A female dancer dressed in a special gauze robe swirls and dances under the projection of dozens of colored lights, and her flowing clothes merge with her, presenting a variety of abstract shapes on the screen. This is Lo?e Fuller's iconic "Serpentine Dance", and the dancer in the picture is not Fuller himself. At the end of the 19th century, the Lumière brothers made the film, in which the dancer is a Fuller imitator whose name has been lost. The exhibition begins with this "anonymous" work, like a weightlifting inscription, which vaguely alludes to the bleak suffering of female artists in art history; There is also a question buried behind the anonymity, which draws the audience's footsteps into the exhibition hall - who are they?
Anonym, Snake Dance [II] (Lumière's N°765-I), 1897 – 19 June 1899, hand-coloured 35 mm film, digital transfer, color, silent, 1 minute 2010
Centre Pompidou, Paris, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Design, AM 2010-F8
Fuller's figure is hidden behind the image, but her influence has penetrated from the end of the 19th century to the present. "Snake Dance" introduces the viewer to a white wall lined with portraits of artists, standing in front of this portrait wall, carefully examining their faces and memorizing their names, and finally seeing Roy Fuller's smile. The portrait wall includes all 35 artists in the exhibition, including French artist Sonia Delaunay, American artist Helen Frankenthaler, Japanese-Brazilian artist Lydia Okumura, British artist Bridget Riley, Argentine artist Martha Boto and others. Together, these portraits of artists from around the globe form a bibliography of the world's female abstract art history.
Special exhibition "They and Abstraction" at the West Bund Museum and the Centre Pompidou Quinquennal, exhibition view, West Bund Art Museum, Photo: Gou Mingyao
After last year's touring exhibition at the Centre Pompidou and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, "Women in Abstraction," hosted by Christine Macel, then chief curator of the Centre Pompidou, and a special exhibition unit based on the five-year collaboration between the Centre Pompidou and the West Bund Museum will be officially opened to the public on November 11. Through nearly 100 works by about 35 artists, covering various media such as shelf painting, sculpture, dance, video, photography, and installation, the exhibition outlines the practice of female artists in the field of abstract art in chronological order, and attempts to re-examine the history of abstract art created by women since the end of the 19th century. In addition, initiating a dialogue between China and the West is one of the objectives of the exhibition, although the works of Chinese artists do not appear in the collection of the Centre Pompidou, but the exhibition uses the wall text to initiate a dialogue between Chinese and Western abstract art.
"They and Abstraction" at the quinennial exhibition of the West Bund Museum and the Centre Pompidou, exhibition view, West Bund Art Museum, photo by Alessandro Wang
After World War II, abstraction set off an irresistible wave in Europe and the United States. The two metropolises of Paris and New York welcomed avant-garde artists from all over the world, and it was at this time that Chinese artists such as Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-chun devoted themselves to abstract art creation, and then the Oriental Painting Society, the May Painting Society, and other abstract artists presided over by Chinese artists were born. Abstract Expressionism began in New York, and it is remembered in mainstream art history by male artists such as Jackson Pollock, Marks Rothko, and Willem de Kooning; An abstract art history created by women was finally rewritten and displayed more than half a century later.
Joan Mitchell, Goodbye Door, 1980, oil on canvas, 280 x 720 cm, first: 280 x 200 cm, second: 280 x 160 cm, third: 280 x 160 cm, fourth: 280 x 200 cm, acquired in 1980
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Born in Chicago in 1925, Joan Mitchell was fascinated by the colors of Matisse's paintings and Monet's use of color and brushstrokes from an early age, and more than 40 years later, she moved her studio to Monet's homeland, Veteuil, France. The exhibition features his large-scale abstract expressionist quadruptych Goodbye Gate, in which broad black, blue and green oil paints create an abstract "Monet's garden" on a white background, where the interplay of colors and brushstrokes evokes strong emotions as the artist is leaving New York as he leaves New York.
In France, women artists are engaged in the field of sculpture in the field of abstract art, focusing on different materials such as wood, wire, rock, etc., and exploring the connection between the sculptural form and space. The delicate and warm texture of Marta Pan's Teak is in contrast to its chin or tongs form, and the two parts of the sculpture are hinged together. The modern dance works projected on the walls of the exhibition hall show the sculpture's "speech" method: two dancers, a man and a woman, dance around the sculpture, and finally, the female dancers are firmly bound by this "giant tong", as if to express the imbalance and restraint in the emotional relationship.
Aurely Nemour, cornerstone, 1960, oil on canvas, 89 x 116 cm, donated by Michel Serfort and his wife in 1968
Centre Pompidou, Paris, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Design, AM 4482 P
The women's liberation movement after the 1960s marked the indiscriminate development of the second feminist wave. The dominant position of female artists is becoming more and more prominent at this moment. Many female artists have mastered their own artistic language in the field of abstract art and have shown themselves in a number of artistic trends, such as op art, the "New Tapestry" movement, and "weird" abstraction. The exhibition presents a collection of works by Aurélie Nemour, showcasing her research and contemplation of concrete art. Inspired by Mondrian, she organically combines lines and color blocks to achieve harmony and balance in the picture, which can be regarded as a meditation exercise in the form of paintings. Opposite Nemoull's Untitled (Lines) is Bridget Riley, the first female artist to win the Venice Biennale International Painting Prize and an important figure in Op Art, with Red and Red Triptych. Riley, who is familiar with collage, gives the work a vibrant musicality in this painting with clear color edges and rhythmic repetition of patterns.
Brigitte Riley, Red and Red Triptych, 2010, oil on linen, 169.4 x 570 cm, acquired in 2011 with funding from the Clarence Westboli Foundation and the Private Foundation for Anonymous, 1931
Centre Pompidou, Paris, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Design, AM 2011-303 London (United Kingdom)
Artist Sheila Hicks and her work Pilliar of Inquiry
Photo taken at the "Friends of the Tokyo Palace" dinner at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2014
The exhibition consists of seven sections: "Early Abstraction in Dance and Painting", "Abstraction in Photography and Film in the 20th and 30s of the 20th Century", "Abstract Expressionism in the 50s of the 20th Century", "Abstract Art in the 60s of the 20th Century", and "Outside the Walls: Expanding Abstraction". In section 6, the exhibition presents several huge pieces of fiber art. The "New Tapestry" movement stripped the function of the tapestry from interior decoration, and through fabric, a material that has been branded as feminine since ancient times, abstract women artists tried to use fiber art to break the social construction implied by the material and express their dissatisfaction with structural oppression. Sheila Hicks' abstract sculpture The Pillar of Doubt is the "vantage point" of the exhibition, with iridescent woven yarn hanging from the top of the exhibition hall and piling up on the stand like skirts or splashing waterfalls, colors, textures and materials expressed in forms such as Doric columns or memorial columns.
Ann Veronica Jensens, Rose, 2007, spotlight, fog maker, variable size, 2012 donated by the National Museum of Modern Art Residents' Association, 2011 Contemporary Art Project
Centre Pompidou, Paris, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Design, AM 2012-70
After the 1980s, female artists continued to develop their artistic landscapes in the field of abstraction, extending their creations beyond canvas and walls, and trying to establish an overall perception of space and explore spatial boundaries through the comprehensive use of different materials. The exhibition features works by Lydia Okumura and Ann-Veronica Janssens, who were not shown in the previous two tours. In Untitled III, Okumura uses thin lines and colorful geometric shapes to create three-dimensional spaces on the walls and ground, with no obvious boundaries and lighting creating some of its trompe l'oeil, inviting the viewer to discover the multiple pictorial possibilities of the work as they move their steps. Jensens' "Rose" is in a hazy powder fog, seven rays of light through the suspended fog, forming a light source structure like a seven-pointed star, lingering in this dazzling space, the audience's spatial perception seems to be suspended and addicted.
The exhibition concludes with a set of combing wall statements focusing on the practices of Chinese women artists. The suppression of female artistic creation subjects in Chinese history and the powerful voices of contemporary Chinese female artists after the 1990s have formed a rope that condenses critical reflection and independent expression. Since the 1990s, Chinese female artists have actively created their own unique artistic language, and Yu Hong and other female artists who have just stepped out of school held an exhibition "The World of Women Painters" at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, challenging the male-dominated field of shelf painting; In the field of fiber art, Lin Tianmiao creates feminine aesthetics between individual consciousness and public semantics; Cui Xiuwen, who died the year before, practiced profound spiritual exploration in the field of imaging and photography. The ambition of this exhibition is not limited to the discovery, sorting and display of female abstract artists, but also attempts to set up a space for discussion and reflection based on comparative perspectives and cross-cultural narratives, as curator Marcel said: "We try to transcend Western perspectives in the form of textual narratives and wall texts, giving the audience a broader space to think about Chinese modernity and the meaning of 'abstraction' in the context of Chinese China." ”
Interview with the curator of They and Abstraction
Christina Marcel
（Christine Macel）
Q=Art Journalism/Chinese
A = Christina Marcel
Q: The exhibition at the West Bund Museum toured Paris and Bilbao last year, can you tell us about the origin of the first edition of the exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris? What are the differences and congruences between it and this new version?
2021 Paris Centre Pompidou "They and Abstraction" exhibition view ? Centre Pompidou, photo by Audrey Laurans
A: The exhibition "They and Abstraction" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao reinterprets the history of abstract art. From several germs in the 19th century, to its origins in the early 20th century, all the way to the 1980s, the two prelude exhibitions are presented chronologically and from a global perspective, and cover artistic creation from a number of countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. The exhibition at the West Bund Museum in Shanghai, as part of the five-year exhibition collaboration between the Centre Pompidou and the West Bund Museum, features works by more than 30 artists from the Centre's collection. However, due to the nature of the collection, this exhibition is mainly presented from a Western perspective. We were also able to exhibit works by artists who were not shown in Paris and Bilbao, including Isabelle Waldberg, Anna-Eva Bergman, Pierrette Bloch, etc.; and small features pay homage to important but little-known abstract art figures such as Aurely Nemmour and Geneviève Asse; and introducing some contemporary abstract art creations, such as the works of Ann Veronica Jensens and Lydia Okumura.
Roy Fuller in Dance, circa 1896
Q: The exhibition seems to have many ambitions: to talk about women artists, to question the norms of abstract art, and to establish a dialogue between Chinese and Western artists. How do you weave all of this into a holistic narrative?
A: This exhibition builds on some of the threads of years of research work done for the exhibition "They and Abstraction" in Paris and Bilbao. This rewritten history of women's abstract art particularly questions abstract art studies that limit objects to painting, and the exhibition begins with a performance image of Roy Fuller's Snake Dance. Although the limited collection of the Centre Pompidou did not allow us to present the works of Chinese artists this time, we still tried to transcend Western perspectives in the form of textual narratives and wall texts, giving the audience a broader space to think about Chinese modernity and the meaning of "abstraction" in the Chinese context.
Sonia Delaunay, at her home on Avenue Malle Serb in Paris in 1924
Q: In your article, you say that the exhibition reveals why many female artists would rather stay in the shadow of great men than fight for public recognition. Can you explain why? How does the exhibition touch on this issue?
A: It's not true to say that some female artists "prefer" to be in the shadow of the "great men" around them—they often have no choice for cultural reasons. It is true that some female artists seek recognition less than their male counterparts, while others put their spouses' creations ahead of themselves: this is the case with Sonia Delaunay and Lee Krasner, without whom Jackson Pollock would certainly not have received the international recognition he enjoys today. That is to say, the reasons for the lack or delay in recognition of the work of women artists are often multiple and specific, and must therefore be studied in detail on a case-by-case basis. However, we seem to have to wait until the emergence of feminist consciousness from the United States to Europe in the 1960s to see a genuine, almost systematic, collective rejection of subordination.
Q: How do you see the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western female artists? What are the different problems and dilemmas faced by women artists in the East and the West in an invisible?
A: One of the goals of this exhibition is to initiate a dialogue between China and the West around the aesthetic language of abstract art. The word "abstract" has multiple meanings in China, sometimes very different from what it means in the West—and even in the West, the meaning of the term varies by era and geographical region. The most obvious commonality between women artists working in both Chinese and Western contexts seems to be their invisibilization in abstract art history. Therefore, we can only identify a small number of female artists who used abstract language in the first generation of Chinese abstract artists in the 1950s, and whose creative practice went beyond traditional ink painting. Irene Chou, for example, has exhibited in "They and Abstraction" in Paris and Bilbao. Her work stems from the intersection of traditional Chinese art and Western modernity, and is characteristic of the artistic environment in Hong Kong, China, where the artist has lived since 1949.
Vera Morna, icon, 1964, oil on canvas, 73 x 73 cm, donated by the artist in 2011
Centre Pompidou, Paris, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Design, AM 2011-175
Q: From An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture in New York in 1984 to "They and Abstraction" at the Centre Pompidou in Paris today, the world has changed dramatically. In 2022, female artists received a lot of attention in the art world. For example, at the 59th Venice Biennale, an unprecedented percentage of female artists participated, while male artists were not shortlisted for the Turner Prize. What do you think of this trend? Has the gender gap that once existed in the art world been closed and are women artists receiving enough attention today? Given current trends, are you optimistic about the advancement of women in the art world?
A: It is clear that in recent years, through the research of museum institutions, a large number of thematic exhibitions, group exhibitions or the work of associations such as AWARE (Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions) in France, many women artists have gained attention. However, when we try to organize an exhibition with works selected from the collection of the Centre Pompidou, we can see how much work remains to be done, that the proportion of female artists in the collection or as the subject of exhibitions is still much lower than that of male artists, and that much of the history of abstract art has not yet been incorporated into French and European art galleries, such as the work of women abstract expressionist artists that we rarely see outside the United States. Even as progress is being made at the research level and the positions assigned to women artists in institutional planning are gradually changing, much remains to be done so that this revaluation of value is not just a fleeting fashion effect, but is rooted in art history in a long-term way. It is worth noting, however, that about 40 per cent of today's collections for artists under the age of 50 involve female artists, which can be said to be considerable progress.
Helen Frankenthaler, Springbank, 1974, acrylic on canvas, 273.5 x 269.5 cm, gifted by Mr. and Mrs. Georges de Menier, 1977
Centre Pompidou, Paris, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Design, AM 1977-552
Q: This exhibition has a large time and geographical span. How did you cope with such a vast historical period during the planning process? What are your criteria for selecting artists and works?
A: The collection of the Centre Pompidou constitutes a very specific framework for this exhibition, highlighting the richness of the collection but also facing its limitations. Therefore, this exhibition is not exhaustive, but rather a look at Western abstract art classics from a perspective other than painting, highlighting some decisive turning points in the history of abstract art, and introducing some artists to the Chinese public that they are not familiar with. Finally, it is important that the exhibition presents some contemporary works that could not be shown in the Paris and Bilbao exhibitions.
Q: The exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris is presented in a free line of movement, and the audience can explore between the works according to their wishes. What are the expressive advantages or discretions of this special flow setting compared to traditional linear flow lines? The exhibition in Shanghai will be presented in chronological order, do you have a recommended tour route for Chinese audiences?
A: The exhibition "They and Abstraction" in Paris also follows a chronological order, allowing visitors to discover the multiple meanings of the concept of "abstraction" according to the era and geographical region, from the end of the 19th century to the 1980s. Since history writing is necessarily one-sided and temporary, and multiple historiographical perspectives are constantly being opened, it is important to use exhibition design to let the audience realize that the narrative we provide is only a proposal to be enriched, rather than a strict and fixed one. As a result, exhibitions are designed to allow the viewer to roam between different geographical regions and eras in a fluid and intuitive way. The special exhibition at West Bund and the Centre Pompidou will enable the continuation of this abstract art history by including new artists and extending the timeline to the most contemporary periods. However, chronological combing routes will also reduce the mobility of visitors within the exhibition hall.
Florence Henry, Abstract Composition, 1928–1929, gelatin silver salt print, 25.5 x 38.5 cm, donated by the Martini and Longchetti Gallery, 1978, with the support of the artist
Centre Pompidou, Paris, National Museum of Modern Art - Centre for Industrial Design, AM 1978-461
Q: In the process of preparing and traveling for the exhibition, the real world is changing dramatically—from the coronavirus pandemic to the Russia-Ukraine conflict—has this affected your curatorial work? What challenges did you face in curating this exhibition? With international travel blocked by the pandemic, how did you work remotely with West Bund Art Museum?
A: The West Bund collaboration with the Centre Pompidou has clearly been deeply affected by the current pandemic. Curators and teams were unable to physically visit the site to install works that required precise knowledge to preserve and restore. Luckily, we can do many tasks differently these days—video conferencing has changed our work habits, and the team at West Bund did an excellent job on site.
(Article from TANC)