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In 2014, Komal Shah attended the Whitney Biennial in New York. Upon entering the galleries, she was captivated by two expansive abstract works.

“One was by the artist Laura Owens, and the other was by Jacqueline Humphries,” Shah recalled. The artwork was assertive and robust, yet also clever and whimsical. “It resonated with me. I was entirely enchanted.”

Over the past ten years, Shah has risen as one of the most significant collectors in the United States. The Shah Garg Foundation, which she co-founded with her husband, alumnus Gaurav Garg (BS ’88, MS ’90), seeks to elevate the voices of women artists and artists of color through scholarships, exhibitions, and public outreach.

This autumn, the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis will showcase “Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection.” Covering nearly eight decades and featuring close to 70 artists, the exhibition connects prominent contemporary creators with an earlier cohort of artists whose work foreshadowed current debates surrounding figuration, abstraction, as well as identity and power.

“’Making Their Mark’ examines how women artists, particularly those engaged in abstraction, broke through societal and artistic norms by adopting distinctive methods of painting, craft techniques, unconventional materials, advanced technologies, and diverse formal languages,” stated Sabine Eckmann, the William T. Kemper Director and chief curator of the Kemper Art Museum.

“Many of these artists are widely recognized,” Eckmann noted. “Others remain relatively unknown. Several have not been exhibited in St. Louis before. The Kemper Art Museum is privileged to highlight their achievements.”

‘Urgency, vigor and brightness’

“Making Their Mark” represents the largest exhibition the Kemper Art Museum has ever mounted. More than 80 pieces, many of substantial size, occupy the museum’s atrium and rotating exhibition spaces, in addition to three galleries typically reserved for the permanent collection.

The initial segment, “Gestural Abstraction,” showcases an extraordinary untitled canvas from 1946 by Janet Sobel. A self-taught Ukrainian émigré who began her artistic journey at 45, Sobel was instrumental in pioneering drip painting and the “all-over” composition elements that Jackson Pollock would later embrace. Also highlighted is a significant diptych by Joan Mitchell, the last piece completed before her passing in 1992, presented alongside more recent abstractions by Katharina Grosse, Lorna Simpson, and Mary Weatherford, among others.

“Mitchell was battling lung cancer, yet she created this monumental 12-foot canvas with urgency and vigor and brightness,” Shah remarked. “Almost every artist in the collection drew inspiration from her.”

The next segment, “Painting and Technology,” investigates the interplay between artistic creativity and technological advancements. Owens, Humphries, and Sarah Sze all merge the physicality of gestural painting with elements of digital culture. Melissa Cody, a fourth-generation textile artist, interprets traditional Diné symbols in the blocky, pixilated forms reminiscent of early video games. (The weaving loom, a technology historically aligned with “women’s work,” helped give rise to binary code.) The section also features two works by Faith Ringgold, inspired by Tibetan thangkas, marking an initial phase in her shift from painting to her iconic story quilts.

Craft and identity

“Craft Is Art” confronts the hierarchies of the art world and (often gendered) disciplinary divides. Fiber artists like Trude Guermonprez and her former protégé Kay Sekimachi weave strikingly sculptural forms from silk and monofilament. Pacita Abad, Elizabeth Talford Scott, and Joyce J. Scott utilize quilting, knotting, embroidery, and various textile techniques to mirror political and economic narratives. Toshiko Takaezu’s organic forms and painterly glazes played a crucial role in the mid-century acknowledgment of ceramics as fine art.

“Of Selves and Spirits” emphasizes themes of portraiture and spirituality, as well as artistic practices that navigate between abstraction and figuration. Elizabeth Murray’s “Joanne in the Canyon” (1990–91) presents a swirling, fragmented representation of renowned theater director JoAnne Akalaitis. Emma Amos’ “Star” (1982) illustrates a leaping silhouette encircled by fabric collage. Rose B. Simpson, Kara Walker, and Zarina invoke spiritual customs and cultural archetypes, while “Sisters” (2021), a stitched vignette by Tschabalala Self, portrays a young woman affectionately cradling a child standing proudly on her foot.

Changing perspectives

In “Disobedient Bodies,” artists examine outdated representations of the feminine form. Joan Semmel’s “Horizons” (1981)
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aims to reclaim the nude from the sexism and stigmas prevalent in mainstream culture. Wangechi Mutu’s “drip, drip, drip” (2017) and Cecily Brown’s “The Demon Menagerie” (2019–20) merge alluring, biomorphic forms with vibrant, stimulating color schemes. “Cut/Slip for Flowers” (2020), created by St. Louis native Suzanne Jackson, is a translucent, flesh-like acrylic painting-object that hangs in mid-air, foregoing traditional canvas or structural support.

Artists in the sixth and concluding section, “Luminous Abstraction,” investigate light as a theme, material, and environmental condition. Mary Corse’s “Untitled (White Grid, Horizontal Strokes)” (1969) incorporates glass microspheres, commonly seen in painted road markings, within layers of acrylic paint. From afar, Howardena Pindell’s “Untitled #21” (1978) seems similarly monochromatic, but a closer look unveils a kaleidoscope of paper circles, stamped using a hole punch. Helen Pashgian’s “Untitled (orange)” (2009) was created by bending large acrylic sheets. As the spectator shifts their viewpoint, the towering column appears to shimmer and fade, dissolve and reconstitute.

“’Making Their Mark’ is about honoring brilliance,” stated Shah, who has fostered strong connections with numerous artists featured. “We’ve had the opportunity to obtain significant, landmark pieces, but for me, the collection serves as a means to narrate stories and initiate social transformation. It’s about backing artists in all possible ways. That’s what I hold most dear.”

Organizers, publication, and tour

“Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” is curated by Cecilia Alemani, the Donald R. Mullen Jr. Director and chief curator of High Line Art in New York, along with Eckmann.

The exhibition coincides with the monograph “Making Their Mark: Art By Women in the Shah Garg Collection” (2023). Edited by Mark Godfrey, an independent curator and art historian based in London, and Katy Siegel, research director at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, this volume includes scholarly essays on subjects related to the collection; writings by 15 artists regarding those who motivate them; and full-color illustrations featuring over 130 works.

The “Making Their Mark” exhibition premiered in New York in fall 2023 and is set to journey to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in 2024. After its St. Louis showing, the exhibition will continue to the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., and Newfields, the campus of the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

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Visitors and events

“Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” will commence on Friday, Sept. 12, featuring a panel discussion with Komal Shah and curators Alemani and Eckmann. The Q&A will start at 5:30 p.m. in Steinberg Auditorium, followed by a public reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Kemper Art Museum.

Additional events include an open house for K–12 educators (Sept. 17); a lecture on Joan Mitchell by Siegel (Oct. 26; in partnership with the Saint Louis Art Museum) and a panel featuring artists Weatherford and Grosse (Nov. 19). An exhibition of K-12 student creations inspired by “Making Their Mark” will be on display in Steinberg Hall from Dec. 13 to 20. Guided tours in American Sign Language, English, Mandarin, and Spanish will occur on select Saturdays and Sundays throughout the autumn season.

The Kemper Art Museum is situated on WashU’s Danforth Campus, close to the junction of Skinker and Lindell boulevards. Visitor parking is available in the university’s east end garage. Operating hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Mondays and Wednesdays through Sundays, with the museum being closed on Tuesdays. For more details, call 314-935-4523 or visit kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu. Stay connected with the museum on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube.

Additional support

“Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection” is made possible thanks to the principal support from the Shah Garg Foundation and the leadership backing of the William T. Kemper Foundation. All exhibitions at the Kemper Art Museum benefit from contributions by members of the Director’s Circle, with significant annual assistance from Emily and Teddy Greenspan and additional generous annual support from Deborah Beckmann and Jacob Kotzubei, Michael Forman and Jennifer Rice, Julie Kemper Foyer, Joanne Gold and Andrew Stern, David and Dorothy Kemper, Ron and Pamela Mass, and Kim and Bruce Olson. Further backing comes from the Hortense Lewin Art Fund; the Ken and Nancy Kranzberg Fund; and the members of the Kemper Art Museum.

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