Beyond the Object: Selections from the Permanent Collection

Beyond the Object: Selections from the Permanent Collection brings together a range of artworks from the Art, Design & Architecture Museum’s holdings that engage with our lived environment beyond its constructed reality. By reimagining or presenting our contemporary moment anew, the artists highlighted in this exhibition point to various subjects in conceptual or abstracted ways. At times, the works on display are not what they seem at first, inviting viewers to look closely and consider another way of understanding the art object.

Featuring painting, sculpture, photography, and works on paper, this exhibition highlights recent acquisitions and gifts primarily from the past five years, demonstrating the Museum's commitment to expanding its modern and contemporary art collection. The title of the exhibition draws from the work of conceptual art group Art & Language, whose series Map to indicate… (2002) is on view. Through a reimagined world map, the collective plays with the conventions of cartography to comment on the worldwide influence of subjects such as art theory, social constructions, socio-political representation, and the ability for all of us to enact change.

Beyond the Object is organized by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum and is curated by Ana Briz, AD&A Museum Assistant Director and Curator of Exhibitions, with support from Curatorial Assistant Letícia Cobra Lima. The exhibition is made possible thanks to the generous support of the AD&A Museum Council.

Artists in the Exhibition
Art & Language (est. England, c. 1967)
Herbert Bayer (b. Austria, 1900–1985)
Huma Bhabha (b. Pakistan, 1962)
Jonathan Borofsky (b. United States, 1942)
Rose D’Amato (b. United States, 1991)
Elizabeth Sisco (b. United States, 1954), Louis Hock (b. United States, 1948), and David Avalos (b. United States, 1947–2025)
Theaster Gates (b. United States, 1973)
Ishi Glinsky (b. United States, 1982)
Michael Gonzalez (b. United States, 1953)
Mona Kuhn (b. Brazil, 1969)
Tony Lewis (b. United States, 1986)
Hung Liu (b. China, 1948–2021)
Gordon Matta-Clark (b. United States, 1943–1978)
Aliza Nisenbaum (b. Mexico, 1977)
Ruben Ochoa (b. United States, 1974)
Hank Pitcher (b. United States, 1949)
Steve Roden (b. United States, 1964–2023)
Harmonia Rosales (b. United States, 1984)
Analia Saban (b. Argentina, 1980)
Christopher Suarez (b. United States, 1994)
Jennifer West (b. United States, 1966)