LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Ends and Exits

23 Feb - 04 Aug 2013

Allan McCollum
Plaster Surrogates, 1984
Sculpture, Enamel on cast hydrostone plaster
gift of Beatrice and Nathan Cooper.
ENDS AND EXITS
Contemporary Art from the Collections of LACMA and The Broad Art Foundation
23 February – 4 August 2013

This selection of works from the Broad and LACMA collections draws on the strengths of both to reflect directions in contemporary art that emerged in the 1980s. The seeds of what would come to be known as the Pictures Generation began here in Los Angeles at CalArts where conceptual artist John Baldessari helped shape the careers of many artists, such as Troy Brauntuch, Matt Mullican, Jack Goldstein and David Salle. Curators, writers, and critics of the era grappled with an emerging sense that pictures rather than paintings were of importance in our postmodern world, subjecting the traditions of painting and image-making to scrutiny in response to an emerging media landscape and other seismic cultural shifts. The exhibition devotes a single room to the work of Meyer Vaisman. Another room focuses on Sherrie Levine, whose work with appropriation impacted many artists since. The concept of the ready-made, at the heart of Levine’s practice, is also explored in works by Hans Haacke, Haim Steinbach and Allan McCollum. Robert Longo is represented here by two monumental works, while Laurie Anderson and Bill T. Jones are represented by videos documenting their performances at The Kitchen. Standout pieces by Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger and Adrian Piper all use text and language as a poetic and political device. Pieces by Leon Golub, Sarah Charlesworth, Louise Lawler, Robert Gober, David Hammons, Cady Noland and Lorraine O’Grady are also included.
 

Tags: Laurie Anderson, John Baldessari, Troy Brauntuch, Sarah Charlesworth, Robert Gober, Jack Goldstein, Leon Golub, Hans Haacke, David Hammons, Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Robert Longo, Allan McCollum, Matt Mullican, Cady Noland, Lorraine O'Grady, Adrian Piper, David Salle, Haim Steinbach, Meyer Vaisman