Future Tense: The MSU Broad Collects is organized by the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University and curated by Alison Gass, Curator of Contemporary Art. Support for this exhibition is provided by the MSU Broad’s general exhibitions fund.
About the Exhibition
We are a museum with a unique mission: to explore the most significant art being made around the world today and contextualize it with examples from the historical collection assembled by the Kresge Art Museum, MSU’s former campus art museum. By presenting the art of the twenty-first century in conjunction with works from earlier time periods and cultures, we aim to document and establish meaningful art historical narratives and explore the development of artistic innovations across both time and region.
This exhibition is the first in a series of presentations highlighting works that have recently entered the MSU Broad collection. In this installment, we present selections from the extraordinary gift of over eighteen works the museum received from the Broad Art Foundation in Los Angeles on the occasion of our opening in November 2012, including large abstractions by Sue Williams and Ross Bleckner. Additionally, this installation celebrates the MSU Broad’s relationship with individual artists by presenting works collected in conjunction with recent or upcoming exhibitions, such as Benjamin Cottam’s intimate portraits or the gender-bending painting of Miriam Cahn. As these examples—along with other recently acquired works by great modern artists, such as prints by Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein—suggest, the museum is also deeply committed to collecting works that will support our efforts as a teaching institution by enabling us to represent key moments in modern and contemporary art. Ultimately, our collection is shaped by a desire to continually refine our position as an important site where visitors from Mid-Michigan and beyond can experience art’s power to change the way all of us see the world we share.
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