OMAHA.- The Joslyn Art Museum will open on September 2 the exhibit Art on the Edge: Modern and Contemporary Art from the Permanent Collection. From the beginning, Joslyn has collected and exhibited the work of living artists. Grant Wood's Stone City, Iowa was a gift the year he painted it from the Art Institute of Omaha to the Museum, which opened to the public the next year. Jackson Pollock's Galaxy was completed in 1947 and entered the collection just two years later, a 1949 gift of Peggy Guggenheim. It was not until the early 1970s, however, that the museum began to focus on new art in earnest. Joslyn's history of exhibiting the work of living artists in group and solo shows as well as series like I-80 and 20/21 has led to such timely acquisitions over the years as Martin Puryear's Self, now an acknowledged masterpiece; George Segal's Times Square at Night; Tracy Moffatt's Something More; José Bedia's Solo Kalunga; and others, many of which will be included in Art on the Edge.

The exhibition presents a variety of paintings, sculpture, and works on paper, some on view for the first time. These works address the salient themes of our times, from the glorification of popular culture seen in Pop Art, to those reveling in pure painterly expression, to more moving themes dealing with war and poverty. The artists represented come not only from around the world but also work, or have worked, locally. Visitors to the exhibition will be greeted by artworks as they enter Joslyn's 1994 addition, the Suzanne and Walter Scott Pavilion. A work of art in itself and a landmark example of American museum architecture by the renowned Norman Foster, the Scott Pavilion showcases two monumental works by Dale Chihuly. Moreover, the Museum's grounds hold further examples of contemporary sculpture, by regional and internationally acclaimed artists, that are part of the exhibition.