Television and art are not often regarded as being remotely in the same league, but the NSU Art Museum in Fort Lauderdale, Florida is proving the influence that avant-garde art had on television in its nascent years. Organised together with the Jewish Museum in New York and the Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, ‘Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television’ pulls together two cherished pillars of American culture.
Spanning the late 1940s to the mid 1970s, the exhibition presents how American television took on a modernist aesthetic as its inspiration. Over 250 fine art objects and examples of graphic design, including works from artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Saul Bass, Roy Lichtenstein and Georgia O’ Keeffe, stand alongside television memorabilia, clips and ephemera from iconic television series and shows, such as The Ernie Kovacs Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In and even The Twilight Zone. From the Pop Art aesthetics reflected in early Batman epsiodes to Op Art-esque commercials for Kodak and sets for The Ed Sullivan Show, the connections are rather unexpected, to say the least.
In addition to a showing of early advertising, which still exude an exciting quality and were revolutionary at the time, the exhibition also highlights the ‘New Advertising’ revolution of the 1950s and 1960s, where Andy Warhol and Ben Shahn created advertising and commercial campaigns for CBS.
And finally, to prove just how entwined television and art were in popular culture, the exhibition also documents how artists like Salvador Dali, Willem de Kooning, Ray Eames and Marcel Duchamp became household names, thanks to television appearances that were broadcast nationwide. A series of rare TV clips forms part of the experience.
Over 250 fine art objects and examples of graphic design stand alongside television memorabilia, clips and ephemera from iconic films and television shows, such as The Ernie Kovacs Show. Pictured: Ernie Kovacs. Image provided by Photofest, New York
Spanning the late 1940s to the mid 1970s, the exhibition presents how American television took on a modernist aesthetic as its inspiration. Pictured: 'Winky Dink and You' game book, c. 1954
The exhibition also includes rare film clips showing how artists, like Salvador Dali, became household names, thanks to television appearances that were broadcast nationwide. Pictured: Salvador Dali on 'What's My Line', CBS, January 1952. Copyright: Fremantle Media
Pictured: Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In bubble-gum wrapper, c. 1968
Pictured: Lifesavers commercial, 1966
The exhibition also includes examples of early advertising, which still exude an exciting quality and were considered revolutionary at the time. Pictured: William Golden, Art Director, 'The Sign of Good Television,' Fortune, December 1951
It also highlights the ‘New Advertising’ revolution of the 1950s and 1960s, where Andy Warhol and Ben Shahn created advertising and commercial campaigns for CBS. Pictured: Designer unknown, The Souper Dress, c. 1967
INFORMATION
‘Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television’ runs until 10 January 2016
ADDRESS
NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale
1 East Las Olas Boulevard
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
-
Aston Martin goes goth, ramping up power, poise and dark glamour with the new Vantage SThese moody images mark the debut of the latest model out of Gaydon, the dynamically focused Aston Martin Vantage S
-
After decades capturing the world’s fashion-set, photographer Johnny Rozsa picks up a paint brushIn his first exhibition of paintings, the New York-based artist celebrates the vibrancy of Tangier while rediscovering a familiar creative outlet
-
The Bentley EXP 15 brings the bling and delves into tomorrow's luxury automotive experienceThe Bentley EXP 15 previews the company’s electric future, an asymmetric experiment in phygital form-making
-
Mystic, feminine and erotic: the power of Penny Slinger’s bodies as landscapeArtist Penny Slinger continues her exploration of the sacred, surreal feminine in a Santa Monica exhibition, ‘Meeting at the Horizon’
-
Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been up to this weekThis week saw the Wallpaper* team jet-setting to Jordan and New York; those of us left in London had to make do with being transported via the power of music at rooftop bars, live sets and hologram performances
-
Photographer Geordie Wood takes a leap of faith with first film, DiversGeordie Wood delved into the world of professional diving in Fort Lauderdale for his first film
-
New book celebrates 100 years of New York City landmarks where LGBTQ+ history took placeMarc Zinaman’s ‘Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places’ is a vital tribute to queer culture
-
A major Takashi Murakami exhibition sees the world in kaleidoscopic colourThe Cleveland Art Museum presents 'Takashi Murakami 'Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow', exploring outrage and escapist fantasy
-
Ai Weiwei’s new public installation is coming soon to Four Freedoms State Park‘Camouflage’ by Ai Weiwei will launch the inaugural Art X Freedom project in September 2025, a new programme to investigate social justice and freedom
-
Leonard Baby's paintings reflect on his fundamentalist upbringing, a decade after he left the churchThe American artist considers depression and the suppressed queerness of his childhood in a series of intensely personal paintings, on show at Half Gallery, New York
-
Desert X 2025 review: a new American dream grows in the Coachella ValleyWill Jennings reports from the epic California art festival. Here are the highlights
