A+ art notes

After two months reporting art events in the UK, I came back to San Diego stoked to see art here with new eyes. So I was very pleased in January to hit the streets. Collectors’ exhibitions leaped out at me and I strolled around the MOCASD first to see the show of a board member collector. This work will someday go to MOCASD and it was clear to see either Mr. and Mrs. Gribin had already influenced the collection of the museum or that the museum had influenced them.

A bit of historical perspective presented itself at the SDMA where they are have small show focusing on some of their major contributors in the past century. These folks gave major art works to the museum at a time when the artists might not have been so very major. It was interesting to see how these collectors made decision about what to buy and what to give. Later this year in October, the museum is going to focus on SD collectors and I am eager to see that show as well.

I finished this collector indulgence with another show at the SDMA where the curator had very cleverly juxtaposed contemporary works from the permanent collection so that the viewer could relate to this works in a fresh way. I think this is the very best example of how a museum can help potential collectors get a handle of what it takes to look at art. Good explanation were displayed and all that was missing was a take away leaflet about the show and a chance for viewer comments.

The MOCASD collection has a definite personality and it is very interesting to note that the contemporary collection of the SDMA is not that different. It might be Tracking and Tracing but a thread runs through it all. Maybe there is something in the water. Go and see them and see what you think.

 

La Dolce Vita- Selections From The Ruth And Murray A. Gribin Collection at MCASD   La Jolla - January 21 Through May 7, 2006

Murray “Mickey” Gribin and his late wife Ruth amassed a stunning collection of Southern California artists’ work from the 1960s to the present. Artists in the collection include Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Craig Kauffman, John McLaughlin, and Robert Therrien, with particular depth in the work of Llyn Foulkes, John Altoon, Ed Moses, and Billy Al Bengston. A promised gift to the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Mr. Gribin’s collection demonstrates his interest in supporting and sustaining emerging talent. Mr. Gribin is a long-time member of the Board of Trustees at MCASD and has been extremely generous in both donating and underwriting works of art for the Museum’s collection, including works by Alfred Jensen, Ken Price, John McCracken, Larry Bell, Jasper Johns, Ed Kienholz, Tim Bavington, and Robert Irwin.

The Eye of the Collector, the Wishes of the Donor, the Spirit of the Philanthropist: Modern European Paintings at SDMA - December 17, 2005–April 15, 2007
In honor of the Museum’s 80th anniversary, this unique exhibition pays tribute to the generous individuals who shaped SDMA’s collection of modern European painting. Works are grouped according to their donor, focusing attention on their interests, tastes, and connoisseurship. Pieces on display include visitor favorites such as William Bouguereau’s Young Shepherdess, given by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin S. Larsen in 1968, and Joaquín Sorolla’s María at La Granja, from Mr. and Mrs. Archer M. Huntington, the very first object to enter the collection in 1925.

Tracking and Tracing: Contemporary Acquisitions 2000–2005 at SDMA - December 17, 2005–July 9, 2006
This exhibition consists of approximately 90 works, plus a video program, that have come into the San Diego Museum of Art’s collection through purchase or donation from 2000 to 2005. The exhibition tracks recent institutional history as represented in the acquisition strategies implemented in the last five years—during which time SDMA’s contemporary collection has grown greatly—and traces links between and across these new additions to the collection. The exhibition demonstrates the Museum’s collection priorities and also displays works that document exhibitions organized by SDMA.. Curated by Betti-Sue Hertz’s curatorial associate, Lucia Sanroman

This occasional feature is written by the coordinator of the San Diego Visual Arts Network:
PATRICIA FRISCHER