Modernism and the Milton Wichner Collection highlights the Museum's important collection of European and American works of modern art including the 1979 gift to LBMA from Milton Wichner. On view as part of the Milton Wichner Collection are paintings by such seminal modern European artists as Alexej Jawlensky, Vasily Kandinsky, and Laszlo Maholy-Nagy. In order to provide a wide-ranging survey of modern art in both Europe and the United States during the mid-20th century, the exhibition will also include fifty additional works from LBMA's collection from such well-known artists as Charles and Ray Eames, Helen Lundeberg, John McLaughlin, Karl Benjamin, Hans Burkhardt and others.
The artists represented in Modernism worked in a multitude of styles and materials, but they are bound together by their conscious break from earlier artistic traditions, their interest in experimentation and their desire to create universal, abstract forms. In addition, many of the artists in the exhibition were influenced by twentieth century advances in science and technology, including discoveries in the study of molecules and atoms, space exploration, and the development of new materials such as aluminum.
Though primarily made up of paintings, the exhibition also includes sculpture, ceramics, drawing, furniture, prints, and glass. There will also be a new rotation of the Wichner Collection up in June.
Artwork from left: Dorothy Brown, White Transition, 1956, Oil on masonite, Gift of the artist; Vasily Kandinsky, Points, 1935, Oil and lacquer on canvas, The Milton Wichner Collection Bequest
The Long Beach Museum of Art is pleased to present, David Simon: Dark Forest, the first solo museum exhibition by Los Angeles-based sculptor David Simon. Dark Forest features a collection of works suggested by the contemporary opera The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets, written by William Burroughs with music by Tom Waits. The Black Rider tells the tragic story of a young man's downfall after bargaining with the devil in pursuit of love. The Burroughs/Waits play was in turn based on the nineteenth century German opera Der Freischütz (The Marksman).
Inspired by The Black Rider, David created these near life-sized sculptures in bronze, often accented with other materials such as glass, steel, leather or wood.
The exhibition will be presented in the Museum's Gail Oxford Gallery, which will be transformed into a dimly-lit forest of sculptures and pedestals to provide the appropriate theatrical setting for the sculptures.
Related public programming will include a symposium of contemporary figurative artists and a performance by Long Beach Opera.
To view more of Simon's work, please visit www.davidsimonart.com.
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Artwork above, left: David Simon, The Hunter, 1998, Bronze, Courtesy of the artist
Novel Constructions: Artists Create Monumental Books presents mixed media installations and sculptures by six artists inspired by the idea of "the book" which they expand and enlarge in multiple dimensions from six feet square to over 30 feet long. Selected by guest curator Jean Clad, works by Edith Abeyta, Beatriz Mejia-Krumbein, Mary Ellen Long, Carol Shaw Sutton, Genie Shenk, and Cheryl Sorg are installed at the Museum this summer from May 1 to August 16, 2009. Each artist is inspired by some aspect of "bookness" and the exhibition is unified by the oversized scale of their works, amplifying the traditional intimate scale of books to emphasize their meanings. Novel Constructions is full of encompassing environments that engage and hold visitors in ways that humans engage and hold books.
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Artwork above from left: Genie Shenk, Ring, 1990, 1999, Tar paper, 20 inches x 11 feet diameter, Courtesy of the artist; Beatriz Mejia- Krumbein, Black and White, 1996, Mixed media: burlap, paper, cardboard, charcoal, acrylic, 72 x 108 x 5 inches book construction, 20 pages, Courtesy of the artist; Carol Shaw Sutton, Longitude, 2004, mixed media, 8 x 6 feet x 40 inches, Courtesy of the artist; Mary Ellen Long, Detritus, 2009, installation, variable dimensions, Collection of Mary Ellen Long; Edith Abeyta, 280, 2007, Book pages, fabric, straw, ceramic, onions, wood, 10 x 10 x 10 feet, Courtesy of the artist; Cheryl Sorg, "Bodies, I have in mind, and how they can change to assume new shapes..." (Metamorphoses), 2007, Paper (books), clear tape, mylar, 30 x 360 inches, Courtesy of the artist
Meeting New Works is a small selection of the 329 artworks added to the Museum's permanent collection in the past 3 years. This exhibition features over twenty works in a variety of media including paintings, ceramics, sculpture, and wood art, including a selection from the gift of over 70 pieces of wood art from the Irving Lipton Collection. Selected artists include: Peter Zokosky, Karen Carson, Sean Cheetham, Marc Trujillo, Tony Marsh, Terry Braunstein, and Kent Twitchell.
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Artwork left: Sean Cheetham, 656-1/2 Tula Rosa, 2007, Purchased with funds contributed by the 2008 Collectors Circle.
The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) has been awarded a Getty Foundation grant as part of the Getty's multi-year initiative, Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980. LBMA joins other museums in this unprecedented series of concurrent exhibitions at museums throughout Southern California highlighting the post-World War II Los Angeles art scene. As part of this initiative, LBMA will collaborate with California State University Long Beach's University Art Museum (UAM) in the research and creation of an exhibition exploring Long Beach's central role in the international development of video art.
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The Museum's prized permanent collection includes approximately 3,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures, works on paper, and decorative arts objects (furnishings and accessories). Particular strengths lie in 300 years of ceramics, early 20th century European art, California Modernism and contemporary art of California.
If you're interested in supporting the Museum's exhibitions, contact Megan Goulding, 562-439-2119 x335.
