HANOVER, NH.- Building on the observation that abstraction existed long before the 20th-century art movement arose, Always Already: Abstraction in the United States highlights abstraction in North America from Native American ceramics to contemporary painting. The exhibition, on view at the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, was co-curated by the Hood Museum’s Virginia Rice Kelsey 1961s Director John Stomberg, Barbara C. and Harvey P. Hood 1918 Senior Curator of Academic Programming Amelia Kahl, and Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and Curator of Indigenous Art Jami Powell. Always Already expands conversations related to “American abstraction,” exhibiting collection highlights by Indigenous artists, both past and present, alongside other artists working in the United States since the mid-20th century. The artists include Alexander Calder, Adolph Gottlieb, Lucy Lone Dog, Maria Martinez, Nampeyo and family, Georgia O’Keeffe, Mark Rothko, Mary and Edwin Scheier, Fritz Scholder, Frank Stella, and Kay WalkingStick. It will also feature prominent new acquisitions by Louisiana Bendolph, Dan Namingha, Barbara Takenaga, Malcolm Wright, Toshiko Takaezu, and Jordan Ann Craig.


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Always Already is the first of eight exhibitions acknowledging the nation’s 250th anniversary in 2026, each focused on an aspect of the larger American story told through art. Powell explains, “In recent years, the Hood Museum has taken part in ongoing dialogues to expand the ‘American art’ canon in ways that acknowledge, critique, and celebrate the multiplicity and complexity of our nation and its histories. The 2026 slate of exhibitions builds on this work and acknowledges the vital role artists have always played in helping us contextualize the past and imagine possible futures. We look forward to inviting audiences to participate in these dialogues with us.”

Always Already celebrates diverse approaches to color, geometry, and composition, highlighting a wide range of media. In addition to paintings and drawings, textiles, ceramics, and sculpture are also highlighted. While the works of art featured in Always Already emerge from a wide variety of artistic impulses and inspirations, the overarching strength of the visual relationships suggest the merit of a much broader history of American abstraction than one confined to issues of legacy or influence. Kahl notes, “This show allows visitors to think about abstraction non-linearly. How do the shapes and colors of a 100-year-old ceramic relate to a contemporary painting aesthetically and culturally? How can their different stories enrich each other?”

“Celebrating a wide variety of objects in this way,” Stomberg adds, “including work from within the ‘art world’ along with those from the much broader ‘world of art,’ normalizes both the presence and practice of abstraction in the United States.”



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