This exhibition explores the relationship between movement and stasis in works of art made from the 1950s to the 1980s. It invites viewers to consider the dependent relation between these terms: how movement is necessary to see and understand stasis, and vice versa. The triad of Past, Present, and Potential structures the exhibition, asking visitors to consider how time further informs this relation. How is this relation registered in the making of a work of art, in the development of an exhibition, and in the assembling of a permanent collection?

The exhibition was collaboratively organized by students in the spring 2023 graduate-level Curatorial Practices seminar. The exhibition brings together works from the Corcoran Legacy Collection and those separately acquired by the museum. The curators invite you to reflect on your own engagement with the relation between movement and stasis as you get close to, step back from, and consider the works in this gallery.