Salvador Dali, Piet Mondrian and Pablo Picaso are featured along with their fellow Modernists at the Collecting Modernism exhibit at the Ball State University Museum of Art.
The exhibit opens today and runs until Mar. 19.
Many of the pieces in the exhibit may look strange, but the Collecting Modernists exhibit depicts a very important part of art history.
The Current Modernism exhibit shows a point in time where artists first began to explore new modes of expression, Art History Professor Ron Rarick said.
"Artists turned attention into creating visual music," Rarick said.
Rarick couldn't have used a better phrase than "visual music."
With many bright colors and diverse artwork, the Collecting Modernism exhibit is like walking into a visual rock concert.
In this explosive part of modern art history, the amount of influence that these artists had on one another is evident.
It is almost as if some of the artists attempted to take the notion of Modernism as far as they possibly can, while other artists reveled in the idea of blending old and new styles together.
Another main attraction to this exhibit is the number of famous artists that are included in Collecting Modernism.
Pablo Picasso, one of the most recognizable artists featured in the exhibit, has a piece titled: "Pigeon dans son nid et oeufs" which translates into "Pigeon in Nest with Eggs."
Essentially, it is an abstract painting of a grey pigeon in a nest, with dark colors creating a geometric pattern.
The bird looks slightly confused and nervous, as if worrying that Picaso is going to twist his little bird face around like Picaso did in so many of his portraits.
Another famous artist whose work is included in the event is Salvador Dali.
Dali provided a surrealist painting titled "Cardinal!, Cardinal!"
Raymond Ducahmp-Villon, a French artist from the early 1900's, has a sculpture in the exhibit called "Le Grand Cheval," or "The Great Horse."
This piece reflects much of the energy that artists in the early Modernist time period felt.
After the camera was invented, artists wanted to create artwork that didn't try to duplicate what the eye sees, Rarick said.
The Collecting Modernism exhibit displays art from a period of time in which artists pushed the boundaries of traditional art and forced people who viewed their art to expand their imagination.
It's a great opportunity to view some very influential artists, as well as a Picaso and Dali painting.
"Usually to see an exhibit like this, you'd have to go to Chicago or New York," Rarick said.
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