Ed Ruscha Ed Ruscha Ed Ruscha - Art and Living

“We could have done a show twice this size but had to narrow it down to 100pieces,” explains Cartwright. “Within our selections, we tried to cover as wide aspectrum as we could.” Daniella WalshOctober 26, 2006 – January 7, 20071450 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, California • 619.232.7931 • www.sdmart.orgHans Hofmann, Woman Seated, 1938. Oil on plywood. Image courtesy Potiker Collection. ©2006 Estate of Hans Hofmann/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.Diego’s history of art collecting would be the perfect way to celebrate themuseum’s 80th anniversary. However, his selections are not merely based onname recognition. Instead, says Cartwright, he chose to emphasize a wide varietyof art: African and Oceanic sculptures, photography, Chinese and Japaneseart, French Impressionists and several 17th-century Dutch and Italian paintings.As Cartwright took the helm of SDMA two years ago, he noted that suchan exhibition had not been staged in more than 25 years and thus set out to findthe best and most idiosyncratic collections in the area.“We did not want anonymousdonors but were looking for collectors who wanted to share their collectionsas well as themselves with the viewing public,” explains Cartwright.The result is a compelling exhibition accompanied by a catalogue containingessays about the collectors. For example, a glance at the catalogue will tell youthat Richard and Susan Ulevitch collect African sculpture, while Wai-lim and TzumeiYip concentrate on Taiwanese modernists.Ted and Joyce Strauss have a cacheof 600 photographs, including work by Walker Evans, André Kertesz, CindySherman and Andres Serrano. Dan R. Stephens is passionate about plein air paintingsdepicting San Diego vistas.Magritte and Contemporary Art:The Treachery of ImagesLos Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CaliforniaRené Magritte (1898–1967) was a master of challenge. He challenged allto look at everyday objects and perceive them differently, to look for thehidden in the obvious, for the underlying meanings where there seem tobe none—let the subconscious become the conscious. It was this insight and artisticmastery that influenced and impacted modern day artists. Magritte andContemporary Art:The Treachery of Images at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art(LACMA) is the first major exhibition to explore fully the impact of Belgian surrealistartist René Magritte’s work on contemporary American and European artists.Honoring Magritte’s challenge of perception, conceptual artist John Baldessari createda unique installation for this exhibit that visualizes the worl upside-down.In providing an in-depth, comprehensive view of Magritte’s work, curatorStephanie Barron has assembled sixty-eight paintings and drawings, including manyinternational loans of the artist’s signature works. For analogical comparison, Barronalso presents sixty-eight diverse contemporary works by thirty-one pop and postmodernartists such as Vija Celmins, Robert Gober, Jasper Johns, Jeff Koons, EdRuscha, and Andy Warhol in order to demonstrate the unconscious effect and subtleinfluences Magritte’s concepts and images have had on their work and techniques.Sharing his creative insights of Magritte, Baldessari’s installation reverses the realityRoy Lichtenstein, Stretcher Frame, 1968. Oil and magna on canvas.Private collection. © Estate of Roy LichtensteinArt and Living 15