Color Field painting was created from the same time as American pop art. Whereas the pop movement responded to potential world annihilation by whoring itself along New York’s Madison Avenue, the color field artists attempted to stretch the physical limitations of the canvas. Blocks of color replaced line and form. The Deutsche Guggenheim showcases the works of 13 of those artists, notably Helen Frankenthaler and Mark Rothko, in an exhibition which might push contemporary art to violate convention instead of ignoring it. Erotic antidotes to material expectations. But is this it? The digestible postcard-book show format runs counter to the rejection of containment the works represent.
DEUTSCHE GUGGENHEIM | Mon-Sun 10-20. Through January 10.