Long Beach Museum of Art

For many artists, the act of creation begins with one of destruction as they dissect shape, color, perspective, text, idea, or stereotype. For some, the result is enough: pulling apart and fragmenting images and ideas exposes what lies beneath or heralds the inherent value of each part. Other artists assemble fragments to create a new whole defined by its different parts. This exhibition explores the impulses that drive these creative approaches in the work of contemporary artists.

Positive Fragmentation includes over 180 prints drawn from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation, each a work by a contemporary artist who employs fragmentation in different ways. Feminist scholar and critic, Lucy Lippard, describes positive fragmentation, or the "collage aesthetic," as particularly suited to historically marginalized artists (including women), as it "willfully takes apart what is or is supposed to be and rearranges it in ways that suggest what it could be."

Organized by the National Museum of Women in the Arts
Curated by Virginia Treanor, Senior Curator, National Museum of Women in the Arts; and Kathryn Wat, Deputy Director for Art, Programs, and Public Engagement, and Chief Curator, National Museum of Women in the Arts

Polly Apfelbaum
Jennifer Bartlett
Christiane Baumgartner
Louise Bourgeois
Cecily Brown
Nicole Eisenman
Ellen Gallagher
Jenny Holzer
Nicola Lopez
Julie Mehretu
Sarah Morris
Wangechi Mutu
Judy Pfaff
Wendy Red Star
Betye Saar
Lorna Simpson
Swoon
Barbara Takenaga
Mickalene Thomas
Kara Walker

Major exhibition funding is provided by:
• Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation
• Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation
• BCM Foundation
• Bess J. Hodges Foundation
• RVCA Artist Network Program

LBMA Members receive free admission, access to exclusive previews, and more. Join a dynamic artistic community that celebrates the power of the creative process, the value of art education, and the importance of art. today.

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