Guggenheim Collection: 1940s to Now

New York – Venice – Bilbao – Berlin

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One of the most stellar exhibitions of post-war and
contemporary art ever to be held in Australia is
showing exclusively in Melbourne. Proudly supported
by Melbourne Airport, Guggenheim Collection: 1940s
to Now New York – Venice – Bilbao – Berlin brings
together masterworks from the 20th and 21st
centuries at the National Gallery of Victoria from 30
June – 7 October 2007.
The fourth exhibition in the Melbourne Winter
Masterpieces series, it traces the evolution of modern
and post-modern art since the 1940s, with iconic
works from every decade to the present.
While the majority of works have come from the
New York collection, selected pieces from Venice,
Bilbao and Berlin are also on display. Some of the
Guggenheim’s most recent acquisitions are being
premiered in Melbourne, having not even been shown
in New York. A joint collaboration by the NGV and the
Guggenheim, Melbourne will be the only city where
you can see this exhibition, it won’t be travelling to
other Australian cities, or anywhere else in the world.
The exhibition includes important works from
acclaimed artists including Jeff Koons, Gilbert &
George, Cindy Sherman, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy
Warhol, and Jackson Pollock. With more than 85
works by 67 artists from 22 nationalities, it includes a
variety of media from paintings through to works on
paper, sculpture, photographs, and new media.
Some installations invite participation, with visitors
being able to step inside Bruce Nauman’s Floating
Room (Light Outside, Dark Inside) and walk across
Carl Andre’s Hot Rolled Steel Floor. They’ll also be
able to take home a souvenir from Felix Gonzalez-
Torres’ Untitled (Public Opinion) – a continually
replenished 300kg-spill of liquorice candy, evoking
bullets or missiles, which was created in 1991 as a
comment on the prevailing political mood of
conservatism and censorship.
Other groundbreaking pieces include Ann
Hamilton’s between taxonomy and communion, with
its 14,000 human and animal teeth, and Rachael
Whiteread’s extraordinary sculpture, Untitled
(Basement) from 2001, a cast of a staircase turned on
its side, presenting the viewer with an uncanny sense
of looking at some sort of elegiac ruin.

30 June – 7 October 2007

NGV International St Kilda Rd Melbourne
“Guggenhiem Collection: 1940s to Now
New York – Venice – Bilbao – Berlin”
Is proudly supported by Melbourne Airport
Roy LICHTENSTEIN
American 1923–97
In 1962
oil on canvas
142.2 x 172.7 cm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Gift of the artist, 1999
© Roy Lichtenstein/LICHTENSTEIN, New York.
Licensed by VISCOPY Australia
Using comics and mass media as subjects Roy
Lichtenstein is famous as one of the leaders of
Pop Art, which he defended against its critics,
saying ‘there are certain things that are usable,
forceful, and vital about commercial art’. This
large work is part of his greatest period of
creative output and comments with irony on war
and the machine age, painted during a year
when public opinion on the Vietnam War shifted
dramatically.
Suling WANG
Taiwanese 1968–, worked in England 1996–
Cryptic Butterfly 2005
oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas
276.0 x 233.0 cm
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Purchased with a special International Director’s
Council fund in memory of Elaine Terner Cooper,
with contributions by Catherine Adler, Steven
Ames, Tiqui Atencio, Ruth Baum, Karen and
Martin Berger, Gail Engelberg, Linda Fischbach,
Ira Harris, Barbara Horowitz, Fern Hurst, Robert
and Ellen Jaffe, Sidney Kohl, Denise LeFrak,
Linda Macklowe, Cargill and Donna MacMillan,
Lyn Ross, Rachel Rudin, Simonetta Seragnoli,
and Carolyn Wade, 2005
© Suling Wang, courtesy of Lehmann Maupin
Gallery, New York