MOCA Jacksonville has opened The American Century, a sweeping exhibition that follows American art from the postwar explosion of Abstract Expressionism to the restless, boundary-pushing work of contemporary artists. It is part history lesson, part permanent-collection flex, and a chance to watch the American art world change rooms, rules and occasionally its entire vocabulary.
The exhibition runs through March 7, 2027, and is timed to the 250th anniversary of the United States, according to Action News Jax. Curated by MOCA Senior Curator Ylva Rouse, the show draws from the museum’s permanent collection and brings together artists whose work helped define how America saw itself — and how it wanted the rest of the world to see it.
How New York Took The Art-World Spotlight
The show’s organizing idea reaches back to the postwar moment when the center of the international art world shifted from Paris to New York. MOCA’s official exhibition page connects that cultural pivot to publisher Henry Luce’s declaration of an emerging “American Century,” when the country’s growing political and economic power began showing up on gallery walls, too.
Abstract Expressionism forms the exhibition’s backbone. The movement emerged in the 1940s and became the first specifically American art movement to achieve international influence, while a second generation of artists — including Ed Clark, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Michael Goldberg, Al Held and Joan Mitchell — helped push painting toward Color Field, hard-edge and lyrical abstraction, as well as performance art, Minimalism and Conceptual Art.
The lineup also includes Radcliffe Bailey, Alexander Calder, Keith Haring, Jasper Johns, Alex Katz, Robert Motherwell, James Rosenquist, Shinique Smith, Frank Stella and Kara Walker, among others, Action News Jax reports. That mix gives the exhibition a wide lens: familiar names sit alongside artists whose work complicates the tidy version of American art history.
A Curator Talk Is Coming Later This Month
MOCA will host Coffee with a Curator: The American Century with Ylva Rouse on August 29 from 11 a.m. to noon. The event listing says the program includes conversation with Rouse, coffee and snacks from Setlan Coffee Co., followed by time in the galleries.
For Jacksonville residents looking for a low-cost weekend culture stop, MOCA’s visitor information lists adult admission at $10, with free admission for everyone on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, and its visitor guide also notes extended hours on the first and third Wednesdays of each month.
