WALLS OF COLOR: THE MURALS OF HANS HOFMANN OPENS AT FROST ART MUSEUM FIU
First-Ever Exhibition Celebrating Mid-Century Modern Master’s Mural Projects
A riot of color roared in Miami to usher in Art Basel season as the exhibition Walls of Color: The Murals of Hans Hofmann opened at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU, the Smithsonian affiliate in Miami.
The exhibition is the first-ever to showcase a vital aspect of the mid-century Modern Master’s art, his large-scale public mural projects. Nine towering oil studies (each seven feet tall) are the show’s centerpieces, created by Hofmann for the famed 1950 project to re-design the Peruvian city of Chimbote (Hofmann’s visionary collaboration with Catalan architect Josep Lluís Sert that was never realized). The Chimbote Series and related architectural drawings and studies are presented thanks to the Trustees of the Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust.
The exhibition also features several key paintings leading up to and following his murals. Hofmann is recognized worldwide as a leader in the evolution of Abstract Expressionism, both as an artist and as a celebrated teacher who influenced a generation of America’s most distinguished artists. “The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color,” said Hans Hofmann.
Hundreds attended the opening reception, which featured a standing-room-only lecture by Dr. Kenneth Silver (New York University Professor of Modern Art and Curator of this exhibition that originated at the Bruce Museum), part of FIU’s Stephen and Dorothea Green Critics’ Lecture Series.
“Hans Hofmann was the linchpin for Abstract Expressionism, and the Frost Art Museum FIU is thrilled to bring this first-ever show about Hofmann’s mural works to Miami for Art Basel season,” said Dr. Jordana Pomeroy, the museum’s director. “Miami’s historic MiMo and Art Deco architectural districts and the recent contemporary mural movement in Wynwood are hallmarks of Miami’s success as a cultural destination. Walls of Color will provide valuable context for the history of collaboration between architects, artists, and developers. This aspect of Hofmann’s career will shed light on the wide-ranging ambitions of one of the most seminal artists of the 20th century.”
The exhibition will be on view through January 3, 2016. The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU is located at 10975 S.W. 17th Street, across from the Blue Garage and adjacent to the Wertheim Performing Arts Center on the Modesto A. Maidique Campus. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m. Closed on Mondays and most legal holidays. 305-348-2890. Free and open to the public.
