California, Seen examines the important California Scene painting movement through paintings depicting the rural, urban, and changing landscape of southern California by such featured artists as Emil Kosa Jr., Phil Dike, Millard Sheets, Leon Amyx, Charles Keck, and Loren Roberta Barton - some of the most well-known California Scene practitioners.
As opposed to the often dark and brooding realist styles from other parts of the country, many of the works in California, Seen were painted in vibrant watercolor. The medium, owing its popularity to the radiant climate of southern California, allowed artists to work outdoors and capture their "scenes" at specific moments when the natural light was ideal. (Oil paints being generally too messy and unwieldy to transport and use away from the studio). Although often dealing with heady issues of social realism, urbanism and industrialization, California Scene painters generally portrayed their environments as fresh, energetic bastions of natural beauty and American ingenuity.
California Seen Press Release (opens in a new window)
California, Seen is made possible through the generous support of:
Special thanks to S. Baba and J. Cummins Keck for providing exceptional California wines for events related to California, Seen and for their past support of Coffee, Tea or Chocolate. Additional thanks to Francis Coppola Wines, Icon Wine, Diageo Wines, E. & J. Gallo Winery and Rodney Strong.
Artwork above from left: Charles Keck, Bean Hopper, Watercolor on paper, Purchased by the 2007 Long Beach Museum of Art Collectors Circle with additional funds provided by Long Beach BMW;
Leonard Cutrow, The Gravel Pit, ca. 1950, Watercolor on paper, Gift of Allan Cutrow and Robert Cutrow
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.
Click here for a press release about David Simon: Dark Forest (opens in a new window)
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.
Click here for a press release about Novel Constructions (opens in a new window)
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.
Click here for a press release about Meeting New Works (opens in a new window)
Artwork left: Sean Cheetham, 656-1/2 Tula Rosa, 2007, Purchased with funds contributed by the 2008 Collectors Circle.
Live and Silent Auction Event:
Sunday, September 20, 2009, 4:00 - 9:00 pm
Preview Exhibition and Silent Auction:
September 4 - 19, 2009
Artwork left: Danny Heller, Untitled (William Krisel house), 2008, Oil on canvas, Courtesy of the artist
