Particles and Waves: Southern California Abstraction and Science, 1945-1990
< All Exhibitions![](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/460/388/e82/thumb__2300_0_0_0_crop.jpg)
Where |
Main Museum |
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When |
September 14, 2024 – February 23, 2025 |
Where |
Main Museum |
---|---|
When |
September 14, 2024 – February 23, 2025 |
Particles and Waves examines how concepts and technologies from the realms of advanced scientific research impacted the development of abstract (or non-figurative) styles of artwork in postwar Southern California.
Beginning in the 1920s and 1930s, scientists at institutions near Los Angeles including Mount Wilson Observatory, the California Institute for Technology, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, generated groundbreaking experimental research in astronomy and particle physics. During and after World War II, the region remained at the forefront of scientific inquiry in theoretical physics and its applications within aerospace engineering, industrial manufacturing, and communications technologies. Between 1945 and 1990, many artists in Los Angeles produced visually abstract artworks while closely engaging with scientific ideas, mathematical theories, and materials or processes derived from physics and engineering.
Particles and Waves unites several generations of artists working in diverse materials and styles to examine how subfields of scientific investigation inspired a range of non-figurative artworks by practitioners concerned with light, energy, motion, and time. By drawing interdisciplinary connections between the work of early abstractionists and contemporary practitioners, the exhibition considers abstract artwork from Southern California in a new way.
Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART (previously Pacific Standard Time), returns in September 2024 with more than 818 artists, 50 exhibitions, and 1 mind-blowing theme: Art & Science Collide
In partnership with museums and institutions across the region, this is one of the most expansive art events in the world.
This “collision” will explore the intersections of Art and Science, both past and present, with diverse organizations activating exhibitions on topics like ancient cosmologies, Indigenous sci-fi, environmental justice, and artificial intelligence.
PST ART: Art & Science Collide will share groundbreaking research, spark lively debate, and provide thought-provoking lenses to explore our complex world.
Whether you are already in-the-know or discovering PST ART for the first time, Art & Science Collide will be the groundbreaking event of 2024.
PST ART is a Getty initiative.
Exhibition Highlights
![Frederick John Eversley, <em>Untitled (Black)</em>, 1978](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/254/e0e/eaa/thumb__1352_0_0_0_auto.jpg)
![Oskar Fischinger, <em>Space Abstraction No. 3</em>, 1966](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/739/4f5/6ee/thumb__1352_0_0_0_auto.jpg)
![Bettina Brendel, <em>A Numbered Universe</em>, 1966](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/460/388/e82/thumb__2120_0_0_0_auto.jpg)
![Claire Falkenstein, <em>Changing Dimensions</em>, 1948](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/070/b27/e61/thumb__1352_0_0_0_auto.jpg)
![Channa Horwitz, <em>Time Structure Composition # III, Sonakinatography I</em>, 1970](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/398/c2c/f35/thumb__1352_0_0_0_auto.jpg)
![Helen Lundeberg, <em>Planet Rising</em>, 1967](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/7c3/19e/185/thumb__1352_0_0_0_auto.jpg)
![Claire Falkenstein, <em>Untitled (Topological Form)</em>, c. 1976](https://www.psmuseum.org/storage/app/uploads/public/af5/31b/1a8/thumb__1352_0_0_0_auto.jpg)
Particles and Waves is co-curated by Sharrissa Iqbal, Associate Curator for Modern & Contemporary Art and Michael Duncan, Guest Curator.
This exhibition is made possible with support from Getty through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative.
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