Diverse architectural shapes nestled atop an iceberg, a derelict subterranean atrium strewn with debris and a contemporary-style home, absent a neighborhood, are among the surreal images created by 16 young artists to represent their view of modern architecture.

“Painting the Glass House” invites the viewer to consider the impact that “Masters of the Modern” (such as Le Corbusier, Philip Johnson, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright) have had on a new generation. In a period driven by developments in technology, engineering and the introduction of industrial materials such as iron, steel, concrete and glass, architects defined their age not only by the structural innovations they incorporated in their designs, but also by the social changes they sought to advance through their work, note the show’s organizers.

In two-dimensional works of various media (including video), the artists featured in the exhibition explore both the utopian ideas expressed by Modern architecture and the passing idealism that Modern architecture now embodies. The show will feature works by Alexander Apostol, Daniel Arsham, Gordon Cheung, David Claerbout, Angela Dufresne, Mark Dziewulski, Christine Erhard, Cyprien Gaillard, Terence Gower, Angelina Gualdoni, Natasha Kissell, Luisa Lambri, Dorit Margreiter, Russell Nachman, Enoc Perez, and Lucy Williams.

The exhibition is curated by Jessica Hough and Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, and presented by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum of Ridgefield, Connecticut. The installation at Yale is designed by Dean Sakamoto, director of exhibitions at the School of Architecture. A book related to the exhibition is being co-published by The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Mills College Art Museum and Yale University Press.

Portions of the exhibition will be shown concurrently at Yale and the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, from March 9, when it opens at The Aldrich, to May 9, when it closes at Yale. Following its closing at the Ridgefield Museum, on July 27, the exhibition will travel to Mills College Art Museum in Oakland, California, where it will be on view from January 14 to March 22, 2009.