A Look Inside the Huge New Modernist MoMA Exhibition at Melbourne's NGV

Over 200 modern and contemporary masterpieces from New York's MoMA have come to Australia for the very first time in this epic display.
Libby Curran
June 08, 2018

Not going overseas this winter? Luckily, you'll still have the chance to take a bite out of some Big Apple arts and culture, as Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria plays host to an exclusive exhibition showcasing works from New York's prestigious Museum of Modern Art.

Debuting today and set to run until October 7, MoMA at NGV: 130 Years of Modern and Contemporary Art will feature over 200 modern and contemporary masterpieces, many on their first ever visit to Australia.

Taking over the entire ground floor of NGV International, it's certifiably huge. The exhibition will present pieces from all six of MoMA's curatorial departments, meaning the works will span Photography, Film, Architecture and Design, Painting and Sculpture, Drawings and Prints, and Media and Performance Art.

You'll catch works from all of the big names of the 19th and 20th century art world, including Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, Georgia O'Keeffe, Diane Arbus and Andy Warhol. Capturing the spirit of more recent times, will be pieces from the likes of Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, Kara Walker, Olafur Eliasson, Rineke Dijkstra and Camille Henrot.

Examining over 130 years of innovation, MoMA at NGV sets out to explore all the major art movements, with the exhibition spread across eight themed sections. Here are a few of the big-name works on display.

Roy Lichtenstein: Drowning girl (1963)

Andy Warhol: Marilyn Munroe (1967)

Frida Kahlo: Self portrait with cropped hair (1940)

Salvador Dali: The persistence of memory (1931)

Kara Walker: Gone: An historical romance of a civil war as it occurred b'tween the dusky thighs of a one young negress and her heart (1994)

Shigetaka Kurita et al.: Emoji (1998–99)

Needless to say, the partnership with MoMa is a pretty huge coup for both the NGV and Australian art lovers. "The collaboration with the National Gallery of Victoria provides a unique opportunity to see extremely important works from nearly every area of our collection in an exhibition that simultaneously explores The Museum of Modern Art's history as well as the history of modern and contemporary art in general," said MoMA Director Glenn D. Lowry.

As an added bonus, NGV members who are hitting New York while the exhibition is running will score free admission to MoMA, and vice versa.

MoMA at NGV runs from June 9 until October 7, at NGV International, St Kilda Road, Melbourne. Grab tickets here.

Images: NGV/Tom Ross.

Published on June 08, 2018 by Libby Curran
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