Leon Polk Smith’s “Six Involvements in One” (1966) taking the cen-
ter stage at the Addison Gallery.
Two works from Leon Polk Smith’s “Constellation Paintings” (left) along with “Rising Red” (1980, right)
The Addison Museum of American Art (Addison)’s newest exhibit, Both Sides of the Line, features abstract artists Carmen Herrera and Leon Polk Smith. Opened on March 21 on Level 2, Galleries 206-209, the exhibition was curated by Dana Miller, an expert on Carmen Herrera at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, and adapted for the Addison by Rachel Vogel, Assistant Curator and exhibition curator.
According to the Addison’s Press Review released on January 15, the first objective of the exhibit is to showcase the art and lives of both artists, whose contributions to the art of geometric abstraction were masked by the industry. Besides their art styles defying traditional abstract aesthetics, Herrera faced discrimination as a Cuban woman; consequently, her art was often relegated to exhibitions highlighting the work of Cuban or female artists. Smith, a gay man born in a Native American territory in Oklahoma, was often overlooked in favor of other male contemporaries.
The showcase reveals the contributions both artists made to the art of geometric abstraction, as well as their mutual influence on each other through their friendship. The two met in 1964 while living on the same street in Manhattan, and both drew inspiration from similar people and places. They explored the line in abstract art as a divider of worlds, that drawing one created two different realms on either side. The line often was the subject of their pieces; for example, Herrera’s Yesterday, which commemorates a friend lost to AIDS, features a single line cutting across the black canvas.
Some students came to the exhibit to find inspiration for their own art. Breanna Ren ’29 reflected on her sense of connection to certain pieces in Both Sides of the Line and how it played into her artistic process.
“I heard from my [Art-305] teacher that I should see the exhibit because right now we are studying color theory, and I wanted some inspiration for our project… I noticed Constellation S, Seven Involvements in One, and Black Red [by Leon Polk Smith]. [Constellation S] is on the poster at the front of the Addison, [and] I liked it for its composition and contrasting colors. It uses circular canvases and creates an S shape by coloring the space around the line that would define the S shape. I liked Seven Involvements in One because it changes depending on the viewer’s perspective. One side of it is very bright, and it kind of looks like a bird if you line it up right,” said Ren.
Andy Song ’29, who also attended the exhibition as required by a class, found the exhibit and its aesthetics different from the conventional art he was accustomed to. Song found himself struck by how interpretive each work was.
“[Constellation S] and [OK Territory by Leon Polk Smith stood out to me]. The whole exhibit was a bit overwhelming, though. Everything was really bright and complicated,” said Song.
He continued, “This is the second exhibit I’ve been to, and I didn’t have a very strong opinion on it. It was very vibrant compared to the one I went to before. This one was also discombobulated in a way, which was different. The paintings were exhibited together because they shared a common theme and style. The whole aesthetic is both minimalistic and over-the-top in the best way possible.”
Ren also discussed her thoughts on the exhibit at large, comparing it to other Addison exhibitions she had previously visited.
“This is one of the more abstract exhibitions I’ve been to. Its meaning is also less obvious, so I felt there was room for interpretation. Honestly, it reminds me of a very specific kind of interior design aesthetic [that] focuses a lot on abstract lines as well… Personally, I didn’t like that there were [descriptions] written for the pieces because [they] take away from the personal lens each viewer sees the piece with, especially in abstract art,” said Ren.
As a creative arts and French student, Ren drew a connection between the two subjects and the artists’ lives.
“I noticed that Herrera uses a lot of Spanish and French in her titles. That surprised me until I learned that she actually went to Paris for a couple of years. I also learned about [her] friendship with [Smith] and the fact that the two were both shortchanged by the arts industry, partially because of aspects of their identity and partly because they didn’t follow the abstraction aesthetics of that time,” said Ren.
