Pan American Modernism: Avant-Garde Art in Latin America and the United States

“Pan American Modernism clearly demonstrates the aesthetic dialogue among diverse movements and creators: Cuban avant-garde, Mexican muralism, American abstract expressionism, among others. Also explored is the impact of geometric abstraction, a tendency that left an important legacy in South America, as well as an influence on movements like Constructivism, Minimalism and Op Art.”

– Ashley Knight, Art Districts Guide Magazine

Featuring the work of 43 Latin American artists and 26 artists from the United States, Pan American Modernism explores the rich visual dialogue that flourished between artworks of 13 countries in North, South, and Central America in the six turbulent decades between 1919 and 1979. Rather than perpetuate a North American-centric hegemony, which tends to diminish and polarize works of art produced by Latin American artists, the exhibition analyzes how Pan American artistic exchanges, rather than stylistic transmission, have informed a fuller understanding of Modernism as an international phenomenon across the Americas.

Developed by the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami, Pan American Modernismshowcases more than 70 important works of art, many of which have not been previously exhibited. This exhibition includes paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photography, and mixed media works that represent the Lowe’s diverse, multicultural holdings. Several influential Pan American artists are represented, including Eduardo Abela, Romare Bearden, Fernando Botero, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Joaquín Torres-García, Adolph Gottlieb, Hans Hofmann, Lee Krasner, Wifredo Lam, Roberto Matta, Robert Motherwell, Gordon Matta-Clark, Amelia Peláez, Man Ray, Diego Rivera, Ben Shahn, and Edward Weston, among many others. The inclusion of such seminal artists casts a provocative focus on the intricacies of Mexican muralism, abstract expressionism, modernist photography, and geometric abstraction in constructivism, minimalism, and optical art to explore commonalities and disconnects throughout the Americas.

Curated by Dr. Nathan Timpano, Assistant Professor, Department of Art and History at University of Miami, Pan American Modernism is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog published by Lowe Art Museum, with essays by Nathan Timpano, Edward J. Sullivan, and Heather Diack.

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