Through a wide selection of paintings, photographs, installations, and digital media works drawn from the collection of Phoenix Art Museum, the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation collection, and various private collections of local artists, Breaking Up examines how contemporary artists explore different types of fragmentation, or “breaking up,” through their work. Works by Nancy Rubins, Deborah Butterfield, Rivane Neuenschwander, Lia Chaia, and Cornelia Parker illuminate the process of deconstructing everyday objects or materials like wood, paper, metal, and incense to create alternative structures and spaces that hold new meaning despite their repurposed media. Other works by Angela Ellsworth, Janet Toro, and Frida Orupabo instead take apart and reconfigure one of the most familiar forms: the human body. Finally, videos, paintings, drawings, and more by Kristin Bauer, Michal Rovner, Ronna Nemitz, Jessica Palomo, Marie Navarre, and Beth Ames Swartz, encourage viewers to consider the many ways in which trauma, loss, and abandonment affect perception, memory, language, and the human mind.

Frida Orupabo, Untitled, 2018. Single-channel HD video. © Frida Orupabo from the artist’s Instagram (@nemiepeba). Collection of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation.

Frida Orupabo, Untitled, 2018. Single-channel HD video. © Frida Orupabo from the artist’s Instagram (@nemiepeba). Collection of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation.

Kristin Bauer, Working Title 04 (detail), 2020. Synthetic polymer pigment on canvas. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Grey Shed Studio.

Kristin Bauer, Working Title 04 (detail), 2020. Synthetic polymer pigment on canvas. Courtesy the artist. Photo: Grey Shed Studio.
(Top) Cornelia Parker, Mass (Colder Darker Matter) (Montón [materia más oscura más fría]), 1997. Burnt wood, wire and string. Collection of Phoenix Art Museum, Museum purchase with funds provided by Jan and Howard Hendler.
EXHIBITION SPONSORS

Breaking Up is organized by Phoenix Art Museum and made possible through the generosity of the Museum’s Circles of Support and Museum Members.

RESOURCES

PRESS INFORMATION

Media Images and Credit Lines

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