The Santa Barbara Museum of Art presents Pasadena to Santa Barbara. A Selected History of Art in Southern California 1951–1969 an exhibition on view February 11 – May 6, 2012.
William Dole, Tower of Babel, 1962. Watercolor and collage on board. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Gift of Dean Valentine and Amy Adelson, Los Angeles.
This exhibition focuses on the legacy of two of Southern California’s leading venues for contemporary art since the 1940s: the Santa Barbara Museum of Art and the Pasadena Art Museum (known from 1941-1953 as the Pasadena Art Institute, and since 1975 as the Norton Simon Museum). These two institutions pioneered what is now perceptible as a common strategy—to exhibit the work of local artists living and active in Southern California—alongside the work of influential modern and contemporary artists from other parts of the United States and Europe.
This bold approach provided a solid foundation for the growth of contemporary art in the region and became an inspiration and model for a number of institutions that followed. This exhibition presents works by artists who were featured at one or both venues during these years, and who remain important to the current and continuing discourse in contemporary art in Southern California.
Featuring works by John Altoon, Karel Appel, Karl Benjamin, William Brice, Richard Diebenkorn, William Dole, Marcel Duchamp, Llyn Foulkes, Sam Francis, Philip Guston, Robert Irwin, Ynez Johnston, Ed Kienholz, Helen Lundeberg, John McLaughlin, Robert Motherwell, Lee Mullican, Larry Rivers, Richards Ruben, Mark Tobey, June Wayne, and Beatrice Wood.
This exhibition is part of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945–1980, a collaboration of more than 60 cultural institutions across Southern California—coming together for the first time to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene.
The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution that presents internationally recognized collections and exhibitions and a broad array of cultural and educational activities as well as travel opportunities around the world.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA. Open Tuesday – Sunday 11 am to 5 pm. Closed Monday. 805.963.4364 www.sbma.net