Mead Art Museum exhibit highlights artistic response to science

Helen Lundeberg Self Portrait in "Dimensionism"

Helen Lundeberg, Self Portrait, 1944. Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey; Gift of The Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg Feitelson Arts Foundation. © The Feitelson / Lundeberg Art Foundation. Photo: Peter Jacobs.

AMHERST — A 60-line statement signed by 25 artists back in 1936 Paris looked to explain dimensions of art forms that artists were both embracing as well as escaping with the advancement of scientific understanding.

Einstein’s theories had shown time and space to be interwoven, and that light curved around a massive object in space becomes a lens through which what was hidden beyond can be seen.

As Mario Nissim, one of the initial endorsers of the statement, known as the “Dimensionist Manifesto" and written by the Hungarian poet Charles Sirato, put it, the result of such knowledge on art-making meant objects “wish to break through the canvas.”

Artists were inspired not to confine their work to the two- or three-dimensional nor to be consider separate from their work but be guided by a theory of “N + 1," that is, the addition of a new dimension to the old (N).

Sculpture became planetary mobiles, moved by small motors, as in the work of Alexander Calder.

Art was pushed into new dimensions for some by science’s evolving understanding of space, time, light and motion.

It is this convergence that the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College explores in its exhibit, “Dimensionism: Modern Art in the Age of Einstein.”

The exhibit opens March 28 with a 5 p.m. keynote address in Stirn Auditorium by Vanja Malloy, the museum’s curator of American art who organized what is considered a new look at the impact of science on modern art.

Malloy is also editor of the 331-page book that accompanies the exhibit that was first shown at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in the fall and has been expanded with additional artwork for its Mead showing through July 28.

She earned a doctorate in art history from The University of London’s Courtauld Institute of Art for her dissertation, "Rethinking Alexander Calder: Astronomy, Relativity, and Psychology,” and was the Chester Dale Fellow in modern and contemporary art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

“The influence of science on some of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century has been largely overlooked,” said Malloy in a statement about the exhibit.

“While much has been written about the impact of social and political movements on artists, especially in the tumultuous period between the two World Wars, this exhibition is an important opportunity to reconsider art and artists we think we know in a fresh historical framework."

She added, "When we see their art through the lens of the scientific discoveries that were reshaping popular understanding of the universe around them, their visual interests and impulses can take on a different meaning.”

The exhibit of 70 artworks that include paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs traces the influence of early 20th century scientific discoveries on the initial endorsers of the manifesto as well as on other noted artists.

Endorsers included such well-known names today as Hans Arp, Wassily Kandinsky and Sonia Delaunay as well as Calder, Joan Miro and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy.

Others who also embraced what the manifesto heralded and whose artwork is in the exhibit and reproduced in the book included Georges Braque, Joseph Cornell and Helen Lundeberg, whose work often balances the abstract with the real, as well as such artists as Man Ray, Isamu Noguchi and Pablo Picasso.

David E. Little, the museum’s director and chief curator who has written a forward for the book, called the exhibit a “reflection of our strengths as a college art museum that also serves a wider audience well beyond the campus.”

“Vanja’s insights into the history of science, along with her knowledge of art, and the exhibition’s outstanding works from both our collection and many important lenders, has combined to create a compelling experience that visually narrates this important piece of history," Little said.

A reception in the Mead until 7 p.m. follows Malloy’s talk on March 28.

One West Coast reviewer of the show there found the exhibit to debunk any thinking that "art and science are polar opposites” and to make "the case that scientific concepts advanced bold new forms of creative expression, and still do so today.

Other events related to the exhibit include:

  • Innovation & Invention: A Conducting Recital by Ellen Mutter, Wednesday, April 3, 7 to 8 p.m.: Inspired by “Dimensionism,” conductor Mutter has comprised a recital that explores the links between scientific and artistic innovation from Palestrina and Galileo to composer Philip Glass and Einstein.
  • May the Fourth Be With You: N+1 Community Day, Saturday, May 4,1 to 3 p.m.: An afternoon of art and experimentation, with hands-on activities and an immersive sound experience with sound artist and filmmaker Jake Meginsky.
  • Photographing the Universe with Michael Stage, visiting professor of astronomy, Saturday, May 4, 8:30 to 10 p.m.: An evening of stargazing and photography, and an opportunity to view the cosmos through telescopes and learn about how the photoelectric effect makes it possible to take color photographs of the universe. Visitors will be able to take real photographs of the cosmos.

The Henry Luce Foundation , the Terra Foundation for American Art , the Arts at Amherst Initiative, the Hall and Kate Peterson Fund, the David W. Mesker ’53 Fund, and the Wise Fund for Fine Arts helped support the exhibit.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.