To mark this milestone the gallery will hold a pair of large-scale group exhibitions over the summer and fall. The shows will feature over 150 artists that have been exhibited at Modernism since its inception in 1979, in essence, a retrospective of the gallery's program of the past forty-five years.
Part I, opening soon, will highlight artists from the very first year, such as abstractionists, Erik Saxon, James Hayward, and David Simpson alongside international gallery stalwarts including Austrian painter and conceptual artist Gottfried Helnwein and French Nouveau Réaliste Jacques Villeglé [1926-2022], among many others.
A Modernism survey would not be complete without delving into the wealth of historical movements (i.e. German Expressionism, Cubism, Dada, to name a few) presented yearly, and Part I will focus on the Ukrainian and Russian Avant-Gardes [1910-1930] with works by leading artists Kasimir S. Malevich, Alexandra Exter, Sonia Delaunay, Liubov Popova, Alexander K. Bogomazov and many more.
About MODERNISM
Over the past four decades, Modernism has presented more than 470 exhibitions, featuring an international roster of historical and contemporary artists. The museum-quality program, overseen by gallery founder and owner Martin Muller, includes conceptually challenging and aesthetically rigorous painting, photography, sculpture, video, performance art, and works on paper.
Since 1979, the gallery has been at the forefront of the art world, presenting a retrospective of the Russian Avant-Garde in 1980 – before any other West Coast gallery or museum showed the historically-important work of Russian Avant-Garde artists – and staging the first Bay Area gallery exhibition of Andy Warhol in 1982. Both abstraction and figuration have been central to the gallery program ever since. In addition to 17 more Russian Avant-Garde exhibitions, Modernism has shown the work of the Southern California abstractionist James Hayward since 1980, and recreated “Four Abstract Classicists”, a seminal 1959 Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibition, in 1993. At around the same time, the gallery introduced America to the politically-charged conceptual works of Austrian-born multimedia artist Gottfried Helnwein.
In the 21st century, Modernism has continued to open new frontiers in the Bay Area art world. The historical program now encompasses Dada, Cubism, Surrealism, Vorticism, and German Expressionism, as well as the Russian Avant-Garde. Historical landmarks have included the first major West Coast retrospective of Le Corbusier in 2003, and the first major American exhibition of paintings, drawings, collages, and photographs by Erwin Blumenfeld in 2006. Over the past decade, Modernism has staged notable retrospectives of key modern artists including Edvard Munch, and historically important contemporary artists and photographers including Mel Ramos, John Register, Jacques Villeglé, and Judy Dater.
Representing nearly fifty contemporary artists from around the world, the gallery contributes to current artistic dialogues, both representational and abstract, with several dozen shows per year presented at both Modernism and Modernism West, as well as art fairs in North America and Europe. Areas of focus include conceptual and textual work, and art that meaningfully addresses important sociopolitical concerns.
The gallery regularly publishes books, monographs, catalogs, and fine art editions, including notable volumes about gallery artists Mel Ramos, Naomie Kremer, Gottfried Helnwein, Elena Dorfman, Charles Arnoldi, and Jacques Villeglé.
Modernism is a longstanding member of the prestigious Art Dealers Association of America and the San Francisco Art Dealers Association.
MODERNISM 724 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 541-0461
Tuesday - Saturday, 10am - 5:30pm
MODERNISM West
2534 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
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