THE BRUCE CONNER STORY II

February 13 - April 23, 2000. Showcasing some 150 works in a broad range of media, 2000 BC: THE BRUCE CONNER STORY PART II

THE ARTIST Born in McPherson, Kansas, in 1933, Conner studied art at Wichita University and Nebraska University, which awarded him a B.F.A. in 1956. He continued his studies at the Brooklyn Museum Art School and the University of Colorado. In 1957, attracted by stories of a vibrant art and literary scene, he and his wife, Jean, moved to San Francisco. Conner subsequently became a key figure in the burgeoning Beat community, along with visual artists Jay De Feo, Joan Brown and Manuel Neri, and poets Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Michael McClure and Philip Lamantia. After sojourns in Mexico City and Brookline, Massachusetts, Conner resettled in San Francisco, where he continues to work today.

Conner first attracted attention in the late 1950s with his moody, nylon-shrouded assemblages, which were complex amalgams of such found objects as women's stockings, bicycle wheels, broken dolls, fringe, fur, costume jewelry and candles, often combined with collaged or painted surfaces. Erotically charged and tinged with echoes of both the Surrealist tradition and of San Francisco's Victorian past, these works established Conner as a leading figure within the international assemblage "movement."

Simultaneously during the late 1950s, Conner began making short movies in a singular style that has since established him as one of the most important figures in postwar independent filmmaking. His innovative technique can best be seen in his first film, A MOVIE (1958), an editing tour-de-force made entirely by piecing together scraps of B-movie condensations, newsreels, novelty shorts and other pre-existing footage. His subsequent films are most often fast-paced collages of found and new footage. Conner was among the first to use pop music for film sound tracks. His films have inspired generations of filmmakers and are now considered to be the precursors of the music video genre.

During the 1960s Conner became an active force in the San Francisco counterculture as a collaborator in light shows for the legendary Family Dog at the Avalon ballroom, and through his intricate black-and-white mandala drawings and elaborate collages made from scraps of 19th-century engravings, all of which remain icons of the period's sensory-based spirituality. During the 1970s he focused on drawing and photography, producing dramatic, life-sized photograms as well as intimately scaled inkblot drawings. In recent years Conner has continued to work on a small scale, producing collages and inkblot drawings that have been shown in numerous group exhibitions, including the 1997 Whitney Biennial. Throughout Conner's entire body of work, the recurrence of religious imagery and symbology continues to underscore the essentially visionary nature of his work.

THE EXHIBITION 2000 BC: THE BRUCE CONNER STORY PART II consists of a thematically arranged group of approximately 150 works dating from 1954 through 1998. While the exhibition includes examples of Conner's well-known works in assemblage and film, ultimately it aims to expand the public's understanding of the artist's remarkable range by presenting examples of works in the many other media he has explored. Many of the early works in the exhibition have been newly restored, and many will be on view publicly for the first time in decades.

This special exhibition enables viewers to explore a sampling of both the two- and three-dimensional work created by Conner throughout his career. A number of the artist's assemblages are being showcased, including the landmark works RATBASTARD (1958), SPIDER LADY (1959), SNORE (1960) and THE BRIDE (1960). Of particular note is an interesting two-sided collage begun by the artist during his student days in Nebraska and finished on the eve of his move to Mexico in 1961. Initially, Conner intended for the images on the "back" of UNTITLED (1954-1961) to be seen by those who actually handled the work. It was in 1960 that he began suggesting that both sides of the work-the warm, textural assemblage on the "front" and the dense, sensual image-laden collage on the reverse-be visible when the piece was installed for exhibitions. During Conner's year-long stay in Mexico, his works were influenced by both the bright colors and religious imagery of the region. Many of these pieces were household or personal objects used by the artist's family, such as the room-dividing PARTITION (1961-1963) and SUITCASE (1961-1963).

Conner's two-dimensional work includes numerous prints, drawings and collages with imagery evocative of skies, clouds and heavenly bodies. This varied body of work includes the 13-canvas piece TOUCH/DO NOT TOUCH (1964), exhibited only twice since its debut at San Francisco's Batman Gallery in 1964; a selection of photograms from the ANGEL series (1973-1975) that depict Conner's own body floating on a black background; and a group of astonishingly intricate felt-tip pen drawings and engraving collages. Viewers will also have an opportunity to study etchings that make up the DENNIS HOPPER ONE MAN SHOW (1971-1973), a collective work based on a series of hallucinatory collages from the 1960s.

2000 BC: THE BRUCE CONNER STORY PART II presents a number of the artist's historic films. A continuous screening of Conner's first film, A MOVIE (1958), will be on view at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. This work was a milestone in the history of filmmaking not only for its liberation of the medium, but also for its critical reflection on Western Culture. A MOVIE has been given special preservation status as one of the few experimental films selected for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

A significant 8mm film installation, TELEVISION ASSASSINATION (1963-1975), will be on view publicly for the first time. This piece, based on footage Conner shot directly off the television screen, is an immediate and emotional synthesis of momentous world events: the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy and Lee Harvey Oswald, with the intimate, domestic medium of television.

Viewers will also be able to explore Conner's film LOOKING FOR MUSHROOMS (1959-1967), much of which was shot in Mexico. LOOKING FOR MUSHROOMS will be presented both on video and on a Moviscop viewer that museum visitors operate themselves. Other film highlights include the meditative 1977 film TAKE THE 5:10 TO DREAMLAND and a newly restored print of the film BREAKAWAY, featuring the exuberant dancing and voice-over vocals of Toni Basil. An entire print of Conner's early film COSMIC RAY (1961) will be shown in "frozen film frame" format-sandwiched between sheets of Plexiglas in strips-a presentation that reveals Conner's innovative editing style, as well as his incorporation of surface alterations and marks. An additional film program, selected by the artist, consists of seven black-and-white films: TEN SECOND FILM (1965), VIVIAN (1964), MONGOLOID (1978), AMERICA IS WAITING (1981), REPORT (1963-1967), TELEVISION ASSASSINATION (1963-1964/1995), and VALSE TRISTE (1978). These films, with an approximate running time of 35 minutes, will be shown in one of the museum's film screening galleries. Two versions of the film program, will be alternated periodically.

CATALOGUE In conjunction with this special exhibition, The Walker Art Center has published the most comprehensive catalogue to date on Bruce Conner's work. The 288-page volume contains essays by exhibition co-curators Peter Boswell, who provides a detailed examination of the scope of Conner's art; Bruce Jenkins, who takes a systematic look at the artist's influential body of experimental films; and Joan Rothfuss, who examines Conner's artistic process and attitudes. Each work in the exhibition is illustrated, many in full color, and most have been newly photographed for the book. Appendices include a bibliography, filmography and exhibition history that were developed out of extensive primary research in the artist's files.

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THE BRUCE CONNER STORY PART II
Bruce Conner