DAYTONA BEACH, FL.- Museum visitors will have an exciting opportunity to better appreciate the richness and variety of twentieth century art in two important exhibitions opening on April 24. The first, Ringling Retro: Contemporary and Modern Art from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art continues through November 1 and includes some of the finest examples of modern and postmodern art in the state drawn from the collection of the state art museum of Florida. The second, Modernist Art from Southern Collections closing June 7, has been organized by MOAS to complement Ringling Retro and offer visitors the opportunity to enjoy additional works by some of the century’s most celebrated artists.

Ringling Retro: Contemporary and Modern Art from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art brings together important modern and contemporary works from the Ringling Museum’s permanent collection, focusing primarily on painting and sculpture. The exhibition, which spans the decades of the 1960’s to the 1990’s, covers many of the pivotal moments from late modernism to post-modernism, and introduces several of the leading practitioners of the various movements. Included are influential works by Jules Olitski, Frank Stella, Trevor Bell, John Chamberlain, Robert Rauschenberg, Syd Solomon, Jackie Ferrara, David Hockney, Barbara Kruger, and other leading artists of the period.

Modernist Art from Southern Collections features artwork and sculpture on loan from Florida collectors and from the Museum’s collection. Jay Williams, the MOAS Gary R. Libby Curator of Art notes that, “Modernist Art from Southern Collections is a survey exhibition, assembled especially for the purpose of giving visitors a broad and representative overview of the modernist era by including a range of styles and subject matter.” Williams continues that, “Exhibitions that strive for such an ambitious goal are relatively rare, compared with the more typical exhibition that focuses on a narrow slice of the timeline of art history.” Modernist Art from Southern Collections comprises works of art by well known artists, such as Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe, Hans Hofmann, and Mark Rothko, as well as excellent work by lesser-known figures, such as Jerome Blum and Bela Kadar. Most of the works in the exhibition were created before 1960 (although a few are later), overlapping with the earlier period represented in Ringling Retro.