Current Exhibitions at the KIA

Abstract Expressionism, first developed in the 1940s, garnered an almost immediate reaction from a group of painters who began reintroducing the figure into this high-energy postwar movement. The Expressionist Figure examines a large group of the leading artists of the time, including important women painters and their contributions to mid-twentieth century expressionist painting. The exhibition includes prominent artists, from Deborah Remington (who co-founded the legendary Six Gallery in San Francisco), to the leading feminist painter of the late 20th century, Nancy Spero. During a self-imposed exile to Paris, Spero completed the important series, the Black Paris Paintings, and established herself as one of the important social and political artists of her time.

JJapanese publisher Shozaburo Watanabe started his business in the early 20th century, studying the traditions of Japanese woodcuts and hiring printers who could master the old techniques. To distinguish his prints, he hired designers capable of combining traditional subjects with the new style. Like the prints of the previous century, his were colorful images of Japan's people and natural beauty, but with a fresh, western-influenced style to appeal to European and American art-lovers. His leadership established a new aesthetic in the print market.

Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, do it began in Paris in 1993 as a conversation about how exhibition formats could be rendered more flexible and open-ended. This discussion led to the question of whether written instructions by artists, as a point of departure, could be interpreted anew every time they were enacted. Nearly 20 years later, do it has been featured in at least 50 different locations worldwide. Each do it exhibition is uniquely site-specific because it engages the local community in a dialogue that responds to and adds a new set of instructions, while it remains global in the scope of its ever-expanding repertoire. This open exhibition model has become the longest-running and most far-reaching exhibition to ever take place, giving new meaning to the concept of the "Exhibition in Progress."