THE AMERICAN CENTURY

Coinciding with the 250th anniversary of the United States, The American Century is a celebration and examination of the emergence of a quintessential American Art, when the avant garde mantle passed from the salons of Paris to the studios of the New York School, redefining the aesthetic landscape for a new century. Through the works in MOCA Jacksonville's Permanent Collection, the exhibition spans from the raw energy of Abstract Expressionism, to the kaleidoscopic perspectives of todays artists.

The exhibition charts the seismic transition of the United States from isolationism in the early twentieth century to its role as a global leader of democratic ideals. This shift in international standing was trumpeted by publisher Henry Luce in 1941, who famously declared the 20^th century as “The American Century.” While the globe was crucially shaped economically and politically, this change was especially evident in the world of art, when in the late 1940s the center of gravity in Paris crossed the Atlantic to New York City. The American Century, drawing from MOCA Jacksonville’s Permanent Collection, examines this transition in the United States’ power, charting the birth of a uniquely American vocabulary, from the nation’s era of dominance to its self-interrogation into American identity.

From the tactile abstractions of Samuel Levi Jones to the digital storytelling of Kota Ezawa and the performative weight of Amanda Coogan, the exhibition includes an assembly of diverse voices, creating a complex and kaleidoscopic vision of the American story. These artists examine what the notion of “The American Century” means today; existing, more than as a single moment in time, as a continuous 250-year-old dialogue that we continue today, experimenting in visibility, power, and the spirit of restless innovation.