Come As You Are: Art of the 1990s

_{Blanton Museum of Art}

Mood rings and GUESS jeans, Tamagotchis and Tickle Me Elmo, Bill Clinton’s impeachment and O.J. Simpson’s trial, needless to say, the 1990s were an interesting time. And while there are certain parts of history (and a few haircuts) we’d like to forget, the art produced during this decade is worth remembering, and Come as You Are: Art of the 1990s, the Blanton Museum of Art’s newest exhibit, seeks to celebrate it.

The exhibition, which is named for the Nirvana song, was originally organized by New Jersey’s Montclair Art Museum but includes unique elements added here by the Blanton. Come as You Are features the work of around 45 American artists who emerged during the nineties. Working in a multitude of mediums including paint, sculpture, video and early Internet art, the exhibition provides a unique, multi-faceted look at a very interesting decade.

“Everyone comes at this decade from a different experience —whether you were into grunge or hip hop or alt rock or pop, whether you made your name on Wall Street or just the streets … even if you were a child of the nineties and don’t have much of a relationship to that decade,” explains Blanton Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Evan Garza. “The perspectives in the exhibition are so diverse that the points of entry into the content of the show are seemingly infinite. And that has so much to do with what the nineties were about — finding your own lens into a larger conversation and popular culture.”

Come as You Are: Art of the 1990s will be on display at the Blanton Museum of Art through May 15th. For more information about the exhibit, visit Blantonmuseum.org.

_{Read more from the Music + Film Issue | March 2016}