Gary Simmons, boom. 1996/2003. White pigment and pastel on blackboard-paint primed panel, 10' 5 1/8" x 17' 4 7/8" (317.8 x 530.5 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the Friends of Contemporary Drawing and of the Friends of Education of The Museum of Modern Art, 1999. © 2006 Gary Simmons. Courtesy Metro Pictures, New York

NEW YORK.- The Museum of Modern Art presents Comic Abstraction: Image-Breaking, Image-Making, March 4–June 11, 2007. Comic Abstraction: Image-Breaking, Image-Making brings together 13 contemporary artists whose works offer a rich account of the interplay between abstraction and comic models of representation. While many art exhibitions have explored the impact of mass culture on contemporary art, they have generally focused on ubiquitous figuration and easily identifiable pop characters and themes. This exhibition approaches the topic from a different angle, looking at how artists—particularly those working in the last 15 years—have abstracted images culled from slapstick, comic strips and films, caricature, cartoons, and animation to address perplexing questions about war and global conflicts, the loss of innocence, and racial stereotyping. Bridging the rift between abstraction and comics in ways that are at once critical and playful, Comic Abstraction underscores the way popular imagery, which is so deeply imprinted on our collective consciousness, carries an extreme visual potency even when totally abstracted... lire la suite sur http://www.artdaily.com/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=19450

Inka Essenhigh, Born Again. 1999-2000, Enamel on canvas, 7' 6" x 6' 6". Tate, Purchased 2001. © 2006 Inka Essenhigh.

Michel Majerus, "Untitled", 1990, Boros Collection/Estate of Michel Majerus/Friedrich Petzel Gallery

Michel Majerus, "Eggsplosion", 2002, Collection of David Teiger/Estate of Michel Majerus

Rivane Neuenschwander, “Zé Carioca No. 4” (2004), The Museum of Modern Art

Ellen Gallagher,  “Oh! Susanna” (1993), Collection of Michael and Joan Salke

Sue Williams, "Momís Foot Blue and Orange" (1997), The Museum of Modern Art

Polly Apfelbaum, "Blossom" (2000), courtesy of Polly Apfelbaum and DiAmelio Terass, New York

Philippe Parreno, "Speech Bubbles" (1997), courtesy of Philippe Parreno and Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York

Takashi Murakami, "Milk" (1998), Collections of Peter Norton and Eileen Harris Norton

Juan Munoz, "Waiting for Jerry" (1991), estate of Juan Munoz

courtesy of www.nytimes.com