24 Jul 2009

Orange County Museum of Art presents Illumination

The Orange County Museum of Art presents Illumination: The Paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe, Agnes Pelton, Agnes Martin, and Florence Miller Pierce

The first exhibition to bring together the work of these four important American women modernists. O'Keeffe (1887-1986) and Pelton (1881-1961) were born six years apart in the 1880s, while Martin (1912-2004) and Pierce (1918-2007) were born six years apart in the 1910s. All four drew on nature as their primary focus, inspired by arid and spare desert environments: O'Keeffe, Pierce and Martin, lived much of their lives in New Mexico, while Pelton resided in Cathedral City near Palm Springs, California.

Through their keen 'sense of place' they each developed vocabularies with varying degrees of abstraction, but the four artists share an interest in illumination and a desire to convey transcendence and spirituality in their paintings.

A 192-page catalogue co-published with Merrell Publishers accompanies this exhibition.

This exhibition is organized by Karen Moss, deputy director for exhibitions and programs, Orange County Museum of Art.
Major support for this exhibition is provided by Jayne Murrel, Pamela and James Muzzy, and Barbara and Victor L. Klein. Additional support is provided by Michael D. Ray.
The official media sponsors of the Orange County Museum of Art are The Orange County Register and KCRW 89.9 FM.  Additional support provided by OC Weekly.