Ulrich Museum of Art Presents Printmaking Exhibition by Beat Generation Multimedia Artist Bruce Conner
Wichita, Kansas (PRWEB) August 26, 2014 -- The Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University will open an exhibition of prints by Kansas native and internationally recognized multimedia artist Bruce Conner (1933-2008) this fall. Spanning nearly 60 years of work,Bruce Conner: Somebody Else's Prints is the first in-depth examination of his achievements as a printmaker in over a decade and features rarely seen examples from the Conner Family Trust and private collections. The exhibition, which is supported by a full schedule of events and programs, is on view Sept. 5 through Dec. 14, 2014.
A fixture in the San Francisco Beat-era art scene in the 1950s and 1960s, Conner was renowned for his groundbreaking work in assemblage, painting, sculpture, and experimental film. The Wichita native (born in McPherson, Kansas) never worked with one medium for long, and infamously shifted personas and attributed his artwork to celebrities, such as actor and friend Dennis Hopper, and fake personas alike.
Ulrich Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Jodi Throckmorton joined the museum staff in 2013 with the idea of curating a Bruce Conner exhibition.
“He was a Kansas-native and even attended Wichita State—then the University of Wichita—for a few years,” explained Throckmorton. “Drawing on the wealth of Conner material in the Ulrich Collection, in Wichita, and in Kansas, I felt it was important to do an exhibition that focused on his works on paper—a barely examined part of his work that reveals much about his artistic practice.”
"Bruce Conner: Somebody Else’s Prints" will feature around 100 works, from the first etchings and lithographs the artist made while still a young student in Kansas in 1944 to his last inkjet prints made with Photoshop in 2003. In addition, rare ephemera from the archives of the Conner Family Trust will be on view, including photographic slides used when he was part of a group that performed experimental light shows for bands like Big Brother and the Holding Company and the Grateful Dead. The exhibition travels to the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, January 31 through May 9, 2015.
“Above all, Conner is an example of an internationally significant artist with deep roots in Kansas and it's exciting to bring such great—and so many—pieces of his work to Wichita,” said Throckmorton.
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About the Ulrich Museum of Art
The Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University serves as the area’s premier venue for new work by emerging and established artists of national and international reputation. The Ulrich Museum is home to the renowned 76-piece Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection—rated one of the top collections of its kind by Public Art Review—and a permanent collection of more than 6,300 works of modern and contemporary art. Established in 1974, the mission of the Ulrich is to expand human experience through encounters with the art of our time. To learn more about the dynamic public programs, events and exhibitions at the Ulrich, visit http://www.ulrich.wichita.edu and follow the Ulrich on Facebook and Twitter. The galleries are open Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m.–5 p.m., and weekends 11–5 p.m. The Outdoor Sculpture Collection is always open. Admission, parking, and group tours are free.
Jessy Clonts, Ulrich Museum of Art, http://www.ulrich.wichita.edu, +1 316-978-6462, [email protected]
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