California Art: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
Date: August 20 – December 4, 2011
Curated By: Billie Milam Weisman
Venue: Pepperdine University, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90263
(310) 506-4851
Exhibited Artists:
Lita Albuquerque, Peter Alexander, Robert Arneson, Charles Arnoldi, John Baldessari, Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, Tony Berlant, Mary Corse, Ronald Davis, Laddie John Dill, Tim Ebner, Doug Edge, Peter Erskine, Ned Evans, Charles Fine, Sam Francis, Jack Goldstein, Joe Goode, Tim Hawkinson, James Hayward, Scott Heywood, Charles Christopher Hill, David Hockney, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, Peter Lodato, John McCracken, John Millei, Joel Morrison, Andy Moses, Ed Moses, Manfred Muller, John Okulick, Kaz Oshiro, Ken Price, Jessica Rath, Edward Ruscha, Alexis Smith, Robert Therrien, Roy Thurston, DeWain Valentine, Vasa, Peter Voulkos, and Tom Wudl.
California Art: Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation
Since the 1960s California has emerged as a center for contemporary art that rivals New York in its accomplishments and innovation. Frederick R. Weisman was a pioneering collector whose rise as an important patron of the arts paralleled the emergence of the contemporary art scene in Los Angeles. He began collecting both international art and art from Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, and counted many of the city's top artists as his close friends, building a collection that reflects these personal relationships. He was an early supporter of many of the artists that rose to prominence under the legendary Ferus Gallery, established by Walter Hopps, Ed Kienholz and later, Irving Blum. At the time Hopps was an innovative young curator who was tuned in to the idiosyncratic styles of Los Angeles artists, which had developed from isolation during the post-war period. As a result, LA artists were inspired by their daily lives and surroundings—the local terrain, vibrant sun, beautiful sunsets, blue skies, surfboards, and fast, flashy cars. Soon new art movements were created (such as Light and Space, and Finish Fetish), and the Cool School was born. But it would be decades later before the rest of the world recognized the importance of these artists and movements. In keeping with Frederick Weisman’s tradition of supporting local artists, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation has continued to amass a substantial collection of Los Angeles and California art.
The art on view represents a number of exciting and diverse movements that played a decisive role in defining the visual arts in the Golden State. So much of contemporary art traces its roots to the free spontaneity of 1950s Abstract Expressionism, a movement embodied in the improvisational color-field paintings of Sam Francis. During the 1960s many artists adopted the impeccable smooth finishes of hot rods and surfboards which led to the Fetish Finish movement, as seen in works by Larry Bell and Craig Kauffman. Possibly because of its connections to the entertainment industry, Southern California also spawned art infused with deadpan wit and humor, as seen in examples by Edward Ruscha and Joe Goode. In the California Light and Space movement, artists created works that reflect the broad glow of our environment, represented in works by Mary Corse, Peter Lodato and Peter Erskine. Newer movements, such as Postmodernism can be found in the art of John Baldessari and the fantastic constructions of Tim Hawkinson.