Coming to Life

The ten-year period between the mid-1950s and the mid-1960s was marked by a significant shift in ideas about the figure. This shift was influenced not only by evolving post-World War II aesthetics and philosophies, but also by contemporary social and political issues including feminism and civil rights. “Coming to Life,” the final exhibition in a series focusing on the figure in art since mid-century, explored this change in attitude toward the figure and the body and traces its evolution from Abstract Expressionism in the 1950s to the 1960s, to movements of Pop and performance art.

This exhibition included figurative works by first and second generation Abstract Expressionist painters such as Willem de Kooning and David Park. Works by pop artists Claes Oldenburg and Tom Wesselmann were also included. Examples of West Coast Beat and funk art included works by Bruce Connor and Jay DeFeo. Also included, Carolee Schneeman, Robert Morris, and Jim Dine. New York artists who were involved in performance early in their careers were also represented.

“Coming to Life” was installed with attention to chronology so parallel ideas and motifs could be seen in works from different cities and movements. The impact of pop culture ideas on the body, from science fiction representations of the alien to birth control and the beginning of the sexual revolution, was evident in some of these works, as was the influence of film. Numerous photographs from the period represented photographers such as Diane Arbus, Harry Callahan, Lee Friedlander, and Garry Winogrand. Works from the Henry’s collection, loans from local collections, and public institutions comprised the show.