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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot)

@miacontemporary.bsky.social

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Sharing artworks from the Minneapolis Institute of Art's Contemporary Art department. Not associated with the Minneapolis Art Institute. Automated thanks to @andreitr.bsky.social and @botfrens.bsky.social

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 6h

Prospects collections.artsmia.org/art/4394

Abstraction with six horseshoe shapes.
Guston was a renowned painter of abstract art when he turned to figurative painting in the mid-1960s. "There is something ridiculous and miserly in the myth we inherit from abstract art,” he said. “That painting is autonomous, pure and for itself, therefore we habitually analyze its ingredients and define its limits. But painting is ‘impure.’ It is the adjustment of ‘impurities’ which forces its continuity. We are image-makers and image-ridden.” This statement and sentiment became a professional motto. Using a lexicon of light bulbs, shoes, cigarettes, clocks, and other consumer goods, Guston’s work becomes a contemporary poem ridden with images.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 9h

Untitled collections.artsmia.org/art/5914

Abstraction. Black ground with linear forms (faces, crosses).
This stark interpretation of an African mask combines several recurrent themes in Brown's work. Brown has often sought to convey the primordial ritual strength found in African and other non-western art, and another of his long-time interests is graffiti. In his series of "black paintings" from the 1980s, of which this is one, he drew simplified motifs into a background of black paint. Brown also makes etchings, and in this painting he used a technique analogous to etching, gouging the lines out of the paint layer with a pointed instrument. The linear alterations reflect light, which the eye perceives as a two-dimensional pattern.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 13h

Untitled 752 collections.artsmia.org/art/109261

dress-shaped open-work form covered in white wax with several white candles embedded around bottom edge
Untitled 752 is one of Petah Coyne’s beloved “girls,” a nickname the artist gives to all of her hanging sculptures. Like her sisters, Untitled 752 is an eerie combination of beauty and decay – underneath a thick layer of white wax lie remnants of found objects, their once delicate forms disfigured by the wax coating. The accrual of objects and surface in Coyne’s work can be viewed as symbolic of our own experiences. We all retain memories of relationships and incidents from our pasts, and while older memories may fade as we accumulate new ones, their presence always remains. Coyne emphasizes the potency of memory in her use of found objects, which she believes carry the residue of their former use.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 13h

An Exile Dreaming of Saint Adorno collections.artsmia.org/art/109173

openwork structure with glass walls; person with head on desk inside; bedroom inside; human spine hanging at one corner; balcony on one side with figure leaning head on hand with halo on head
In 1960, 21 year old Siah Armajani left his native Iran to study at Macalester College in St. Paul, where he majored in philosophy but dreamed of being an artist. Today he is a world-renowned sculptor whose work articulates both his lifelong passion for art and ideas, and his experience of living in a culture that is not his own. In this work, Armajani explores exile as a physical, political, and emotional condition. He quotes Alberto Giacometti's surrealist masterpiece, The Palace at 4 a.m. (1932), which resembles a miniature stage on which a mysterious play is being enacted. Similarly, Armajani's cagelike structure is inhabited by a faceless figure who sleeps at a desk; outside and above, another watches. The two are frozen in this voyeuristic tableau, forever separated by the sculpture's closed doors and glass walls. Armajani's title references Theodor Adorno, the German philosopher who fled his native country during the Nazi regime. For him, exile was an ethical choice. As he wrote, "It is part of morality not to be at home in one's home."

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 15h

Untitled (For John and Alice) collections.artsmia.org/art/4049

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

#13 collections.artsmia.org/art/89567

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: In the mountains of Laos the untamed jungles were infested with man-eating tigers. The Hmong had to trap and kill many tigers before it was safe to live there. Fields had to be cleared for housing and farming.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Before the Steam Iron collections.artsmia.org/art/21115

Still life.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Untitled collections.artsmia.org/art/127013

large, white canvas with crisscrossing pencil grid lines; abstract, quilt-like motif following gridlines at center of canvas, bursting into grid in greens, blue, yellow, and gold leaf
The work Untitled (2016) fits squarely into Orozco’s ongoing exploration of nature and artificiality. Like the majority of Orozco’s paintings, the work utilizes a square canvas as the support for a complex grid of vertical, horizontal, and in this case, diagonal intersecting lines drawn in pencil. However, unlike previous works which almost exclusively employ a the diagrammatic logic of the circle, Untitled (2016) is comprised primarily of small triangular shapes in a soothing palette of greens, blues, turquoise, yellows, and gold leaf reminiscent of sunlit foliage. Starting from the center, as both a vanishing point and center of gravity, the composition begins as a dense cluster of triangles that mimic the tesserae pattern of a mosaic. This motif radiates outward from the center with varying density, gradually dissipating as it moves further from the epicenter, creating a dizzying ripple-like effect similar to that of waves reverberating on a puddle of water. In the past, the artist has likened similar compositions to that of the Big Bang, explaining, “The bubbling, it starts with that, the universe being a big bang from a bubble and the bubble grows—it’s kind of a universe in expansion.”

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Neue Schatten II collections.artsmia.org/art/95924

abstract image; irregular color fields, mainly in autumn colors--red, orange, yellow, tan brown, blue-black; sketchy lines in blue-black and brown scattered throughout

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Return to E collections.artsmia.org/art/65019

abstract pattern of linear shapes in pinks, white, maroon, blues and green; green diagonal at right

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

#31 collections.artsmia.org/art/89585

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: As a last resort the former Hmong CIA army picked up their arms and banded together to defend themselves on Phu Bia Mountain. There the communist army slaughtered the Hmong.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

#28 collections.artsmia.org/art/89582

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: With the communists committing genocide against the Hmong, the people left Laos. Usually whole villages would leave together, with as many as 5000. Only half would ever make it across to Thailand.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Cube (9 x 9 x 9) collections.artsmia.org/art/109122

black openwork barbed wire cube with 8" sections repeated
Everything about this sculpture, from its imposing physical presence to its construction of barbed wire, seems to be threatening and dangerous. Mona Hatoum's use of a provocative material reflects her belief that content should be conveyed through aesthetic and formal elements. She describes her work as being "…about presenting the audience with a set of objects and materials that may have certain associations and may bring out general feelings of discomfort or uncertainty, and this will be different for each person."

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Labyrinth Box (2) collections.artsmia.org/art/11711

“Labyrinth is a way of seeing it – seeing it through.”—John Willenbecher John Willenbecher is attracted to labyrinths as a pattern and an idea. While they allude to traveling or journeys, they also have a strong formal quality. In Labyrinth Box, the complex pattern can be traced visually from top to center. Willenbecher plays with spatial ambiguity by presenting the labyrinth path, horizontal by nature, vertically, and in front of a circle of 18 spheres that evoke the night sky. In spite of these and other disorienting visual devices, Willenbecher is not concerned with creating a sense of fear or confusion in his labyrinths. Instead, he explained, “I like the idea of being able to progress at a steady pace; after all the variations you come out at the end.” Today, visitors daily walk and run the path of Willenbecher’s monumental Labyrinth, an installation in the museum’s Target Park.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Untitled collections.artsmia.org/art/20919

Abstraction.
In 1960, George Morrison was at the forefront of Abstract Expressionism, experimenting with materials and subject matter like other artists of the New York School. He was Native American, and he was in the midst of the most avant-garde art scene of the time. Morrison didn’t limit himself to the expectations of others about what Native art should encompass in subject matter or design. In paintings like this one, Morrison experimented with thickly applied paint to create raised, even sculptural, surfaces—which was possible due to the introduction of quick-drying acrylic paints in the 1960s. Conservation of this picture was made possible by a generous contribution from Paula Vesely through the Art Champions program.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Linear Still Life collections.artsmia.org/art/2807

Linear Still Life

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

#11 collections.artsmia.org/art/89565

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: The Hmong once again had to leave their homes. This time many of us left China for good. We found untamed and unoccupied land in Southeast Asia (Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and Burma).

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

#34 collections.artsmia.org/art/89588

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: If you made it across the river, Thai officials take you to a refugee camp to register. Although the refugee camps are a lot better, Thai police often abuse the refugees' human rights.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Goat over Dog collections.artsmia.org/art/95925

abstracted image; mottled white ground; red goat body in URC kicking the chin of a brown dog in LRC

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Untitled, from "i-jusi" collections.artsmia.org/art/109889

five rows of 30 total images of painted portraits of men and women; each numbered; all are black people except #28 (white man); image of electric hair clippers with "Bruno / Signs" in cursive over clippers at bottom center; address and phone numbers printed in LLC
i-jusi is the name of an internationally renowned, experimental South African graphic design magazine edited and published by graphic artist Garth Walker. Roughly translated as “juice” in Zulu, i-jusi was first released in 1995, one year after the end of apartheid in South Africa, as a cultural and artistic response to the country’s newly established democratic state. For 15 years, i-jusi has encouraged South African artists to remove themselves from the influence of Western aesthetics and create “a visual language rooted in the African experience.” At its very core, the publication asks the question, “What makes me African'” The i-jusi Portofolio features examples of the most iconic images by South African artists who contributed to the magazine during its run, including David Goldblatt, Anton & Mark Kannemeyer, Brandt & Conrad Botes, Brode Vosloo, and Pieter Hugo. The portfolio consists of 10 lithographs, each signed by the artist, which were selected by designer Garth Walker and art publisher and gallerist Gavin Rooke. The portfolio is a survey of i-jusi’s long history as well as a condensed visual documentary of South Africa’s artists as they journey through the aftermath of apartheid.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Horus collections.artsmia.org/art/22101

Horus

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Model for Proposed Exhibition collections.artsmia.org/art/12087

Rectangular box, painted on 4 sides; four photos attached to top; model of a baffel for an exhibition

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Untitled collections.artsmia.org/art/8772

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (Hand Shaped Earring) collections.artsmia.org/art/109149

head and shoulders of figure wearing floral headpiece, brown scarf around shoulders and bronze-colored hand shaped earrings
Using makeup, costumes, painting, and sometimes digital manipulation, Morimura Yasumasa has explored the intersection of art and identity by impersonating portraits of famous individuals from art history. He’s posed as Vincent van Gogh, Marilyn Monroe, the Mona Lisa, and, in this case, Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist known for her lush, surreal self-portraits. Morimura, who calls himself a cross between an actor and a visual artist, says of the work, “The various elements of . . . Frida and myself mix into a muddle and a chemical reaction occurs, creating this imaginary Frida of mine.” Kahlo’s Mexican shawl has become a stylish Louis Vuitton wrap, and instead of fresh flowers Morimura wears a tiara of artificial blossoms.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Untitled collections.artsmia.org/art/4759

Abstraction. Triangular shaped; shapes cut from Masonite, glued together and painted various colors.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Departure, Red Rock Variation: Lake Superior Landscape collections.artsmia.org/art/4567

Landscape.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The Touch collections.artsmia.org/art/13071

Abstraction. thin ground of swirling purple, brown and green with fingerprints in green and pink at center. Unsigned (checked 2/01)

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Deny IV collections.artsmia.org/art/2573

Op art

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Tahkt-I-Sulayman Variation II collections.artsmia.org/art/1704

Abstract.
In 1967, Frank Stella began a series of brightly colored paintings based on the protractor, a drafting tool used for measuring and making angles. With this device he made three semicircular designs including the one you see here, called the “rainbow.” These designs are the basis for the many paintings in his Protractor series. Stella titled the works after circular cities and archaeological sites he saw on a 1963 trip to the Middle East: Tahkt-i-Sulayman is an ancient shrine in Iran’s Azerbaijan province. But Stella has insisted that the meaning of his work is purely formal: “My painting is based on the fact that only what can be seen there is there. It really is an object...You can see the whole idea without any confusion. What you see is what you see.”

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

You Remember How Very Special the Moment Was collections.artsmia.org/art/4051

Landscape. Abstracted. Painted frame

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Singing Man collections.artsmia.org/art/109311

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Picture of Money (Sanjusangendo) collections.artsmia.org/art/126299

tan ground; multicolored color fields; white line drawn smiley faces overall; details of various design elements from currency--scrolls and other decorative elements; various numbers ("1000", "5000"); English and Japanese text; paper mounted on board with four "handles" cut into back
Chihiro Mori’s work takes the chaotic fragments of urban life as its building blocks, bombarding us with the signs and symbols we encounter in our daily lives and the darker visions from our sleepless nights. This jumble of references, ranging from the institutional to the absurd, collides with bits of language to yield a cacophony of color and form. What at first glance appear to be childish doodles reveal themselves to be a subconscious critique of the rules and systems that govern the individual’s indoctrination into mainstream society. Mori’s work often begins as small pen on paper drawings that are then reconstituted as elaborately layered watercolor on panel paintings. Picture of Money (Sanjusangendo) features a complex tapestry of guilloche patterns taken from Japanese paper currency as its background. On top of this colorful web the artist has painted a sea of smiley faces that represent the religious icons housed in the Sanjūsangendō—an important 13th century Buddhist temple in Kyoto containing one thousand life-size statues of the Thousand Armed Kannon. As in other works, Mori’s work playfully visualizes a clash of opposing forces—sacred and profane; order and chaos; alienation and belonging— to express her doubt and frustration with orthodoxy in general.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

#3 collections.artsmia.org/art/89557

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: Five thousand years ago the Hmong people lived in the basin of the Yellow River where the present day Beijing is. The Han Chinese also had a kingdom nearby. In their expansion the Han Chinese took over Hmong lands. In defense the Hmong waged war. As the first Hmong King, Chi You led the Hmong against the advancing Chinese. The Hmong lost the war. Many fled the area. This started the Hmong migration that eventually ended up in America.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Big Ben collections.artsmia.org/art/4579

Multi-colored vertical stripes on right side of canvas, with left side of canvas painted black.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Untitled collections.artsmia.org/art/21271

Multi-colored abstract painting with swirling brushstrokes.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Bess collections.artsmia.org/art/127082

two dimensional object with a mixture of photographs and collage-like elements; surface is slightly raised with photographs and shapes imbedded like puzzle pieces; gray textured backing; series of red plus signs dispersed across upper half; two horizontal red lines-one in upper left quadrant and one in upper right quadrant; red vertical line on upper middle right side, and runs downward to bottom, intersecting with a small square-shaped black and with photograph of a cratered rock; five red circles with photographs of space, portraits and life scenes placed in middle of circle; other photographs of life scenes and space dispersed across surface; various colored dots in orange, blue, red, black and white decorate background
Sadie Benning has become known for experimental video narratives that explore aspects of identity, memory, and loss that are indicative of the artist’s experiences as a gay youth. More recently, Benning has explored “Construction” or “Jigsaw” paintings—large intensely hand- worked aqua-resin paintings and mixed media works that consist of found images and painted shapes that are each individually cut out of wood and reassembled into a relief. Here the work titled “Bess” and the prominent use of crosses and circles in the composition directly reference the self-taught artist Forrest Bess (1911- 1977), an influential American painter who created a complex visual language that at once spoke to abstraction, but was also symbolic of his controversial ideas regarding transgender identity. In particular, Benning's work appears to directly reference Bess' painting Untitled #42 (1950) which symbolically depicts male and female genders as the embodiment of life and death. Forrest Bess undoubtedly represents a pioneering figure for transgender identity and experimentation for an artist like Sadie Benning, making this work very much an homage to the late painter.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#44 collections.artsmia.org/art/89598

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: The New Year not only changed from outdoor to indoor, but many of the activities were added while others disappeared. The ceremonies and bull fights have been replaced by beauty pageants and dance contests.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#10 collections.artsmia.org/art/89564

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: In the mid 1800’s the Chinese empire lost the Opium War to the British. To pay the British, they taxed the poor heavily, especially the Hmong. Many families had to dig up valuables that they had buried with the dead to pay the heavy tax. Out of desperation we rebelled. A long war broke out. We took back many lands, but in the end we lost again.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Fringe collections.artsmia.org/art/109315

light box with back of woman lying down; diagonal scar with fringe down her back
Rebecca Belmore often uses the body to address violence and injustice against First Nations people, especially women. A member of the Anishinaabe nation, she affirms, "My body is a place from which to address the whole notion of history and what has happened to us as Aboriginal people." The female figure in Fringe assumes the same reclining pose as the beautiful odalisques depicted by nineteenth century European artists, but bears an ugly slash from shoulder to hip. The deep scar running across the figure's back is created with the help of special-effects make up. What appear to be thin rivulets of blood running from the gash are composed of small red beads, a detail that evokes both Belmore's heritage and the trauma inflicted on indigenous peoples. Despite the graveness of the woman's injury, Belmore's Fringe is also about healing. The wound is not fatal, but the scar will never disappear.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Untitled, from "i-jusi" collections.artsmia.org/art/109890

slightly abstracted image of a bullhorn with face of person speaking into it below and behind it; words radiating out of bullhorn: "REMEMBER / DEMOCRACY / RULES / SOUTH / AFRICA / 1994-?"; black and white with greys
i-jusi is the name of an internationally renowned, experimental South African graphic design magazine edited and published by graphic artist Garth Walker. Roughly translated as “juice” in Zulu, i-jusi was first released in 1995, one year after the end of apartheid in South Africa, as a cultural and artistic response to the country’s newly established democratic state. For 15 years, i-jusi has encouraged South African artists to remove themselves from the influence of Western aesthetics and create “a visual language rooted in the African experience.” At its very core, the publication asks the question, “What makes me African'” The i-jusi Portofolio features examples of the most iconic images by South African artists who contributed to the magazine during its run, including David Goldblatt, Anton & Mark Kannemeyer, Brandt & Conrad Botes, Brode Vosloo, and Pieter Hugo. The portfolio consists of 10 lithographs, each signed by the artist, which were selected by designer Garth Walker and art publisher and gallerist Gavin Rooke. The portfolio is a survey of i-jusi’s long history as well as a condensed visual documentary of South Africa’s artists as they journey through the aftermath of apartheid.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Untitled collections.artsmia.org/art/127188

primitive abstract image; four columns of overlapping green and blue triangles emerging from yellow bowl-shaped form at bottom; fuchsia background over green; bring pink and plum brushwork across top; green column at R
Like many contemporary Japanese painters, Hiroshi Sugito was trained in the traditional Japanese painting style known as Nihonga. The Nihonga technique utilizes ground pigments made of natural materials such as minerals, shells, and coral applied to handmade paper or silk. Sugito achieves a visual similarity to this technique in his paintings by using layers of oil and/or acrylic paint. An important figure of Japanese painting in the 1990s, Sugito’s imagery employs childlike imagery as a springboard to create pictures that subtly oscillate between strange and beautiful, familiar and estranged. His delicate works at once convey a sense of delightful reverie and eerie displacement. Describing his process, Sugito has said, “I start moving my brush like walking into the woods, away from everything, and I want words and meanings to lose their power and just fade away.”

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

#45 collections.artsmia.org/art/89599

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: New festivals were created so families can still gather outside like back in Laos.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

#14 collections.artsmia.org/art/89568

see previous exhibition catalog for illustrations of all 50 paintings
Artist commentary: Laos was already under the control of the French. The French needed money to run their colony. Opium was a great cash crop for the French. Since the Hmong lived on land that was good for cultivating opium, they were encouraged to grow as much opium as possible. When collecting taxes the French preferred opium to cash.

MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Pulse collections.artsmia.org/art/119214

organic, curving, turned wood-like form with central open spaces; reddish finish
Considered one of the world’s great masters of contemporary sculpture, Tony Cragg has taken a highly inventive approach to materials and form since he first appeared on the scene in the late 1970s. Pulse represents both his formal and technical brilliance. Made from kerto, a wood supplement commonly used in housing construction, the sculpture complements the museum’s strong collection of decorative, industrial, and craft-based works. Cragg’s sculpture transforms this new type of construction material beyond its initial intentions into an outstanding work of art.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Park/ROCI Mexico collections.artsmia.org/art/116538

white ground; vertical format; 11 orange and red doilies in ULQ with smudged pencil lines; bottom 1/3 of image is reproduction of photograph of curtain with Donald Duck motif, with child's feet and legs in LLC; reproduction of photograph of old camera with framed snapshots of people in a park; black and white photo reproductions with some orange areas at bottom of image
“One of the reasons that I am so thankful that I’m an artist is that the language of being an artist works anywhere. There is no country that is so rich or so poor that they don’t have an artistic culture. Artists always understand each other…I even feel restricted with the world as small as it is already. I’m trying to take advantage of as much as possible.” - Robert Rauschenberg, “A Conversation about Art and ROCI,” 1990 Park/ROCI MEXICO was created in Mexico City by American artist Robert Rauschenberg as a part of his global art tour ROCI – Rauschenberg Overseas Cultural Interchange. Rauschenberg traveled to 22 countries, creating art by using local artistic traditions and materials. In Park/ROCI MEXICO, the vibrant colors and rich religious culture of Mexico are made visible in the crimson poinsettia doilies, which have been arranged to resemble a “Dia de los Muertos” skull. The rest of the canvas is starkly black and white – based on the collage of Rauschenberg’s own photographs and those he found in Mexico, screen printed on the canvas to create a complex rhythm with the poinsettia skeleton. This work would have traveled to exhibitions in the 21 other countries visited by ROCI, creating an artistic dialogue between nations by presenting Rauschenberg’s exploration of Mexican artistic and visual culture.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Joan collections.artsmia.org/art/107978

kneeling hyper-realistic life-sized nude woman, with elbows on knees and PR hand under chin, leaning forward; long blonde hair in messy ponytail; pearl earrings
John De Andrea is an American sculptor and a contributor to the superrealist art movement; he was part of the original art movement that began in the late 1960s. He has become famous for his life-like sculptures of nude models, the majority of which are idealized figures of women. Cast from life and finished with the utmost detail, these sculptures are usually elegant and casually posed. Their glossy hyperrealism, however, ultimately detracts from their beauty - much as surgical enhancements mar the natural beauty of so many women today. In this sense, especially, these works are a fascinating expression of contemporary culture. Joan is a quintessential example of DeAndrea's superrealist sculpture, in which he explores his interest in trompe l'oei and his ideas about female beauty.

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Dinner #2 collections.artsmia.org/art/2506

Dinner #2

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

In Mini, Yellow Face collections.artsmia.org/art/59908

highly abstracted yellow face with blue and purple eyes and mouth; blue ground; very thick paint

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Falling Man Sculpture collections.artsmia.org/art/3054

Falling Man Sculpture

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MIA: Contemporary Art (Bot) @miacontemporary.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Mariner's Bell collections.artsmia.org/art/10514

Mariner's Bell

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