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Past Exhibitions

Browse the chronological list of past exhibitions at the Saint Louis University Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCRA), or search for a specific exhibition. Click “View” for more information about an exhibition. If you need further information about an exhibition, please contact us.

James Rosen: The Artist and the Capable Observer

James Rosen: The Artist and the Capable Observer

September 26, 2010 to February 13, 2011

Over his six-decade career, James Rosen has produced a body of visually arresting paintings, watercolors, and drawings, that gently invite viewers to stay a while. Rosen seeks "capable observers" who bring to bear their own intellect and imagination in order to observe poetic images that are conducive to quiet contemplation.

MOCRA is fortunate to have over 100 Rosen works either in its collection or on long-term loan. His work has been included in many of MOCRA's group exhibitions over the years and never fails to draw appreciative comments from visitors. Drawing primarily on these works, The Artist and the Capable Observer presents work from the 1950s to the present, offering viewers the opportunity to observe Rosen’s visual journey through paintings, watercolors, drawings, and prints.

The exhibition culminates with a series of oil and wax/oil emulsion paintings that are homages to the religious art of the European past. Rosen is especially drawn to some of the great European religious masterworks by artists such as Duccio and Grünewald. Painted with up to 60 thin layers--"veils"--of oil paint and wax, these works possess a sense of mystery as they slowly disclose themselves to the patient and attentive observer.

Read a MOCRA blog post about installing The Artist and the Capable Observer.

Rosen has had a distinguished career as an artist and lecturer. Educated at Cooper Union, Wayne State University, and Cranbrook Academy of Art, he has taught at the University of Hawaii, the University of California - Berkeley, Augusta College, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He has exhibited widely and his works are in collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, the Whitney Museum, and the Ashmolean Museum. Influenced by artist Mark Rothko and art historian Meyer Schapiro, Rosen's work demonstrates his keen understanding of art history, mastery of form, and ability to imbue canvases with mystery. He is represented by Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, and the Leyton Gallery, St. John's, Newfoundland.

This exhibition is made possible through the financial support of the Regional Arts Commission.

While others tangle themselves in excess, Rosen starts with the question: What is truly essential here? He demonstrates that the function of art is to coordinate the visual imagination, the sensitive eye, the intellect, and the network of subliminal associations that not the painter alone, but the observer as well, brings to the work. | Madlyn Millner Kahr

above:
Installation view of James Rosen: The Artist and the Capable Observer at MOCRA, 2010. Photo by Jeffrey Vaughn.

Read a review of the exhibition in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Read a review of the exhibition in the Riverfront Times.