Artist Bruce Conner (1933–2008) moved to San Francisco in 1957 and quickly enmeshed himself in the Bay Area’s distinctive cultural milieu, combining a vision and a multifaceted body of work that went beyond the limitations of any genre. From early assemblages of the 1950s and 1960s to iconic and pioneering works in film, from photography and photograms to prints, drawings, and paintings, Conner’s oeuvre continues to exert tremendous influence on artists working today. This historic retrospective catalogue will be the definitive resource on this important artist for decades to come. Offering a highly anticipated contemporary perspective on Conner, it will prove revelatory in assessing his output and place in postwar art. Illustrated in full color throughout, this comprehensive volume provides access to a range of material that has never been published, including early paintings from the 1950s and works from the last decade of Conner’s life, along with a trove of fascinating ephemeral materials. The publication features original scholarship by a range of luminaries, including essays by Frieling, Garrels, Stuart Comer, Diedrich Diederichsen, Rachel Federman, and Laura Hoptman as well as contributions from Michelle Barger, Kevin Beasley, Dara Birnbaum, Carol Bove, Stan Brakhage, Will Brown, David Byrne, Johanna Gosse, Roger Griffith, Kellie Jones, Christian Marclay, Greil Marcus, Michael McClure, Megan Randall, Henry S. Rosenthal, Dean Smith, and Kristine Stiles.
Published in association with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Exhibition dates:
Museum of Modern Art, New York: July 3–October 2, 2016
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: October 29, 2016–January 29, 2017
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain: February 21–May 22, 2017
Author Biography:
Rudolf Frieling is Curator of Media Arts at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His exhibitions at SFMOMA have included Stage Presence: Theatricality in Art and Media,Long Play: Bruce Conner and the Singles Collection, and The Art of Participation: 1950 to Now. He has written for numerous print, multimedia, and online publications, including the book series Media Art Action, Media Art Interaction, and Media Art Net 1/II. Gary Garrels is Elise S. Haas Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Garrels has held curatorial positions at prominent institutions and has organized many important exhibitions throughout the country. Among his many notable publications are Plane Image: A Brice Marden Retrospective, Sol LeWitt: A Retrospective, and Celebrating Modern Art: The Anderson Collection.
