Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art: Highlights from SFMOMA’s Collection

Co-organized by the Contemporary Jewish Museum (CJM) and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art is an expansive exhibition conceived as a journey into the connections between spirituality and modern and contemporary art. Spanning the years from 1911 to 2011, the exhibition features more than sixty works on loan to the CJM from SFMOMA’s internationally acclaimed collection—ranging from popular favorites to some that have not been seen by the public for many years—and includes paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, video, and installation. The artists represent a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and interests: early twentieth-century visionaries such as Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian; such mid-century innovators as Alberto Giacometti, Philip Guston, Jackson Pollock, and Mark Rothko; leading postwar artists including Bruce Conner,  Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, and Nam June Paik; and a diverse group of contemporary artists, among them Teresita Fernández, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Shahzia Sikander, Kiki Smith, and Zarina.

Beyond Belief is divided into ten sections, organized under headings that examine widely held spiritual ideas, many of which closely parallel or are rooted in Jewish religious thought—such as the Bible’s original creation story and the bias against literal depictions of God. The exhibition begins, aptly, with Genesis and wends its way through different sections that reveal how artists have addressed diverse spiritual ideas, such as the invisible presence of God, death, redemption, mystical writing, and the understanding of God as a divine architect.

Beyond Belief: 100 Years of the Spiritual in Modern Art is jointly organized by The Contemporary Jewish Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The Koret Foundation, the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture, and the Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropies Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund are the lead supporters of the exhibition. Osterweis Capital Management is the major sponsor. The Yerba Buena Community Benefit District; John and Marcia Goldman Foundation; Maribelle and Stephen Leavitt, Simcha Foundation; Nellie and Max Levchin; Randee and Joe Seiger; and Lydia and Douglas Shorenstein are supporting sponsors of the exhibition. The Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation, Phyllis Cook, Dorothy R. Saxe, Betty and Jack Schafer, Roselyne Chroman Swig, Marilyn Yolles Waldman and Murry Waldman, and Barbara and Howard Wollner are participating sponsors.