On View May 24 to August 25, 2024
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth presents Rebecca Manson: Barbecue, on view from May 24 to August 25, 2024. Organized by the Modern’s Assistant Curator Clare Milliken, this is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition. The immersive exhibition is displayed in the Modern’s elliptical gallery on the first floor.
Barbecue is a site-responsive installation that both distills and magnifies core elements central to Manson’s work. Comprised of thousands of individually crafted ceramic leaves, flowers, a barbecue grill, and assorted detritus that swell into piles, Barbecue allows for moments of self-reflection. The mounds, some standing over six feet high, are piled against the walls of the ellipse, creating a path inviting visitors to explore the space. Manson’s visual language derives from nature but elicits the complexities of human experience, evoking universal questions about life, mortality, anxiety, nostalgia, memory, and humanity’s connection to nature. The leaves not only relate to the cyclical nature of a person’s life, changing from one season to another, but also to the internal struggle to either collect and contain one’s emotions or release them.
Manson was born in 1989 in New York, where she currently lives and works. She received her BFA in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011. Her work has been featured in numerous shows across the country, including Perhaps the Truth (October 2023–March 2024) at Ballroom Marfa.
About The Modern
The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth is a leader in collecting, showing, and interpreting art from the 1940s to the present. Situated in the heart of the Cultural District, the creative center of the city, the Modern has been housed since 2002 in an elegant concrete, glass, and steel building designed by the renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando. In addition to 53,000 square feet of soaring, light-filled gallery space and landscaped grounds with outdoor sculptures, the Museum features a reflecting pond, theater, education center, gift shop, and café, creating a thriving hub for our community and beyond.
Founded in 1892, the Modern is the oldest museum in Texas; however, our mission has changed over the years. Today, we strive to connect audiences of all ages and backgrounds with the most compelling art and ideas of our time. Showcasing the work of historically significant, mid-career, and emerging artists, the Modern is known for its evolving collection, which is international in scope. The Museum’s holdings include influential artists from Pablo Picasso, Philip Guston, Anselm Kiefer, Martin Puryear, and Agnes Martin to Mark Bradford, Teresita Fernández, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, and Kehinde Wiley. The Modern has a long history of close relationships with the living artists they show and collect, many of whom visit the museum regularly to give talks and lead workshops.
The Modern is a center of lifelong learning and exchange.Their programs include tours, lectures by leading figures in the art world, youth and adult classes, art camps, workshops, and a range of small-group studio and gallery programs led by the Museum’s educators, docents, and community artists. They also present critically acclaimed first-run films and partner with other local arts organizations to offer music, dance, and theater.
Museum Gallery Hours:
Tues.-Thurs./Sat.-Sun. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Fri. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
Closed Mon. and holidays, including New Year’s Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas.
General Admission Prices (includes special exhibition):
Ages 18-59: $16
Seniors 60+, active/retired military, and first responders with ID: $12
Students with ID: $10
Under 18: free
Free admission Fri. Half-price Sun.
All Images: Rebecca Manson, Barbecue, 2024, Porcelain, glaze, steel, adhesives and glass. Dimensions variable. © Rebecca Manson. Courtesy of the Artist. Photographs by Evie Marie Bishop
