Breaking Up

Breaking Up illuminates the many ways in which contemporary artists explore themes of deconstruction and fragmentation through their evolving practices.

Through a wide selection of paintings, photographs, installations, and digital media works drawn from the collection of Phoenix Art Museum, the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Foundation collection, and various private collections of local artists, Breaking Up examines how contemporary artists explore different types of fragmentation, or “breaking up,” through their work. Works by Nancy Rubins, Deborah Butterfield, Rivane Neuenschwander, Lia Chaia, and Cornelia Parker illuminate the process of deconstructing everyday objects or materials like wood, paper, metal, and incense to create alternative structures and spaces that hold new meaning despite their repurposed media. 

Other works by Angela Ellsworth, Janet Toro, and Frida Orupabo instead take apart and reconfigure one of the most familiar forms: the human body. Finally, videos, drawings, and more by Michal Rovner, Uta Barth, and Tacita Dean, as well as Arizona-based artists Marie Navarre, Beth Ames Swartz, Ronna Nemitz, Jessica Palomo, and Kristin Bauer, encourage viewers to consider the many ways in which trauma, loss, and abandonment affect perception, memory, language, and the human mind.

Credit: Overview from museum website