Revolution of the Eye

Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television is the first exhibition to explore how avant-garde art influenced and shaped the look and content of network television in its formative years, from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s. During this period, the pioneers of American television—many of them young, Jewish, and aesthetically adventurous—had adopted modernism as a source of inspiration. Revolution of the Eye looks at how the dynamic new medium, in its risk-taking and aesthetic experimentation, paralleled and embraced cutting-edge art and design.

Highlighting the visual revolution ushered in by American television and modernist art and design of the 1950s and 1960s, Revolution of the Eye features fine art and graphic design, including works by Saul Bass, Alexander Calder, Marcel Duchamp, Allan Kaprow, Roy Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Eero Saarinen, Ben Shahn, and Andy Warhol, as well as ephemera, television memorabilia, and clips from film and television, including Batman, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Ernie Kovacs Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, and The Twilight Zone.

Revolution of the Eye examines television’s promotion of avant-garde ideals and aesthetics; its facility as a promotional platform for modern artists, designers, and critics; its role as a committed patron of the work of modern artists and designers; and as a medium whose relevance in contemporary culture was validated by the Museum of Modern Art’s historic Television Project (1952–55).

Admission to the exhibition is free.

The Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Thursdays until 7:00 p.m., and on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., and is located in the Fine Arts Building. For more information call 410-455-3188.

Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television is organized by the Jewish Museum, New York, and the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture, UMBC.

The exhibition is curated by Dr. Maurice Berger, Research Professor and Chief Curator, Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, UMBC, and curator, National Jewish Archive of Broadcasting, the Jewish Museum, New York.

Image: Still from The Dinah Shore Show, NBC, 1952 and 1953, stage sets based on modern art: Surrealism. Library of Congress Look Archives.

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Revolution of the Eye: Modern Art and the Birth of American Television is made possible by the generous support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Stern Family Philanthropic Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence, the National Endowment for the Arts, an anonymous donation in memory of Curtis Hereld, and HBO. Endowment support is provided by The Skirball Fund for American Jewish Life Exhibitions and the Neubauer Family Foundation. The exhibition’s presentation at UMBC is supported in part by the Maryland State Arts Council and the Baltimore County Commission on Arts and Sciences.