I don’t want to wallow in art history. I want to use art history as a catapult.

(Jack Whitten)

As an artist, Whitten recognized the past as both a foundation and launching pad by which to reach as yet uncharted realms. Organized in celebration of the Rose’s 60th anniversary, the exhibition re: collections, Six Decades at the Rose Art Museum casts a critical eye in these two directions: highlighting the radical roots from which the museum grew, while showcasing the potential for future transformations. re: collections challenges the conventions of art historical narrative by uncovering new connections, charting alternative genealogies, and inviting innovative interpretations of modern and contemporary art.

Displaying well-known, iconic pieces from the Rose’s permanent collection alongside artworks created by emerging and historically underrepresented artists, this major, museum-wide exhibition recontextualizes the familiar while introducing the new. The show features a multigenerational, international cadre of stellar artists, among them:

Mark Bradford, Robert Colescott, Renee Cox, Beauford Delaney, Jim Dine, Mark Dion, Helen Frankenthaler, Melvin Edwards, Ellen Gallagher, Jeffrey Gibson, Sam Gilliam, Martine Gutierrez, Marsden Hartley, Grace Hartigan, Jenny Holzer, Robert Indiana, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Christine Sun Kim, Käthe Kollwitz, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Al Loving, Noé Martínez, James "Ari" Montford, Robert Motherwell, Louise Nevelson, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg, Pablo Picasso, Howardena Pindell, Betye Saar, Stephen Shames, Lorna Simpson, Rose B. Simpson, Florine Stettheimer, Andy Warhol, Marie Watt, Fred Wilson, Jack Whitten, Dahn Võ, and others.

re: collections, Six Decades at the Rose Art Museum is curated by Dr. Gannit Ankori, Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum and Professor of Fine Arts and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Brandeis University, Dr. Elyan J. Hill, Guest Curator of African and African Diaspora Art, and Caitlin Julia Rubin, Associate Curator and Director of Programs.

The exhibition is made possible by the generous support of the Henry Luce Foundation.