“My concern is with humanity. I want to confront the viewer with life and with what we are doing to each other. I hope to awaken in the viewer a sense of compassion … without compassion there is nothing.”
—Luis Cruz Azaceta

Bodies and Souls examines the liberatory power of figurative art. Though often treated as conservative in the second half of the 20th century, artists used representational and realist methods to assert presence for those omitted from dominant narratives or harmfully depicted by those outside their communities. Realism and representation remain powerful means to show embodied human experience, encompassing gender, sexuality, interpersonal relationships, psychological states, and connections to home. 

These methods can help us imagine the world we want to live in. Representational art has been critical for artists who want to make themselves and their communities visible on their own terms. It provides the agency to see and be seen, to show relationships, pleasure, and autonomy. Representing ourselves is a powerful means of celebrating our full humanity.

This is the throughline of an eclectic collection formed by Philadelphians Robert and Frances Coulborn Kohler. Bodies and Souls celebrates their devotion to artists and immense generosity towards PAFA. Featuring over 120 works given and promised to the museum, the exhibition will examine prominent themes in the collection, integrating artists who are often seen independently or as part of regional communities.

Bodies and Souls is presented concurrently with an exhibition of the same title featuring the Kohlers’ personal collection at Woodmere, Charles Knox Smith Hall, 9201 Germantown Ave.