Recently gifted works to the Manetti Shrem Museum from dedicated art lovers and philanthropists Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem are the focus on a new exhibition curated and designed by UC Davis students. Thirty undergraduate and graduate students studying studio art, art history and design selected fifteen works from the museum’s collection by world-renowned artists—including Salvador Dalí, Vassily Kandinsky, Joan Miró, and Francis Bacon—to create “Light into Density: Abstract Encounters 1920s-1960s.” This unique exhibition presents exhilarating works, most on public view for the first time in decades.

“Light into Density” was curated by students in the Fall 2023 Exhibition Practicum course led by Assistant Professor Alexandra Sofroniew and designed by students in the Winter 2024 Exhibition Design course led by Professor Timothy McNeil and Associate Professor Brett Snyder.

“Light into Density: Abstract Encounters 1920s–1960s” is on view September 19, 2024–May 5, 2025. The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art is open Thursday–Monday: 10 a.m.–5 p.m.