Alice Neel Un Regard Engagé
5 October 2022—16 January 2023
Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
This autumn, the Centre Pompidou will dedicate a major exhibition to Alice Neel. The first solo show for the Artist in Paris, Alice Neel: An Engaged Eye emphasizes Neel’s political and social activism, in connection to her membership in the Communist party and involvement in the women’s rights movement.
An icon of militant feminism and a precursor of an intersectional approach, Neel often painted women – nudes who were a far cry from the traditional paradigm shaped by the male view and devoid of any sentimentality. She was a free and independent woman who went against the tide of the avant-gardes of the time and her figurative painting crossed the periods of triumphant abstraction, pop art, minimal art and conceptual art. The exhibition is divided into two parts structured freely around the notions of class and gender struggle. In total, some 75 paintings and drawings are on display. The exhibition was originally scheduled to run from 10 June to 20 August 2020.