Vital Signs: Artists and the Body

November 03, 2024 – February 22, 2025

The Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art presents Vital Signs: Artists and the Body, on view from November 3, 2024, through February 22, 2025. The international, cross-generational group of artists in this exhibition use depictions of the body to address the question of what it means to be an individual within society—and how socially sustained categories of gender, race, and identity are rooted in abstraction. Vital Signs presents over 100 works by approximately 65 artists, primarily drawn from the Museum’s collection. A majority of works in the exhibition were made by artists who are women or gender-expansive, highlighting ways in which human forms and gender intersect in these artists’ practices. While the exhibition includes celebrated works from the Museum’s collection, new acquisitions will provide fresh perspectives—as will lesser-known collection works that will be on view for the first time.

Vital Signs is organized by Lanka Tattersall, Laurenz Foundation Curator, Department of Drawings and Prints, with Margarita Lizcano Hernandez, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Drawings and Prints.

Leadership support for the exhibition is provided by the Jon Stryker Endowment and the Wallis Annenberg Director’s Fund for Innovation in Contemporary Art.

Major funding is provided by the Leontine S. and Cornell G. Ebers Endowment Fund and The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art.

Additional support for the exhibition is provided by the Annual Exhibition Fund. Leadership contributions to the Annual Exhibition Fund, in support of the Museum’s collection and collection exhibitions, are generously provided by Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, the Sandra and Tony Tamer Exhibition Fund, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, Alice and Tom Tisch, the Marella and Giovanni Agnelli Fund for Exhibitions, The Contemporary Arts Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Eva and Glenn Dubin, Mimi Haas, The David Rockefeller Council, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz, Kenneth C. Griffin, The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, and Jo Carole and Ronald S. Lauder. Major funding is provided by The Sundheim Family Foundation.

The Bloomberg Connects digital experience is made possible through the support of Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Major support for the publication is provided by The Museum of Modern Art’s Research and Scholarly Publications endowment established through the generosity of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Edward John Noble Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Perry R. Bass, and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Challenge Grant Program. Additional funding is provided by the Contemporary Drawing and Print Associates.

Press Kit

Images

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Belkis Ayón. Resurrección (Resurrection). 1998. Collagraph on nine sheets of paper, overall 9′ 13/16″ × 7′ 1″ (276.5 × 215.9 cm). Unpublished. Printer: the artist, Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA), Havana, Cuba. Edition: 4. Riva Castleman Endowment Fund. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 Belkis Ayón. Courtesy of the Artist’s Estate. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Robert Gerhardt

Claude Cahun. M.R.M (Sex), c. 1929-30. Gelatin silver print. 6 × 4″ (15.2 × 10.2 cm). Gift of Helen Kornblum in honor of Roxana Marcoci. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 Estate of Claude Cahun. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Jonathan Muzikar

Mrinalini Mukherjee. Yakshi, 1984. Dyed hemp. 8′ 1″ × 48″ × 29″ (246.4 × 121.9 × 73.7 cm). Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds, and acquired through the generosity of Marlene Hess and James D. Zirin and the Modern Women’s Fund. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 Mrinalini Mukherjee. Courtesy of the MM Foundation. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by John Wronn

Rosemary Mayer. Galla Placidia, 1973. Satin, rayon, nylon, cheesecloth, nylon netting, ribbon, dyes, wood, and acrylic paint. 8′ 2″ × 6′ 6″ × 7′ (248.9 × 198.1 × 213.4 cm). Gift of Alice and Tom Tisch and Committee on Painting and Sculpture Funds. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 Courtesy of the Estate of Rosemary Mayer. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Jonathan Muzikar

Maria Lassnig. Still from Encounter, 1970. 16 mm film (color, sound), 1 min. Gift of the Maria Lassnig Foundation. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 Estate of Maria Lassnig.
Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Margo Humphrey. The History of Her Life Written Across Her Face. 1991. Lithograph with copper leaf and collage additions, composition (irreg.): 29 15/16 × 29 5/8 in. (76 × 75.3 cm); sheet: 32 5/16 × 29 5/8 in. (82 × 75.3 cm). Publisher and printer: Rutgers Center for Innovative Printmaking, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Edition: 30. Purchase. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 The Margo Humphrey Trust. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Robert Gerhardt

Forrest Bess. Untitled. 1957. Oil on canvas with wood frame. 9 7/8 × 14 1/4″ (25.1 × 36.2 cm). Gift of Adam Kimmel. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Thomas Griesel

Lorna Simpson. Untitled. 1992. Color instant prints (Polaroids) and engraved plastic plaques. Overall 7′ 6″ × 13′ 6″ (228.6 × 411.5 cm). Gift of UBS. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 Lorna Simpson, courtesy the artist and Salon 94, New York. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Jonathan Muzikar

Greer Lankton and Joyce Randall Senechal. Still from The Contortionist. 1978. Super 8mm film transferred to video (black and white, silent), 1 min. Gift of Joyce Randall Senechal. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2024 Estate of Greer Lankton, courtesy Joyce Randall Senechal. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York

Suzanne Jackson. Wind and Water. 1975. Acrylic and pencil on canvas, two panels. Each: 97 × 60″ (246.4 × 152.4 cm). Acquired through the generosity of The Modern Women’s Fund, Alice and Tom Tisch, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, Michael S. Ovitz, Ronnie F. Heyman, and Pamela J. Joyner and Alfred J. Giuffrida. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © Suzanne Jackson, courtesy the artist and Ortuzar Projects, New York. Digital image © 2024 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, photo by Jonathan Muzikar

Barbara Hammer. Still from Sync Touch. 1981. 16mm film transferred to video (color, sound), 10:07 min. Purchase. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © Courtesy The Estate of Barbara Hammer and Company Gallery, New York. Digital image © Courtesy the Barbara Hammer Collection at the Academy Film Archive

Installation view of Vital Signs: Artists and the Body, on view at The Museum of Modern Art, New York from November 3, 2024, through February 22, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Muzikar