In recent years there have been several exhibitions overseas focusing on abstraction by artists that identify as female, whom we refer to as “artist women,” such as the The Herstory of Abstraction in East Asia at Taipei Fine Arts Museum (2019) and Women in Abstraction at the Centre Pompidou (2021). These exhibitions questioned the framework of abstraction within existing art history while also seeking to reevaluate abstract art by women artists, each of whom has her own unique background and context.
This exhibition, divided into three sections, draws on the museum’s collection to present diverse forms of abstraction from the immediate postwar period to the present day. Section 1, “Women Artists Association,” focuses on abstract works by members of an art association formed by women shortly after the war in a show of solidarity. Section 2, “Proliferating Circles,” highlights artworks that create spaces by multiplying the motif of the circle. Section 3, “Suppression and Liberation,” brings together works by artists who arrived at an abstract mode of expression through bold simplification and purification of elements.
Our hope is that this exhibition will offer new and compelling perspectives on abstract art.
