“I don’t want to wallow in art history,” wrote Jack Whitten. “I want to use art history as a catapult." As an artist, Whitten recognized the past as both 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, Nick Cave, Robert Colescott, Renee Cox, Beauford Delaney, Jim Dine, Mark Dion, Helen Frankenthaler, Melvin Edwards, Ellen Gallagher, Jeffrey Gibson, Sam Gilliam, Marsden Hartley, Grace Hartigan, Zhang Haun, Jenny Holzer, Robert Indiana, Jennie C. Jones, Jasper Johns, Ellsworth Kelly, Christine Sun Kim, Käthe Kollwitz, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Al Loving, Danny Lyon, Noé Martínez, James "Ari" Montford, Robert Motherwell, Louise Nevelson, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg, Pablo Picasso, Howardena Pindell, Betye Saar, Lorna Simpson,  Rose B. Simpson, Andy Warhol, Marie Watt, Fred Wilson, Jack Whitten, Dahn Võ, and others.