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DES MOINES ART CENTER EXHIBITION, QUEER ABSTRACTION, RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING EXHIBITION AND CATALOG

12/14/2020

The Des Moines Art Center is proud to announce that the groundbreaking exhibition Queer Abstraction has received the 2020 SECAC Award for Outstanding Exhibition and Catalog of Contemporary Materials. SECAC is an 80-year-old, national non-profit organization devoted to education and research in the visual arts.

Queer Abstraction was the first exhibition in the Des Moines Art Center’s 70-year history to focus exclusively on queer sexuality and gender identity. It marked a substantial shift in the Art Center’s programming by purposely including queer voices that have largely been left out of art history. The exhibition, organized by Associate Curator Jared Ledesma, was on view at the Art Center from June 1 to Sept. 8, 2019. Queer Abstraction then traveled to the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, Kansas, opening in November 2019 and closing in March 2020.

The exhibition included artworks from Math Bass, Mark Bradford, Edie Fake, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Harmony Hammond, Nicholas Hlobo, John Paul Morabito, Carrie Moyer, Sheila Pepe, Prem Sahib, Jonathan VanDyke and Jade Yumang. The project also included commissioned works by Elijah Burgher and Mark Joshua Epstein, and a new edition of artist Tom Burr’s large-scale sculpture Deep Purple. The Nerman Museum’s presentation included five additional artists: Paolo Arao, Linda Besemer, Keltie Ferris, Matthew Garcia and Bo Hubbard.

“I am humbled that SECAC has recognized Queer Abstraction and proud of the Des Moines Art Center,” Ledesma said. “The exhibition was a phenomenal success due to the hard work of many supporters and individuals, and I accept this award on their behalf.” 

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