Our Stories Unraveled at ‘Don’t Look Back: The 90’s at MOCA’

Rachael McDonald

Amidst the age of throwbacks, a need for consistency and familiarity in our increasingly evolving world has unsurprisingly emerged. The nostalgia of the ‘90s has come to hold a special position in our cultural consciousness; the decades past have the unique ability to be seen with a simultaneously objective and endearing eye and the advent of collective reflection of the ‘90s has been upon us for quite some time. Facilitating an invigorated perspective contextualizing the decade within the encompassing ones, the MOCA has taken pieces from its permanent collection to deliver a modern retrospective on the era of the ‘90s. “Don’t Look Back: The 1990s at MOCA” brings us our blast from the past and features many works that have not been on display since they were first acquired.

Encompassing the dynamic ‘90s, an era filled with conflicts, triumphs, shortcomings and transformations, unravels layers of the stories that we are all living. The ‘80s presented us with the evolving identity politics that defined the decade; the emerging queer culture allowed us to peer into a window exposing and dissecting our assumed definitions of sexuality, race and gender. The ‘90s, however, both expanded upon and challenged those very themes; the waves of which are still gaining momentum in society today. Many artists in the ‘90s created massive installations meant to generate a sensation reflecting and investigating the layers of harmony and dissonance between individual and social identities. Including works by Catherine Opie, Cady Noland, Sarah Sze and Paul McCarthy, the exhibit features six thematically structured chapters, each delving into the complexities of the time and leaving clues for us about where they have lead us today. “Don’t Look Back: The 1990s at MOCA” gives us the space to ask the questions of who we have been, who we are and who we might become in our private and our public worlds.

“Don’t Look Back: The 1990s at MOCA” opened March 12 and will be on view through July 11 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.