MODERNISM INC.
FOURTY-FIVE YEARS
1979-2024
MODERNISM INC.
FOURTY-FIVE YEARS
1979-2024
JONATHON KEATS
MODERNISM INC. San Francisco
Published to celebrate two exhibitions held at Modernism Inc.
FOURTY-FIVE YEARS: 1979-2024
PART I and PART II
July 2–August 31, 2024
September 26–December 21, 2024
Copyright © 2024 by Modernism Inc.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from Modernism Inc., San Francisco, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
MODERNISM INC.
724 Ellis Street
San Francisco, CA 94109 info@modernisminc.com
PAGE ii:
Modernism gallery location between 1986-2017 at the Monadnock building 685 Market Street, San Francisco
THE EXHIBITIONS
PART I
JULY 2 - AUGUST 31, 2024
RADICAL FOUNDATIONS
By Jonathon Keats
In the Spring of 1980, six years before Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost to the Soviet Union, Modernism gallery brought Russian avant-garde art to the West Coast of the United States. Barely six months old and situated in a large, minimalistdesigned, second-floor space in San Francisco’s then edgy South of Market district, Modernism defied censorship in the USSR and provincialism in San Francisco with a museum-quality exhibition that included works by Kazimir Malevich, Liubov Popova, Alexander Bogomazov and a dozen other seminal artists working in the teens and twenties.
The historical exhibition provided crucial context for the gallery’s presentation of contemporary abstract artists including David Simpson, Frederick Hammersley and James Hayward, whose paintings reciprocally enriched the rarely seen work of the Soviet artists who pioneered abstraction in the heady decades ahead of Stalinist oppression. In the fledgling SOMA district gallery, past, present and future formed a creative continuum.
Previous: Frederick Hammersley: Paintings Retrospective 1947-1986 exhibition, 1987
Left: Modernism’s orignial location at 236 8th Street, 1979
Forty-five years later, resituated in a bespoke street-level space in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, Modernism continues to bring art of historical importance into dialogue with the most recent advances worldwide. Gallery founder/owner Martin Muller has expanded the program to include virtually every significant 20th and 21st century movement, from Dada, Cubism, Surrealism, Vorticism and German Expressionism to Pop, Formal Abstraction, Photorealism and Conceptualism.
In celebration of the 45th anniversary, Modernism is pleased to present a two-part retrospective showcasing dozens of the artists whose work has defined the gallery, enhanced cultural life in the city and contributed to art history.
The Russian avant-garde, which Modernism has presented in twenty historical exhibitions over the past forty-five years— including masterpieces such as Kazimir Malevich’s 1917-18 canvas Supremus No. 84 —is represented in Part I with work by many of the artists featured in 1980. Highlights include Malevich’s important study for Samovar II (1913), a multifaceted Cubo-Futurist painting shown in
Above: Kazimir Malevich, Samovar II, 1913, oil on canvas
Right: Modernism’s present location on Ellis Street
his 1919 retrospective and currently in MoMA’s permanent collection. Also noteworthy is Popova’s oil-pastel study for SpatioDynamic Construction (1921), a tour-de-force of pure abstraction in which the artist audaciously set geometry in motion. A third work of particular significance is Man Walking Into Cubo-Futurist Landscape, a 1914 charcoal drawing by Bogomazov that boldly walks the line between figuration and abstraction, questioning where one ends and the other begins. (A Ukrainian artist from Kyiv, Bogomazov received his first US retrospective at Modernism in 1983.)
Contemporary abstraction is also strongly represented in Part I of the retrospective, with hard-edge works by Hammersley and Simpson, and two of Hayward’s signature Formal Abstract monochrome paintings, one flat and one thickly impastoed. Also of note is Edith Baumann, whose acrylics appear to float, as ethereal as pure thought. At the opposite extreme is Hermann Nitsch, whose violent Schuttbild (1986) takes inspiration from Aktionist performance works involving spilt blood; Arnulf Rainer, whose electrifying Alexandre (1991) deconstructs a historic engraving with an overlay of pencilwork and paint; and Jacques Villeglé, whose visceral FFF (1997) was achieved by peeling away layers of advertising from a billboard found in Agen, France.
Photography has been another essential aspect of the Modernism program since the 1980s, and is represented in Part I with work by masters such as Man Ray and Lucien Clergue, shown together with
Martin Muller c. 1980
conceptually-driven contemporary artists such as Elena Dorfman and Alex Nichols.
Since the gallery’s founding, Muller has applied three criteria to every exhibition. “I want to make sure that the work is emotionally charged, visually strong and fully defendable critically,” he says. Those criteria have encouraged him not to specialize, focusing instead on quality. The aesthetic range was evident as early as 1982, when Modernism hosted the first of ten one-person exhibitions of John Register, one of the most accomplished representational artists of his generation. Deeply influenced by the work of Charles Sheeler and Richard Diebenkorn, Register saw the sublime in the mundane realm of urban diners, shop windows and streetscapes, evoking deep emotion through his deft use of color, light and composition. Thoughtfully explored in a 1996 Modernism publication HOPPER - REGISTER, the aesthetic and emotional to connection to Edward Hopper are readily apparent in Hopper’s Study for Office in a Small City (1953), exhibited in the current show alongside Register’s Man Seated in Restaurant (1987), a rare painting featuring a figure.
Gottfried Helnwein has been another major presence, exhibiting regularly at Modernism since 1992. Forcefully political, Helnwein’s large-scale mixed media paintings respond to the underlying corruption and violence of society he first witnessed growing up in Vienna after the Second World War. Dramatic canvases such as Suspects I (2000) suggest narratives that play out in the viewer’s imagination, bringing focus to how they perceive the broader world.
Introducing an entirely different emotional register into the mix, Mark Stock is another master of narrative understatement with a long history at Modernism, represented in the retrospective with a painting from his signature turn-of-the-millennium Butler’s in Love series.
Modernism is constantly seeking out the most radical art of the moment, featuring the work of young artists such as Kristine Mays and Sameh Khalatbari, whose politically charged compositions enlist unconventional materials charged compositions enlist unconventional materials such as wire and rope. The appearance of their work side-by-side with artists ranging from John Register to Kazimir Malevich continues the creative continuum that animated Modernism’s very first exhibitions.
“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live,” said Auguste Rodin.
At Modernism, the goal for the past forty-five years—with the presentation of over five-hundred exhibitions, including works by more than three-hundred-eighty artists, from over one-hundred years of art history—has been to create an accessible, thought-provoking space for all to learn, to be intellectually stimulated and to share a journey through art.
FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1981
Martin MYERS [American, b. 1951]
Darla, 1977
acrylic on novoply
113 x 11 x 15 1/2 inches
MYERS
PART I PLATES
GOTTFRIED HELNWEIN [ Austrian, b. 1948]
Suspects I, 2000
oil & acrylic on canvas
95 x 75 inches
HELNWEIN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1992`
NITSCH FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1989
HERMANN NITSCH [Austrian, 1938-2022]
Schuttbild, 1986
acrylic on canvas
41 1/4 x 31 1/4 inches
JOHN REGISTER [American, 1939-1996]
Suits, 1988
REGISTER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1982
oil on canvas
50 x 70 inches
Ask the Dust, 1991 oil on canvas 60 x 36 inches
BROWNING FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2004
JEFFREY BROWNING [American, b. 1948]
ELENA DORFMAN [American, b. 1965]
Empire Falling 21, 2012
LightJet chromogenic print on metallic paper; No. 2 of Edition: 3
34 x 74 inches
DORFMAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2003
SAXON FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1979
ERIK SAXON [American, b. 1941]
Untitled, 1975
acrylic on canvas
36 x 36 inches
STEPHEN SOMERSTEIN
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., seen from his back, speaking before 25,000 civil rights marchers, in front of the Alabama state house - 1965 Selma to Montgomery, Alabama
Civil Rights March - March 25, 1965
1965, Printed 2015
archival pigment print on HPR pearl paper
image: 26 11/16 x 40 inches | sheet: 33 x 46 inches
SOMERSTEIN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2015
EDITH BAUMANN [American, b. 1948]
Something Else No. 70, 2021
BAUMANN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1990
acrylic on canvas
44 x 44 inches
ARNULF RAINER [Austrian, b. 1929]
Alexandre, Acte I, Scene I, 1991
mixed media on paper
19 x 12 1/2 inches
RAINER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
JOESEPH BEUYS [German, 1921-1986]
Das Schweigen von M. Duchamp wird Uberbewertet, 1973 hand-painted silkscreen on linoleum, double-sided; Edition: 160/3 tons 17 1/4 x 17 1/4 inches
BEUYS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1992
PHILIPPE GRONON [ French, b. 1964]
Verso n°18, Tête de jeune fille, par Pablo Picasso, Collection Centre Pompidou, Paris, 2007 color analog photography; digital pigment print; AP No. 1 of Edition: 3 22 3/4 x 29 1/4 inches
GRONON FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2019
KHALATBARI [Iranian, b. 1980]
1401 N/m² Resistance – No. 3 Surge, 2023
mixed media on canvas
50 x 40 inches
KHALATBARI FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2021
SAMEH
ANATOLE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2014
ELINA ANATOLE [Russian-American, b. 1985]
Rosemary, 2013 oil on wood
72 x 42 inches
STIVERS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2000
ROBERT STIVERS [American, b. 1953]
Lips, c. 2020
unique silver gelatin print
24 x 20 inches
Tact #2, 1973
HAMMERSLEY FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1981
FREDERICK HAMMERSLEY [American, 1919-2009]
oil on linen
24 x 24 inches
MARK STOCK [American, 1951-2014]
STOCK FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1987
The Butler’s in Love, 2000 oil on canvas
60 x 52 inches
MAN RAY [American, 1890-1976]
Paul Eluard baisant le front de Nusch, 1936/1937
vintage gelatin silver print 9 x 7 inches
MAN RAY FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1999
FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1991
GUY DIEHL [American, b. 1949]
Still Life with Warhol & Wesselmann #2, 1994
acrylic on canvas
12 x 15 inches
DIEHL
ARSEN ROJE [Croatian, 1937-2007]
Remembrance, 1987 oil on canvas
73 x 33 inches
ROJE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1987
BROWN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
DEBORAH BROWN [American, b. 1955]
Under Glass, 1990
oil on canvas
60 x 46 inches
Absolute 55x46 Cobalt Green, 1989 oil & wax on canvas on wood panel
55 x 46 inches
HAYWARD FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1982
JAMES HAYWARD
PIERRE ANTONIUCCI [French, b. 1943]
Darling, 2012
tempera, oil and acrylic on paper mounted on canvas
89 3/4 x 57 1/2 inches
ANTONIUCCI FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2013
JACQUES VILLEGLÉ [French, 1926-2022]
FFF, les dessous de Saint-Caprais - Agen, 1997
décollage mounted on canvas
82 3/4 x 86 1/2 inches
VILLEGLÉ FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2003
CECULA [Polish, b. 1944]
Scatology Series; Set I, 1993
porcelain & stainless steel; No. 1 of Edition: 6
20 1/2 x 14 1/2 x 10 inches
CECULA FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1995
MAREK
JONATHON KEATS [American, b. 1971]
Gravitational Radio, 2018
mixed media
8 1/2 x 15 3/4 x 10 3/4 inches
KEATS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2002
JEFIM M. ROJAK [Russian, 1906-1987]
Untitled (Cubo-Futurist Composition), 1924
graphite on paper
11 5/8 x 7 5/8 inches
PROVENANCE
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York
ROJAK FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
I. MASHKOV [Russian, 1881-1944]
St. George Slaying the Dragon, 1918
gouache on paper
9 1/2 x 8 1/8 inches
PROVENANCE
Collection of Ilya Shlepyanov, Moscow
Collection of Alexander Shlepyanov, Moscow
MASHKOV FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1990
ILYA
14 x 11 1/2 inches
BOGOMAZOV FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
ALEXANDER K. BOGOMAZOV [Ukrainian, 1880-1930]
Cubo-Futurist Landscape with Man Walking, 1914 charcoal on paper
NIKOLAI M. SUETIN [Russian, 1897-1954]
Cubist Composition I, c. 1924
pencil on paper
7 x 4 3/4 inches
PROVENANCE
Anna A. Leporskaya, Leningrad
Lev Nussberg, Moscow, later USA
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York
SUETIN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
KIRILL M. ZDANEVICH [Russian, 1892-1969]
Thunder, c. 1918/20
black India ink and pencil on paper
image: 10 11/16 x 8 3/8 inches | sheet: 11 9/16 x 9 7/32 inches
PROVENANCE
Mrs. Helene Zdanevich, Paris
ZDANEVICH FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
SONIA DELAUNAY [Ukrainian-French, 1885-1979]
Syncopé, 1972
color lithograph on Arches paper; No. 35 of Edition: 75
20 x 18 inches
DELAUNAY FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
IVAN A. PUNI [Russian, 1892-1956]
Cafe Scene, Petrograd, c. 1914/15
black India ink on paper
13 1/4 x 11 1/4 inches
PROVENANCE
Victor Kholodkov Collection, Moscow
PUNI FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1983
Konstantin A. VIALOV [Russian, 1900-1976]
Industrial Scene, c. 1930 gouache, pencil & color pencil on paper 15 x 12 1/2 inches
PROVENANCE
Victor Kholodkov Collection, Moscow
VIALOV FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1990
GUSTAV KLUTSIS [Latvian, 1895-1938]
Under the Banner of Lenin - Socialist Construction, 1930
lithographic poster
36 x 26 1/2 inches
PUBLICATIONS
Gustav Klutsis and Valentina Kulagina: Photography and Montage after Constructivism, Margarita Tupitsyn, International Center of Photography, New York / Steidl Publishers, Göttingen, 2004. Full page reproduction p. 151.
KLUTSIS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
JEFIM M. ROJAK [Russian, 1906-1987]
Suprematist Design, 1923
pencil on paper
12 1/4 x 8 3/4 inches
PROVENANCE
Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York
SERGEI A. LUCHISHKIN [Russian, 1902-1989]
Linear Composition, 1922 pencil on paper mounted on paper image: 7 3/16 x 4 3/4 inches | sheet: 12 3/8 x 9 3/8 inches
PROVENANCE
Victor Kholodkov Collection, Moscow
PUBLICATIONS
Russian and Soviet Paintings 1900-1930, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, 1988, p. 144.
LUCHISHKIN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1988
LAZAR M. KHIDEKEL [Russian, 1904-1986]
Composition (with Overlay of Circles), c. 1920
watercolor & pencil on paper
11 x 7 1/2 inches
PROVENANCE
Estate of the artist Barry Friedman Ltd., New York
KHIDEKEL FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1990
LIUBOV S. POPOVA [Russian, 1889-1924]
Untitled (Architectonic Composition / Spatio-Dynamic Construction), 1921 oil pastel on paper 10 3/4 x 8 inches (LP 4)
PROVENANCE
George Costakis Collection Fisher Fine Arts, London
PUBLICATIONS
Tatlin’s Dream: Russian Suprematist and Constructivist Art 1910-1923, Andrei Nakov, Fischer Fine Art, London, 1973. Full page reproduction, cat. no. 65, p. 40.
POPOVA FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
ANNA N. KAGAN [Russian, 1902-1974]
Suprematist Composition, c. 1924
oil on canvas
25 7/8 x 33 7/8 inches
CERTIFICATION: Wassily Rakitin, Frankfurt, March 18, 1988
KAGAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1988
IVAN V. KLIUN [Russian, 1873-1943]
Suprematist Composition, c. 1920
color pencil on paper
5 3/8 x 4 1/8 inches
PROVENANCE
George Costakis Collection, Moscow
K. Stramentov Collection, London
KLUIN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1983
KAZIMIR S. MALEVICH [Russian, 1878-1935]
Boiling Samovar (Samovar II), Summer, 1913
image: 5 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches | heet: 8 3/4 x 5 1/2 inches (KM 31)
CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Nakov F-379
MALEVICH FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
EL LISSITZKY [Russian, 1890-1941]
Spectacle Machinery from “Victory over the Sun”, 1923 lithograph; Edition of 75 18 x 14 1/2 inches
PUBLICATIONS
Le Constructivisme au théâtre, Christine Hamon-Siréjols, Editions du CNRS, Paris, 1991. Reproduced in color p. 289, figure 105.
EL LISSITZKY FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
EL LISSITZKY [Russian, 1890-1941]
Kurt & Hans Küppers, 1929
unique gelatin silver print
4 3/4 x 6 5/8 inches
PROVENANCE
By descent to Jen Lissitzky, son of the artist
Barry Friedman Ltd., New York
Acquired from Christie’s London, 2007
PUBLICATIONS
El Lissitzky: Maler, Architect, Typograf, Fotograf, Sophie Lissitzky-Küppers, VEB Verlag der Kunst, Dresden, 1976. Full page reproduction p.173.
EDWARD HOPPER [American, 1882-1967]
Study for Office in a Small City, 1953
pencil on paper
7 1/2 x 10 inches
HOPPER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1996
JOHN REGISTER [American, 1939-1996]
Man Seated in Restaurant, 1987 oil on canvas
17 3/4 x 17 3/4 inches
HIROSHI SUGIMOTO [Japanese, b. 1948]
Devonian Period, 1992
gelatin silver print, No. 10 of Edition: 25 image: 20 x 24 inches
SUGIMOTO FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2022
LUCIEN CLERGUE [French, 1934-2014]
Zebra Nude, New York, 2007
gelatin silver print; No. 3 of Edition: 30 TGF image: 32 x 46 1/2 inches | sheet: 37 1/2 x 52 1/2 inches
CLERGUE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2012
15 3/8 x 9 3/8 inches
FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2014
MIMMO ROTELLA [Italian, 1918-2006]
Dream, 1963
décollage on canvas
Jean-Charles BLAIS [French, b. 1956]
Untitled, 1996 oil on newsprint 11 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches
BLAIS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1996
OLEON FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2001
PATTI OLEON [American, b. 1954]
Babylon II, 2018 oil on hardwood panel 18 x 24 inches
CATHERINE COURTENAYE [Spanish, b. 1957]
See Letter (Harriet Jane), 2008 oil on canvas
36 x 44 inches
COURTENAYE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2012
HANNAH FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1984
DUNCAN HANNAH [American, 1952-2022]
Leap, 2004 oil on canvas 30 x 15 inches
CATHERINE JANSENS [American, b. 1950]
Cadran, 2000
watercolor on paper
13 x 15 1/2 inches
JANSENS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2006
graphite on paper 23 1/2 x 23 1/2 inches
LERMAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
LEONID LERMAN [Ukrainian, b. 1953]
Yellow Paper, 1993
Time and Money, 1996
OROPALLO FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1992
DEBORAH OROPALLO [American, b. 1954]
oil on canvas
30 x 28 inches
BILL KANE [American, b. 1951]
Rodpost hkoB, 2004
Chromira print (with Aleksandr Rodchenko poster design for “Exhibition of Works by Rodchenko 1910-1917” Moscow, 1917); Edition of 22
20 x 18 3/4 inches
KANE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2004
HANS NAMUTH [German, 1915-1990]
Jackson Pollock, 1950, printed in 1980
gelatin silver print
19 x 18 inches
NAMUTH FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1984
YANG MIAN [Chinese, b. 1970]
Standard of Beauty No. 50, 2005 oil on canvas
70 7/8 x 47 1/4 inches
YANG MIAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2008
SIMPSON FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1979
DAVID SIMPSON [American, b. 1928]
Carlos (#24/79), 1979
acrylic on canvas
80 x 80 inches
Stage Fright, 2003
oil & acrylic on canvas
62 x 80 inches
GOTTFRIED HELNWEIN [ Austrian, b. 1948]
JOHN REGISTER [American, 1939-1996]
Waiting at the Terminal (Airport), 1990-91 oil on canvas
70
x 49 inches
TONY HERNANDEZ [American, b. 1964]
Secrets in White, 2000
oil, encaustic & gold leaf on wood
60 x 60 inches
HERNANDEZ FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2000
VERNON FISHER [American, 1943-2023]
FISHER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1992
Clown Story, 1992
acrylic on canvas
61 1/2 x 61 1/2 inches
MAYS [American, b. 1969] to be free, 2022
painted wire
68 x 21 x 31 inches
There has always been a desire to be liberated and free – not only physically but mentally as well. To break the notion that a human being – blood coursing through their veins, muscle and bone, soul and spirit, is to be confined to bias, prejudices, perspectives, antagonism, discrimination, laws, and governing forces that bind them under the weight of oppression. We are a part of a wave of souls yearning, striving, and moving towards freedom. We continue to resist, to defy, to oppose, and to rise above – to overcome. We are always moving forward.
MAYS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2021
KRISTINE
ELENA DORFMAN [American, b. 1965]
Rebecca 1, 2001
chromogenic print
31 1/2 x 29 3/4 inches
STÉPHANE ZAGDANSKI [French, b. 1963]
Rose and you (Rose et toi), 2016 ink markers on paper 19 6/8 x 25 5/8 inches
ZAGDANSKI FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2018
SANDRA MARTAGEX [French, b. 1967]
Untitled, 1993 pigment & glue on paper mounted on canvas
60 3/4 x 22 inches
MARTAGEX FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
GOTTFRIED HELNWEIN [ Austrian, b. 1948]
Duck, 1998
oil & acrylic on canvas
47 1/2 x 66 inches
JOHN REGISTER [American, 1939-1996]
Green Chair, 1976
oil on canvas
40 x 40 inches
PART II
SEPTEMBER 26 - DECEMBER 21, 2024
POPULAR ICONS
By Jonathon Keats
In the early 1980s, the art world didn’t know what to make of Andy Warhol. Already famous for silkscreening all-American icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Warhol had begun to represent more problematic iconography with equally deadpan irony. Most troubling of all was the hammer and sickle—a symbol of the Soviet Union—which had become an emblem of Communist aggression and Cold War tension. Warhol astutely recognized that the hammer and sickle had fallen into the same category as Marilyn, turned into kitsch by endless replication.
Warhol’s articulation of this equivalence was bound to resonate with Martin Muller, an art dealer who had recently made his name with the first show of Russian and Ukrainian avant-garde paintings in San Francisco. Muller had seen the Soviet propaganda machine from the inside. Visiting the Factory one afternoon in 1982, Muller offered Warhol a solo show at Modernism.
Warhol’s first-ever gallery appearance in Northern California, the Modernism exhibition drew a crowd. Hundreds of people attended
Left: Andy Warhol, 1983 by Gottfried Helnwein
the opening. A month later, it was still the talk of the town. Muller had guaranteed to sell two of Warhol’s paintings, priced at a bargain $25,000 apiece. He’d sold only one and had to buy the second work for himself.
Forty-two years later, as the gallery celebrates its 45th anniversary, nobody has any doubts about Warhol’s importance or Muller’s prescience. From the Russian and Ukrainian avant-gardes to Pop; Photorealism to socio-political art, etc., Modernism has consistently exhibited work that less adventurous galleries have shunned, only to show time and again that artistic quality is more important than popular taste.
Part I of the 45th anniversary show featured the Russian and Ukrainian avant-gardes as well as several other areas of concentration such as Nouveau Réalisme and hard-edge abstraction. Opening on September 26th, Part II will largely complete the picture. Alongside one of Warhol’s hammer-and-sickle paint drawings, the new exhibit features work by a couple other seminal Pop artists who once struggled only to triumph. Mel Ramos, who independently started to work with superheroes at the same time as Roy Lichtenstein and Warhol, is represented by two 1960s works: a painting depicting the Phantom Lady and a drawing of Superman. Ed Ruscha, currently the subject
Above: First one man exhibition of Andy Warhol’s paintings in San Francisco (1982), photo by Hans Namuth
Right: Mel Ramos c. 1980s
of a major career retrospective at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is represented by So, one of his signature word paintings. For all the manifest differences between Soviet propaganda, American superheroes, and glib turns of phrase, these three works show how Pop art has uniquely foregrounded images and language so familiar as to be practically imperceptible. The artwork awakens the viewer to the sociocultural operating system of contemporary society.
Pop strategies and aesthetics have taken different directions in the hands of younger generations, and Modernism has been attentive to these important developments. Since the 1980s, Jerry Kearns has given Pop iconography a decidedly political turn, often through his deft juxtaposition of imagery that society compartmentalizes, turning a blind eye to the relationship between categories such as consumer culture and warfare. Hearts & Minds, for instance, juxtaposes a ‘60s-era comic strip kissing scene with the famous Vietnam War photograph documenting a nine-year-old girl running naked through the street following an American napalm bombing. Even more recently, Shawn Huckins has appropriated work of famous painters such as John Singleton Copley’s 1782 Midshipman Augustus Brine, irreverently cloaking the fashionable subject in outrageously colorful yarn. Woven using a latch hook technique learned from Huckins’ grandmother, the textile tweaks the masculine posturing of the future British admiral.
Peter Sarkisian is another Modernism artist who utilizes mixed media to upset expectations. His Ink Blot is an animation in which a man
Left: Ed Ruscha and Martin Muller in Ruscha’s Los Angeles studio, 1991
emerges from a spilled bottle of ink and crawls to a sheet of paper on which he makes his mark, only to fade away. This neo-Surrealist work is featured in a video room that also includes mixed media video works by Naomie Kremer (who projects a moving female figure on one of her figural abstractions such that the brushwork comes to life), and Jonathon Keats (who has concocted a TV dinner for plants by immersing them in the colored light of a television for their photosynthetic delectation). Set in dreamy darkness, all of these works evoke alternative realities.
Photography is another highlight of the exhibition, including one of Judy Dater’s most iconic images, a 1974 portrait of an elderly Imogen Cunningham happening upon a nude female model, Twinka Thiebaud, in Yosemite. By evoking and challenging historical works such as Thomas Hart Benton’s Persephone, Dater’s double portrait makes a decidedly feminist statement on the history of art. Also of note is a 1939 vintage print of Lisa Fonssagrives vertiginously posed atop the Eiffel Tower by the great Dadaist and later, midcentury fashion photographer Erwin Blumenfeld.
When he first moved to Paris in the ‘30s, before he made his name shooting fashion for Vogue, Blumenfeld created a series of portraits of important French artists including Henri Matisse, who he subsequently befriended. The influence of Matisse on the younger artist is evident in Blumenfeld’s treatment of flesh and garments in both the fashion photography and his many artistic nudes. So, it’s apt that the Modernism exhibition also includes one of Matisse’s odalisques,
previously shown in the gallery’s retrospective of Matisse’s prints.
Beyond the U.S., Asia, the Middle East and the USSR, Muller has focused on Francophone Europe, including France and Switzerland. Of particular note in the 45th anniversary show are important Cubist works by Henri Hayden, Albert Gleizes, and Georges Valmier. (Created in 1919, Hayden’s still life painting reveals how deeply his work was in dialogue with contemporaries including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Gris.)
Nearly two decades before the 2022 Matisse exhibition, Modernism hosted the first monographic exhibition in the United States devoted to works by the great Swiss architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret. Better known as Le Corbusier, Jeanneret introduced Modernist principles to housing and whole cities. His artistic practice was underappreciated throughout the 20th century. Many connoisseurs of his contributions to urbanism dismissed his drawings and collages and gouache paintings as diversions. Le Corbusier knew better, writing that he had “found the intellectual seed of my urbanism and my architecture” within his purely artistic practice. The exhibition at Modernism helped to buttress this claim, and also to reveal some of the visual foundations of his lyricism.
Like Andy Warhol and many other artists featured in Modernism’s more than five hundred exhibitions, Le Corbusier is seen today in a way that Muller anticipated. On a daily basis, Modernism functions as a gallery, but the long-term vision and supporting scholarship give the gallery the artistic heft of a museum.
Cork MARCHESCHI [American, b. 1945]
Goodbye Uncle Buddy, 1980
neon tubes and light 24 x 24 inches
MARCHESCHI FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1981
PART II PLATES
RAMOS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1981
MEL RAMOS [American, 1935-2018]
Phantom Lady, 1963 oil on canvas
56 1/8 x 43 3/4 inches
TROWBRIDGE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1988
DAVID TROWBRIDGE [American, 1945-2009]
Psalm #117, 1990
oil on linen & maple
33 x 66 x 8 inches
ANDY WARHOL [American, 1928-1987] Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, 1968 silkscreen on paper, No. 132 of Edition: 250 35 x 23 inches
CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Feldman and Schellman 45
WARHOL FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1982
MEL RAMOS [American, 1935-2018]
Superman, 2006
21 color serigraph, AP 46 of Edition: 50 AP + 199
image: 37 x 21 5/8 inches | sheet: 45 1/4 x 33 1/2 inches
So, 1990
RUSCHA FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1991
EDWARD RUSCHA [American, b. 1937]
acrylic on canvas
26 x 30 inches
ALEX H NICHOLS [American, b. 1969]
SPACE BETWEEN, SIDNEA & ALEX, 2019
archival pigment print; No. 1 of Edition: 5
30 x 30 inches
(ANI 16)
The SPACE BETWEEN Project from 2013-2015 asks WHO AM I WITH YOU?
Each friendship and each relationship reveals a different aspect of ourselves. In this project, I work to capture and reveal the invisible nature of connection and how it differs from friendship to friendship. I set two primary rules for the work. Every pair wore black, and the background was white. The aesthetic was extremely simple, so our forms became the focus. This is a photograph, but also language. Like Chinese and Japanese calligraphy or Egyptian hieroglyphs. Early language as pictographs. Each pair of figures interacts in front of the camera, and the camera captures that interaction. Who am I with this friend? What element of my character emerges when I am with them? What is revealed in the Space Between Us? How can this image be read as a language? Often, art can see what we can’t see.
COHEN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
ELAINE LUSTIG COHEN [American, 1927-2016]
Untitled, 1978 oil on canvas
30 x 30 inches
LEO VALLEDOR [American, 1936-1989]
1977
VALLEDOR FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
A Little Kiss,
acrylic on canvas, two parts
24 x 48 inches
ARNOLDI FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2001
CHARLES ARNOLDI [American, b. 1946]
Hard to Ride, 2006
acrylic on canvas
66 x 74 inches
ANDY WARHOL [American, 1928-1987]
Three Soviet Hammer & Sickles, c. 1983-84
synthetic polymer paint on HMP paper
31 1/4 x 23 1/4 inches
CERTIFICATION
Andy Warhol Foundation Inventory No. TOP 91.067
AGNIESZKA PILAT [Polish-American, b. 1973]
Eve, 2021
oil on Belgian linen, augmented reality
50 x 50 inches
PILAT FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2021
KREMER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1997
NAOMIE KREMER [Israeli-American, b. 1953]
Motet, 2022
oil on linen
44 1/2 x 65 inches
BEN SCHONZEIT [American, b. 1942]
Anniversary, 2014
SCHONZEIT FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1989
acrylic on linen
48 x 54 inches
ELWES [English, b. 1960]
Studio in Vence, 2003
58 x 58 inches
ELWES FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2016
DAMIAN
Matisse’s
acrylic on canvas
MACHA POYNDER [Russian, b. 1962]
Invention a Deux Voix (voyage dans l’hiver), 2002 oil on cardboard, diptych
51 3/4 x 44 3/4 inches
POYNDER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2000
TONY DELAP [American, 1927-2019]
Subterfuge in Blue, 1991
wood, aluminium, acrylic
35 x 33 x 7 1/4 inches
DELAP FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1986
DAVID LEVINTHAL [American, b. 1949]
Untitled (from the American Beauties series), 1990 polacolor ER photograph, AP
25 x 19 5/8 inches
LEVINTHAL FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
ANDREAS NOTTEBOHM [American-German, b. 1944]
KN-2004, May 2012 oil on aluminium
28 x 38 inches
NOTTEBOHM FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2012
RAYMOND HOLBERT [American, b. 1945]
Aquatic Opera: Aerobic Metropolis, 2019
archival pigment print on canvas; No. 1 of Edition: 5
60 x 48 inches
HOLBERT FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2022
SAM FRANCIS [1923-1994]
Internalizing Van Gogh #1, 1985
acrylic on canvas
18 x 15 inches
CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Burchett-Lere SFF.1864
FRANCIS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1994
EVA LAKE [American, b. 1956]
Her Highness No. 5, 2018
collage image: 12 x 11 1/2 inches | sheet: 12 3/8 x 11 7/8 inches
LAKE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2020
DWECK FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2010
MICHAEL DWECK [American, b. 1957]
Sonya, Poles, Montauk, NY, 2002
silver gelatin print; No. 25 of Edition: 30
24 x 20 inches
Fifty Three, 2024 oil and cold wax
12 x 12 inches
KIM FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2024
HELEN KIM [American, b. 1965]
HELEN KIM [American, b. 1965]
Traversing Memories 8, 2023
oil and cold wax
12 x 12 inches
Aside 11, 2010
oil paint on linen
12 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches
CHEVSKA FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2010
MARIA CHEVSKA [English, b. 1948]
Aside 10, 2010 oil paint on linen
12 1/4 x 10 1/4 inches
MARIA CHEVSKA [English, b. 1948]
TCHAKALIAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1986
SAM TCHAKALIAN [American, 1929-2004]
Cotton King, 1994 oil on canvas
72 1/2 x 72 1/2 inches
HUCKINS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2016
SHAWN HUCKINS [American, b. 1984]
Midshipman Augustus Brine (after Copley), 2024
acrylic on canvas, handwoven natural + synthetic yarn
77 x 18 x 55 inches
KEARNS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1986
JERRY KEARNS [American, b. 1943]
Hearts & Minds, 1986
acrylic on canvas
72 x 118 inches
BRENNAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2021
MICHAEL BRENNAN [American, b. 1953]
Monarch (Frida Kahlo / Diego Rivera), 2022 oil on canvas
48 x 48 inches
SHELDON GREENBERG [American, b. 1956]
Alone Together (after Morandi), 2023
acrylic and screen print on panel
36 x 36 inches
GREENBERG FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1998
Georgi & Vladimir STENBERG
Theatre Kamerny de Moscou, 1923
lithographic poster image: 26 5/8 x 17 1/4 inches | sheet: 27 1/2 x 18 inches
PUBLICATIONS
Stenberg Brothers: Constructing a Revolution in Soviet Design, Christopher Mount, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1997. Reproduced full page in color, p. 40.
THE STENBERG BROTHERS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
NATALYA S. GONCHAROVA [Russian, 1881-1962]
Study for Le Coq d’Or, c. 1914
watercolor & pencil on paper image: 4 1/4 x 6 1/2 inches
PROVENANCE
Victor Kholodkov Collection, Moscow
GONCHAROVA FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
NATALYA S. GONCHAROVA [Russian, 1881-1962]
Untitled (palm trees), n.d.
ink & watercolor on paper
6 x 9 1/2 inches
PROVENANCE
Victor Kholodkov Collection, Moscow
NATALYA S. GONCHAROVA [Russian, 1881-1962]
Stage Design, c. 1920
watercolor & charcoal on paper laid down on card
7 1/2 x 10 1/8 inches
PROVENANCE
Barrett H. Clark Collection, Paris
MIKHAIL O. DLUGACH [Ukrainian, 1893-1988]
Parizhski sapozhnik (Paris Cobbler), 1928
lithograph
42 1/2 x 28 inches
EXHIBITIONS
Mikhail O. Dlugach: Cinema Posters of the Russian Avant Garde
University Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
November 1991 - October 1992
DLUGACH FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1989
WILSON FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1992
ROBERT WILSON [ American, b. 1941]
King Lear Scene Six C, Frankfurt, 1990
pastel chalk & color pencil on cotton Fabriano paper
27 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches
ALEXANDRA A. EXTER [Russian-French, 1882-1949]
Ballet, Light Maquette from Décors de Théâtre, c. 1927 gouache au pochoir 13 x 20 inches
PUBLICATIONS
Artists of the Russian Theater 1880-1930: From the Collection of Nikita and Nina Lobanov-Rostovsky, John E. Bowlt, Iskusstvo, Moscow, 1994.
EXTER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
wood and gold leaf
14 inch diameter, variable height
GUTKIN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1982
PETER GUTKIN [American, b. 1944]
Saturn Japanesque, 2024
GEORGES VALMIER [French, 1885-1937]
Nature morte á la bouteille, 1923
gouache & collage on paper
7 3/8 x 6 1/8 inches
CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Bazetoux 447
VALMIER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2000
GEORGES VALMIER [French, 1885-1937]
Devant la fenetre, 1924
gouache on paper
8 7/8 x 5 1/2 inches
CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Bazetoux 464
DORA MAAR [French, 1907-1997]
La Liberté, 1935/36
photo-collage/gelatin silver print
11 5/8 x 9 3/8 inches
PROVENANCE
Estate of Artist
PUBLICTIONS
Les Vies de Dora Maar: Bataille, Picasso, et les surrealists, Mary Ann Caws, London & Paris: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2000. Reproduced full page p. 76.
MAAR FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2022
FRANCIS PICABIA [French, 1879-1953]
Sans Titre, c. 1945-1946
crayon on paper image: 12 x 8 1/2 inches | sheet: 12 9/16 x 9 5/8 inches
CERTIFICATION
Olga Picabia, 1999
PICABIA FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2022
HENRI HAYDEN [French, 1883-1970]
Nature morte à l’as de trèfle vert et pièces d’échec, 1919 oil on canvas
19 x 25 1/2 inches
CERTIFICATION
Pierre Célice, 2003 (student of Henri Hayden)
PUBLICATIONS
Hayden, Edited by Pierre Célice, texts by Samuel Beckett, P. Chabert and C. Zagrodzki, Fragments éditions, Paris, 2005. Reproduced in color on p. 42.
HAYDEN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2004
KOSKAS [French, 1926-2013]
Points, 1951
18 1/8 x 21 5/8 inches
KOSKAS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2003
GEORGE
oil on canvas
PABLO PICASSO [Spanish, 1881-1973]
L’Homme au Chien (Rue Schoelcher), 1915
Etching with scraper printed on Arches wove paper; Edition: 60
Printed by Macquart, 1947
Published by Lucien Vollard-Marcel Lecomte, 1947
10 3/4 x 8 5/8 inches
CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ: Bloch 28, Baer 39.III.B.b
ALBERT GLEIZES [French, 1881-1953]
Les Bermudes, 1917 ink on paper 8 1/2 x 6 3/8 inches
CERTIFICATION
Anne Varichon, author of the Albert Gleizes Catalogue Raisonné
GLEIZES FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1980
LE CORBUSIER [French, 1887-1965]
Coeur sur la main, 1948
collage and gouache on paper
19 1/8 x 14 1/2 inches
CERTIFICATION
Eric Mouchet, author of the forthcoming Le Corbusier Catalogue Raisonné
PROVENANCE
Madeleine Goisot Collection, France (friend of the artist)
LE CORBUSIER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2003
ERWIN BLUMENFELD [French, 1897-1969]
Lisa Fonssagrives on the Eiffel Tower, Paris, 1939
vintage gelatin silver print
15 1/4 x 11 1/2 inches
PROVENANCE
Family of the artist
PUBLICATIONS
Eye to I: The Autobiography of a Photographer, Erwin Blumenfeld, Thames & Hudson, London, 1999. Reproduced p. 248.
BLUMENFELD FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2006
LINDSAY McCRUM [American, b. 1957]
High Instep, 2021
archival pigment print; No. 1 of Edition: 8
image: 14 x 10 1/2 inches | sheet: 19 7/8 x 16 inches
McCRUM FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2019
JUDY DATER [American, b. 1941]
Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite, 1974 / 2014
gelatin silver print; No. 7 of Edition: 20 image: 9 1/4 x 7 1/2 inches | sheet: 10 x 8 inches
DATER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2018
GUS HEINZE [American, b. 1926]
Retired Power, 2000
acrylic on gesso panel
37 x 44 1/4 inches
HEINZE FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1988
POLOTO FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2017
SILVIA POLOTO [Brazilian-American]
Wabi-Sabi with a Twist, 2024 collaged paper, acrylic and ink on wood panel 55 x 41 inches
RIPLEY FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1996
CURTIS RIPLEY [American, b. 1949]
Rushing Brightly, 2013
oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches
watercolor on paper
13 1/4 x 10 1/2 inches
CRUMB FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1983
R. CRUMB [American, b. 1943]
Portrait of Martin Muller, 1984
GLEN BAXTER [English, b. 1944]
It was Tom’s first brush with Modernism, 2005 colored pencil & ink on paper
31 x 22 1/2 inches
BAXTER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1997
GARY BASEMAN [American, b. 1960]
19 1/2 x 19 1/2 inches
BASEMAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2007
Sweet Surrender, 2003
acrylic on panel
FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1988
SCOT HEYWOOD [American, b. 1951]
Double Edge – yellow, blue, gray, 2007/08
acrylic on canvas over panel
46 x 44 inches
HEYWOOD
JOHN M. MILLER [American, 1939-2016]
MILLER FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1985
Untitled, 1996-97
magna on raw canvas
34 3/4 x 33 inches
LODATO FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2001
PETER LODATO [American, b. 1946]
Two Plus Two (Vert), 2001 oil on canvas
40 x 30 inches
VICTOR REYES [American, b. 1978]
Heart Transplant, 2020
acrylic on canvas over wood panel
39 3/4 x 30 inches
REYES FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2024
MARK ULRIKSEN [American, b. 1957]
Love the One You’re With, 2000 acrylic on paper
16 1/4 x 12 inches
ULRIKSEN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2014
ULRIKSEN [American, b. 1957]
Women, 1998
14 3/4 x 11 3/8 inches
MARK
The
acrylic on watercolor paper
Tiers, 1991
graphite on paper
35 5/8 x 19 inches
LIPTON FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2019
LAURIE LIPTON [American, b. 1953]
VALENTIN POPOV [Ukrainian-American, b. 1956]
Rebecca, 2005
oil on canvas
32 x 33 1/2 inches
POPOV FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2004
LAURIE SIMMONS [American, b. 1948]
Bending Globe, 1991
cibachrome photograph; No. 3 of Edition: 5 48 x 84 inches
SIMMONS FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1996
hybrid
50 x 50 inches
NAOMIE KREMER [Israeli-American, b. 1953]
Lilith, 2020
painting (oil on canvas, video projection)
ALEXANDMUSHI [ American, b. 1969; Korean-American b. 1991]
Two Chairs Mulino Italy, 2020
video box and archival photo on rice paper; Edition of 3 + 2AP
31 1/4 x 46 x 5 inches
ALEXANDMUSHI FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 2017
JONATHON KEATS [American, b. 1971]
TV Dinners for Plants, 2011
Edition of 3 + 1 AP
The first restaurant for plants opened in California on April 16, 2011. Situated in the gardens of the Crocker Art Museum, the Photosynthetic Restaurant provided botanical patrons, including bushes and shrubs, with healthful and appetizing meals freshly prepared by filtering and mixing the full spectrum of sunlight, following recipes that adapt traditional culinary principles to plant physiology. Although the Photosynthetic Restaurant is no longer open, executive chef Jonathon Keats has packaged his signature recipes for easy consumption anywhere by videotaping select wavelengths of natural sunlight and editing them into a quick and convenient TV dinner.
PETER SARKISIAN [American, b. 1965]
Ink Blot, 2011 powder coated steel and aluminum, found ink bottle, tinted polymer resin, notepad, video projection, audio; Edition of 4
SARKISIAN FIRST EXHIBITED AT MODERNISM IN 1997
SELECTED EXHIBITION HISTORY
1979
Erik SAXON: Paintings & Works on Paper, Oct 16 - Nov 30
Laurence BACH: Black & White Photographs, Oct 16 - Nov 30
Aram GESAR: Color Photographs, Dec 6 - Jan 12
David SIMPSON: Paintings & Collage Drawings, Dec 6 - Jan 12
1980
James HAYWARD: Automatic Paintings, Jan 19 - March 7
Richard MEIER: Architectural Drawings, Furniture Designs, Collages, March 14 - April 30
Elaine LUSTIG-COHEN: Paintings & Collages, March 14 - April 30
GROUP SHOW - RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE 1910-1930, May 1 - Jul 12
Leo VALLEDOR: Paintings, July 16 - Aug 30
Carol VITZ: Lyrical Abstractions: Color Photographs, Sep 9 - Oct 11
Craig SCHMITT: Black & White Photographs, Sep 9 - Oct 11
Max GIMBLETT: Paintings on Canvas & Paper, Oct 14 - Nov 29
Peter SHIRE: Ceramics, Dec 9 - Jan 10
GROUP SHOW - Works on Paper, Dec 9 - Jan 10
1981
Robert SLUTZKY: Paintings: A 25-Year Retrospective, Jan 15 - Feb 28
Ken PRICE: The Plain of Smokes : Original Gouache Drawings & Serigraphs, April 3 - May 3
GROUP SHOW - GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM, March
Martin MYERS: Sculpture, May 5 - June 13
Alan WAYNE: Paintings, June 19 - July 30
GROUP SHOW - Text & Context: A Photographic Portfolio, June 19 - July 30 | Lutz BACHER, Peter D’AGOSTINO, Richard MISRACH, Lew THOMAS & others
Cork MARCHESCHI: Light Sculpture, Sep 3 - Oct 31
Mel RAMOS: A Print Retrospective, Nov 6 - Dec 23
1982
David SIMPSON: Paintings & Drawings, Jan 8 - Feb 27
Andy WARHOL: Myths’; Paintings & Silkscreens, March 1 - April 30
Charles FUHRMAN: Paintings, May 7 - June 26
Charles HESS: Neoplasticism, July 7 - July 31
GROUP SHOW - Four Sculptors, Aug 10 - Sep 30 | Peter GUTKIN, Cork MARCHESCHI, Martin MYERS & James REINEKING
James HAYWARD: Works on Paper, Oct 8 - Nov 27
John REGISTER: Paintings, Oct 8 - Nov 27
Leo VALLEDOR: New Paintings, Dec 3 - Jan 29
Robert SCHWARTZ: Visionary Architecture, Dec 3 - Jan 29
1983
GROUP SHOW - Constructive Prints Now, Feb 1 - March 30 | ANUSKIEWICZ, BILL, DOMELA, LOHSE, SOTO, STAZEWSKI others
GROUP SHOW - RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE 1910-1930, April 8 - June 30
Alexander BOGOMAZOV: Cubo-Futurism 1912-1918, Apr 8 - Jun 30
R. CRUMB: Cartoon Drawings, July 5 - Aug 13
Martin MYERS: Sculpture Survey 1975-1983, July 5 - Aug 13
Robert COTTINGHAM: The Complete Prints, Nov 2 - Dec 10
Max GIMBLETT: Ambient Color, Paintings 1977 - 1982, Nov 2 - Dec 10
GROUP SHOW - California Drawings: Drawings by 50 California Artists, Dec 16 - Jan 28
1984
David SIMPSON: Drawings & Paintings, Feb 3 - March 3
Max ALMY: Video Premiere & Retrospective 1977-1983, Feb 10 - 12
John NAVA: Drawings on Paper and Canvas, March 16 - April 18
Duncan HANNAH: Paintings, March 16 - April 18
Woody GWYN: California Paintings, May 4 - June 2
Hans NAMUTH: The New York School, May 4 - June 2
Tom WESSELMANN: Drawings, Watercolors, Paintings, June 8 - Aug 18
Glenn JAMPOL: Paintings, June 8 - Aug 18
James HAYWARD: Paintings on Canvas, Sep 4 - Oct 27
GROUP SHOW - RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE 1910-1930, Sep 4 - Oct 27
Robert SLUTZKY: Paintings 1981-1984, Nov 16 - Dec 22
Robert BLUE: Paintings & Drawings, Nov 16 - Dec 22
Peter SHIRE: Furniture & Ceramics, Jan 11 - March 30
1985
John M. MILLER: Paintings, April 12 - May 25
Max GIMBLETT: Transformation, Paintings on Paper 1983-1985, April 12 - May 25
GROUP SHOW - New Art; 40 New York Artists, June 14 - Aug 24
John REGISTER: New Paintings, Sep 6 - Oct 18
Hannah HOCH: Paintings, Drawings, Collages 1917-1927, Oct 25 - Jan 11
GROUP SHOW - RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE 1910-1930, Oct 25 - Jan 11
1986
Sam TCHAKALIAN: Paintings, Jan 17 - March 1
Martin MYERS: New Sculpture, Jan 17 - March 1
David SIMPSON: New Shaped Paintings, March 7 - April 5
Jerry KEARNS: Paintings, April 11 - May 24
Erik SAXON: Paintings & Drawings, April 11 - May 24
Woody GWYN: New Paintings, May 30 - July 12
William PASSARELLI: Sculpture with Mirrors, May 30 - July 12
Ron MAAN: Organic Design, Aug 1 - 28
Mel RAMOS: Paintings 1962-1986, Nov 4 - Dec 13
Glenn JAMPOL: New Paintings, Nov 4 - Dec 13
Tony DELAP: Paintings & Sculptures, Dec 19 - Feb 13
Shirley PETTIBONE: Paintings & Watercolors, Dec 19 - Feb 13
1987
James HAYWARD: Paintings 1976-1987, April 24 - May 30
Stephen HOPKINS: Paintings, April 24 - May 30
Peter SHIRE: Furniture, Ceramics, Sculpture, June 5 - July 31
Douglas BOND: Drawings & Paintings, June 5 - July 31
GROUP SHOW - Gallery Artists, Aug 1 - 29
Sam TCHAKALIAN: Paintings & Monoprints, Sep 4 - Oct 17
Frederick HAMMERSLEY: Paintings Retrospective 1947-1986, Oct 23 - Nov 28
Arsen ROJE: New Paintings, Oct 23 - Nov 28
Mark STOCK: ‘The Butler’s in Love’ Series; Paintings & Pastels, Dec 4 - Jan 23
GROUP SHOW - Works on Paper, Dec 4 - Jan 23
1988
David SIMPSON: New Paintings, Feb 5 - March 12
Gus HEINZE: New Paintings, Feb 5 - March 12
John REGISTER: Paintings & Silkscreens, Feb 5 - March 12
John BAEDER: Paintings & Watercolors, April 29 - June 4
David TROWBRIDGE: New Paintings, April 29 - June 4
GROUP SHOW - Primary Abstraction: Los Angeles, June 10 - July 16 | Edith BAUMAN-HUDSON, James HAYWARD, Scot HEYWOOD, Kady HOFFMAN, Penny KREBS, John M. MILLER, Eric ORR, Michael ROBERTS, David TROWBRIDGE & Alan WAYNE
Jan LASSETTER: New Realist Paintings, Sep 9 - Oct 22
RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE 1910-1930, Sep 9 - Oct 22
Charles BELL: Photorealist Paintings & Drawings, Oct 27 - Dec 10
John M. MILLER: Paintings, Oct 27 - Dec 10
Mark STOCK: Selected Paintings 1982-1985, Dec 16 - Feb 4
GROUP SHOW - Abstract Paintings, Dec 16 - Feb 4 | Frederick HAMMERSLEY, James HAYWARD, Erik SAXON, Richard SERRA, David SIMPSON & Sam TCHAKALIAN
1989
Tony DELAP: Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Feb 9 - April 1
Ben SCHONZEIT: New Paintings, Feb 9 - April 1
Stephen HOPKINS: New Realist Paintings, April 13 - May 27
Kirill ZDANEVICH: Cubo-Futurism 1918-1920, April 13 - May 27
Hermann NITSCH: New Paintings, June 2 - July 15
Gus HEINZE: New Photorealist Paintings from the ‘Earth First’ Series, June 2 - July 15
James HAYWARD: New Paintings, Sep 7 - Oct 28
Michael O. DLUGACH: Russian & Soviet Cinema Posters 1910-1930, Sep 7 - Oct 28
Mark STOCK: New Paintings, Nov 2 - Dec 23
Peter SHIRE: New Sculpture, Furniture, Works on Paper, Nov 2 - Dec 23
1990
John REGISTER: Recent Paintings, Jan 19 - March 3
Robin PALANKER: ‘Park Piece’ Series, March 8 - April 28
Frederick HAMMERSLEY: Hard-Edge & Organic Paintings 1962-1989, March 8 - April 28
Rudy LEMCKE: ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Series, March 8 - April 7
David TROWBRIDGE: New Abstract Paintings, May 4 - June 23
R. CRUMB: Cartoon Drawings & Paintings 1975-1990, May 4 - June 23
Konstantin TITOV: Paintings from the Soviet Union 1987-1989, May 4 - June 2
Peter GUTKIN: Sculpture & Graphic Works 1980-1990, June 28 - Aug 11
David BOMBERG: Important Paintings & Drawings 1912-1935, June 28 - Aug 11
John REGISTER: Prints & Recent Works on Paper, Sep 6 - Oct 27
GROUP SHOW - RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE 1910-1930, Sep 6 - Oct 27
Mark STOCK: ‘The Viewer’ Series; Paintings & Works on Paper, Nov 1 - Dec 22
Edith BAUMANN-HUDSON: Abstract Paintings, Nov 1 - Dec 22
1991
Erik SAXON: Paintings & Drawings 1983-1990, Jan 17 - March 2
Gus HEINZE: New Photorealist Paintings, Jan 17 - March 2
GROUP SHOW - Abstract Paintings, March 7 - April 27 | Edith BAUMANN-HUDSON, Tony DELAP, Frederick HAMMERSLEY, James HAYWARD, Charles HESS, Erik SAXON, Daivd SIMPSON, Daivd TROWBRIDGE
John NAVA: New Paintings, March 7 - April 27
Sam TCHAKALIAN: New Paintings, May 2 - June 1
GROUP SHOW - The Palm Tree Show, June 6 - June 29
Charles HESS: Neoplastic Works, June 6 - June 29
Peter SHIRE: Teapots of Steel, July 11 - Aug 17
Aloys LOLO: Cartoon Drawings on the Swiss Melting-Pot of the Last 700 Years & Other Recent Works, July 11 - Aug 17
John REGISTER: New Paintings & Works on Paper, Sep 12 - Oct 26
Edward RUSCHA: Early Drawings, Oct 31 - Dec 21
Kirill & Ilya ZDANEVICH: 41º, Oct 31 - Dec 21
1992
Tony DELAP: New Sculpture, Jan 9 - March 7
Rudy LEMCKE: Angry Objects, Jan 9 - March 7
John M. MILLER: Paintings, March 19 - May 9
Mark STOCK: New Paintings, March 19 - May 9
Wade HOEFER: Paintings, May 14 - July 3
Francine MATARAZZO: Paintings, May 14 - July 3
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Paintings & Photographs, July 9 - Aug 22
GROUP SHOW - Beyond Just Words; I, Sep 10 - Nov 7 | Joseph BEUYS, Douglas BOND, Jonathan BOROFSKY, Squeak CARNWATH, Vernon FISHER, Lawrence GIPE, Gottfried HELNWEIN, Jenny HOLZER, Joseph KOSUTH, Deborah OROPALLO, Ed RUSCHA, Robert WILSON, ACCIAIO, Erwin BLUMENFELD, Pasqualino CANGIULLO, Vasilii ERMILOV, El LISSITZKY, Kazimir MALEVICH, Filippo MARINETTI, Pino MASNATA, Kurt SCHWITTERS, Ilya ZDANEVICH & Kirill ZDANEVICH
Mark STOCK: Stage & Costume Designs of the Theater & Other Works on Paper 1977-1992, Nov 12 - Dec 23
Michael O. DLUGACH: Russian Cinema Posters 1924-1930, Nov 12 - Dec 23
1993
Al McWILLIAMS: Recent Works, Jan 7 - Feb 27
Guy DIEHL: New Paintings, Jan 7 - Feb 27
GROUP SHOW - Four Abstract Classicists, March 4 - April 24 | Karl BENJAMIN, Lorser FEITELSON, Frederick HAMMERSLEY & John McLAUGHLIN
Gus HEINZE: New Photorealist Paintings, March 4 - April 24
Lawrence GIPE: Selections from ‘The Century of Progress Museum’, April 29 - June 19
James HAYWARD: Paintings 1973-1993, April 29 - June 19
Vernon FISHER: Framing Water; Paintings, Sculptures & Blackboards, June 24 - Aug 21
Wade HOEFER: New Paintings, June 24 - Aug 21
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Paintings & Photographs, Sep 15 - Nov 6
John REGISTER: New Paintings, Nov 11 - Dec 23
1994
Mark STOCK: New Paintings, Jan 13 - Feb 26
Leonid LERMAN: Complex Presentiment, Jan 13 - Feb 26
Jerry KEARNS: Paintings & Collages, March 3 - April 16
John NAVA: Paintings, March 3 - April 16
Arnulf RAINER: ‘Racine’; Mixed Media on Paper, April 28 - June 11
Guy DIEHL: New Paintings, April 28 - June 11
Deborah BROWN: Paintings, June 16 - July 30
GROUP SHOW - Selected Works on Paper, June 16 - July 30 | PeterALEXANDER, R. CRUMB, Richard DIEBENKORN, Mikhail DLUGACH, Sam FRANCIS, DOUG HALL, Gottfried HELNWEIN, Sandra MARTAGEX, Robin PALANKER, Ken PRICE,
Mel RAMOS, John REGISTER, Ed RUSCHA, Richard SERRA, Mark STOCK, Wayne THIEBAUD, Andy WARHOL, Robert WILSON, Kirill ZDANEVICH
GROUP SHOW - Selected Gallery Artists, Aug 2 - Aug 27
GROUP SHOW - RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE 1900 - 1930, Sep 15 - Nov 5
Gus HEINZE: New Paintings, Nov 17 - Dec 23
Lawrence GIPE: Montage Paintings from ‘The Century of Progress Museum’, Nov 17 - Dec 23
David LEVINTHAL: Modern Romance Series, Nov 17 - Dec 23
1995
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Fire, Jan 12 - Feb 25
James HAYWARD: Paintings, Jan 12 - Feb 25
John M. MILLER: Paintings, Jan 12 - Feb 25
Wade HOEFER: New Paintings, March 2 - April 15
Marek CECULA: ‘Scatology’ Series, March 2 - April 15
Hermann NITSCH: Works 1964-1992, March 2 - April 15
Jerry KEARNS: Double Take; Paintings 1985-87, April 27 - June 3
David TROWBRIDGE: New Paintings, April 27 - June 3
GROUP SHOW - Martini Culture, June 8 - Aug 19 | Mark ADAMS, Guy DIEHL, Gus HEINZE, Gottfried HELNWEIN, Jerry KEARNS, David LEVINTHAL, Jock McDONALD, John NAVA, Claes OLDENBURG, Mel RAMOS, John REGISTER, Ed RUSCHA, Mark STOCK, Wayne THIEBAUD & others
Sandra MARTAGEX: Paintings, June 8 - Aug 19
GROUP SHOW - Selected Gallery Artists, July 20 - Aug 19
John REGISTER: New Paintings, Sep 14 - Oct 28
Frederick HAMMERSLEY: Hard-Edge & Organic Paintings 1947-1991, Sep 14 - Oct 28
Mark STOCK: Hollywood, Nov 2 - Dec 23
Ken PRICE: Heat Wave; Works on Paper, Nov 2 - Dec 23
1996
Mel RAMOS: The Lost Paintings of 1965, Jan 18 - March 2
Tony DELAP: New Works, Jan 18 - March 2
John REGISTER: Works on Paper, March 7 - April 20
Edward HOPPER: Works on Paper, March 7 - April 20
Laurie SIMMONS: Works 1982-1994, April 25 - June 15
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Madonna, April 25 - June 15
David LEVINTHAL: Photographs from the ‘Holocaust’ Series, April 25 - June 15
Curtis RIPLEY: Works on Paper & Canvas, June 20 - Aug 17
Robert WILSON: Survey of Drawings 1973-1993, June 20 - Aug 17
Jerry KEARNS: White Lies; Paintings, Sep 12 - Nov 2
Jean-Charles BLAIS: Paintings on Pape, Sep 12 - Nov 2
John M. MILLER: Passage; Paintings 1995-1996, Nov 7 - Dec 21
Gus HEINZE: New Paintings, Nov 7 - Dec 21
GROUP SHOW - The Cigar, Nov-15
1997
GUY DIEHL: New Paintings, Jan 16 - March 1
Peter SARKISIAN: New Mixed Media Video Sculpture & Installation, Jan 16 - March 1
Ida APPLEBROOG: New Paintings & Vellum Drawings, March 6 - April 26
Robin PALANKER: Longing & Desire; New Works on Paper, March 6 - April 26
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Soldiers & Children, May 1 - June 21
Naomie KREMER: Paintings, May 1 - June 21
James GUÇWA: Paintings, June 26 - Aug 16
Marek CECULA: The ‘Hygiene’ Series; Ceramics, June 26 - Aug 16
Mark STOCK: A Double Life; New Paintings, Sep 11 - Nov 1
GROUP SHOW - Fotomontage; European and Russian Collage 1920-1950, Sep 11 - Nov 1
Glen BAXTER: Works on Paper, Nov 6 - Dec 24
GROUP SHOW - Paintings & Works on Paper, Nov 6 - Dec 24 | Jean-Michel BASQUIAT, Gus HEINZE, Gottfried HELNWEIN, Jerry KEARNS, Mel RAMOS, John REGISTER, Arsen ROJE, Mark STOCK & Roland TOPOR
Andy WARHOL; Paintings & Works on Paper”
1998
Nikolai TIMKOV: Paintings 1953-1971, Jan 15 - Feb 28
Curtis RIPLEY: New Paintings & Works on Paper, Jan 15 - Feb 28
Gus HEINZE: New Paintings, March 5 - April 18
GROUP SHOW - Selected Paintings & Works on Paper, March 5 - April 18 | Edith BAUMANN, Tony DELAP, James HAYWARD, Carol KAUFMAN, Brice MARDEN, John M. MILLER, Erik SAXON, David SIMPSON, Sam TCHAKALIAN, David TROWBRIDGE & Leo VALLEDOR
GROUP SHOW - Early 20th-Century European & Russian Avant-Garde Paintings & Works on Paper, April 23 - Jun 13
Naomie KREMER: New Paintings, June 18 - Aug 15
Sheldon GREENBERG: New Paintings, June 18 - Aug 15
Gottfried HELNWEIN: New Paintings & Sculpture Installation, Sep 10 - Oct 31
James HAYWARD: Paintings 1993-1998, Nov 5 - Dec 24
Glen BAXTER: New Works on Paper, Nov 5 - Dec 24
1999
Robert YARBER: Paintings 1987-1998, Jan 14 - Feb 27
GROUP SHOW - Selected Works, March 4 - April 17 | Jean-Charles BLAIS, R. CRUMB, Sheldon GREENBERG, Gottfried HELNWEIN, Gus HEINZE, Jerry KEARNS, Naomie KREMER, Curtis RIPLEY & Mark STOCK
GROUP SHOW - Selected Prints, March 4 - April 17 | Jonathan BOROFSKY, Hugo CLOUD, R. CRUMB, Richard DIEBENKORN, Sam FRANCIS, Jasper JOHNS, Roy LICHTENSTEIN, John REGISTER, Edward RUSCHA, Mark STOCK, Wayne THIEBAUD & Andy WARHOL
John M. MILLER: Ritual; Recent Paintings, April 22 - June 12
Cesar SANTANDER: Recent Paintings, April 22 - June 12
Mark STOCK: Suggested Evidence; New Paintings, June 17 - Aug 7
GROUP SHOW - Autour De l’Insolite: Furniture, Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Photographs, June 17 - Aug 7
GROUP SHOW - 20th Anniversary Exhibition Part I, Sep 9 - Oct 30
Naomie KREMER: New Paintings, Nov 4 - Dec 23
David MALIN: The Invisible Universe (Astronomical Photographs), Nov 4 - Dec 23
2000
Sheldon GREENBERG: New Paintings, Jan 13 - Feb 26
Nikolai TIMKOV: Paintings 1951-1989, Jan 13 - Feb 26
Georges VALMIER: Cubist Paintings & Works on Paper, Mar 2 - Apr 15
Macha POYNDER: Paintings & Works on Paper, March 2 - April 15
Jerry KEARNS: Not Guilty; New Paintings, April 27 - June 17
Robert STIVERS: Recent Photographs, April 27 - June 17
Tony HERNANDEZ: Recent Paintings, June 22 - Aug 19
James HAYWARD: The Italian Paintings, June 22 - Aug 19
Gottfried HELNWEIN: The First American Paintings, Sep 14 - Oct 28
Jean-Charles BLAIS: Getting Bigger; New Works, Nov 2 - Dec 23
Glen BAXTER: Works on Paper, Nov 2 - Dec 23
2001
Mark STOCK: New Paintings, Jan 11 - Feb 24
Naomie KREMER: New Paintings, March 1 - April 14
David LEVINTHAL: ‘XXX’ Series; Photographs, March 1 - April 14
David SIMPSON: Paintings of the ‘70s & ‘80s, April 19 - May 26
Sheldon GREENBERG: ‘Red’ Series; New Paintings, April 19 - May 26
Jerry KEARNS: New Paintings, May 31 - July 7
John DE ANDREA: Sculpture, May 31 - July 7
Patti OLEON: Recent Paintings, July 12 - Aug 18
Curtis RIPLEY: New Paintings & Works on Paper, July 12 - Aug 18
Charles ARNOLDI: Paintings, Sep 13 - Oct 27
GROUP SHOW - Film Posters of the Russian Avant Garde 1910-1930, Sep 13 - Oct 27
Peter LODATO: Paintings, Nov 1 - Dec 22
SANTANDER, Cesar Recent Paintings, Nov 1 - Dec 22
2002
Glen BAXTER: Works on Paper, Jan 10 - March 9
GROUP SHOW - Selected Abstract Paintings, Jan 10 - March 9
Alexis SMITH: Real World; Collage Works 1981-2002, March 14 - May 11
Mark STOCK: Teatro ZinZanni; New Paintings, May 16 - June 22
Robert STIVERS: Recent Photographs, May 16 - June 22
Tony HERNANDEZ: New Paintings & Works on Paper, June 27 - Aug 17
GROUP SHOW - Selected Works, June 27 - Aug 17
Gottfried HELNWEIN: New Paintings, Sep 19 - Nov 2
Mel RAMOS: New Paintings & Works on Paper, Nov 7 - Dec 21
GROUP SHOW - Five Times Four, Nov 7 - Dec 21 | Sam TCHAKALIAN, Richard Allen MORRIS, James HAYWARD, Dennis HOLLINGSWORTH & Michael REAFSNYDER
2003
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Décollages 1959-2000, Jan 9 - March 1
Sheldon GREENBERG: Crumpled Comix Series, Jan 9 - March 1
LE CORBUSIER: Drawings, Collages & Gouaches 1928-1962, March 6 - April 19
Naomie KREMER: Telling Paint; Paris • Oakland, March 6 - April 19
Margaret CALDWELL: New Paintings, May 1 - June 21
GROUP SHOW - Selected Prints, May 1 - June 21 | Mel RAMOS, John REGISTER, Ed RUSCHA, Mark STOCK & Wayne THIEBAUD
GROUP SHOW - Valley of the Dolls, June 26 - Aug 16 | Hans BELLMER, Elena DORFMAN, David LEVINTHAL
Gus HEINZE: Recent Paintings, June 26 - Aug 16
Gottfried HELNWEIN: American Paintings III, Sep 12 - Nov 1
George KOSKAS: Paintings & Works on Paper from the 1950’s, Sep 12 - Nov 1
Charles ARNOLDI: Recent Works, Nov 13 - Jan 10
Patti OLEON: Other Light; Interiors II, Nov 13 - Jan 10
2004
Valentin POPOV: Italian Journey, Jan 15 - Feb 28
Macha POYNDER: Shopping Bags, Jan 15 - Feb 28
Naomie KREMER: Ports of Call, March 4 - April 24
Sheldon GREENBERG: New Paintings, March 4 - April 24
Mark STOCK: New Paintings, April 29 - June 19
Bill KANE: Suprematist Nudes, April 29 - June 19
Jerry KEARNS: Double Dutch, June 24 - Aug 14
GROUP SHOW - Selected Works, June 24 - Aug 14
Jerry KEARNS: Scarlet Fever, Modernism West, July 28 - Aug 18
GROUP SHOW - 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Sep 9 - Oct 27
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Modern Sleep, Nov 4 - Jan 15
2005
James HAYWARD: Monochrome Paintings, Jan 20 - Feb 26
Konstantin TITOV: Recent Paintings, Jan 20 - Feb 26
Mel RAMOS: Recent Works, March 3 - April 23
Duncan HANNAH: Pleasures & Follies, March 3 - April 23
Robert STIVERS: New Works, April 28 - June 18
Tony HERNANDEZ: Paintings & Drawings From The Broken Promised Land, April 28 - June 18
Glen BAXTER, R. CRUMB, Sheldon GREENBERG, Ceasar SANTANDER, Jeffrey BROWNING, Modernism West, June 15 - July 23
Mark STOCK: Illusions; New Paintings, June 23 - Aug 17
Naomie KREMER: Syncopations, June 23 - Aug 17
Charles ARNOLDI: New Work, Sept 8 - Oct 29
GROUP SHOW - Henri HAYDEN and Friends: Cubist Paintings from the 1910s & 1920s, Sept 8 - Oct 29
Naomie KREMER: Paint Moves, Modernism West, Sept 14 - Oct 31
Deborah OROPALLO: Pitfalls, Modernism West, November 9-Jan 2
Gottfried HELNWEIN: New Paintings, Nov 3 - Jan 14
2006
Valentin POPOV: Twenty-Five Years, Modernism West, Jan 10 - March 31
Glen BAXTER: New Works on Paper, Jan 19 - March 4
GROUP SHOW - Abstract Paintings by Gallery Artists, Jan 19 - March 4
Erwin BLUMENFELD: Paintings, Drawings, Collages, & Photographs, March 9 - April 29
Sheldon GREENBERG: Between Here And Now, May 4 - June 17
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Décollages & Drawings: 1972-2006, May 4 - June 17
Patti OLEON: Other Places, June 28 - Aug 19
Woody GWYN: Water & Fog, Light & Space, June 28 - Aug 19
Catherine JANSENS: Le Silence Des Choses, Sept 14 - Oct 28
Mark STOCK: Palimpsest; New Paintings, Sept 14 - Oct 28
Valentin POPOV: Venice At Night, Nov 2 - Jan 6
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Caprichos, Nov 2 - Jan 6
2007
Bill KANE: Transrational Works, Jan 18 - March 10
GROUP SHOW - L’INVITATION AU VOYAGE: Thangka Tapestry, Jan 18 - March 10 | Edith BAUMANN, James HAYWARD & Peter LODATO, Jonathon KEATS, Naomie KREMER & Daniel MENDEL-BLACK
Mark STOCK: Survey Exhibition 1985-2007 (1), Modernism West, Feb 14 - April 30
Charles ARNOLDI: Recent Works, March 15 - May 5
Gary BASEMAN: I Melt in Your Presence, March 15 - May 5
Naomie KREMER: Polyglot, May 10 - Jun 30
Charles ARNOLDI / Bill KANE, Modernism West, May 22 - Sept 11
Daniel MENDEL-BLACK: Naked Paintings, July 11 - Sep 1
Tony HERNANDEZ: Paintings from the Silent Room, July 11 - Sep 1
James HAYWARD: Works 1975 - 2007, Sep 6 - Oct 27
Gottfried HELNWEIN: The Disasters of War, Nov 1 - Jan 12
Glen BAXTER: The Obsidian Aspect, Jan 17 - March 8
2008
Yang MIAN: From Classic to Standard, Jan 17 - March 8
GROUP SHOW - WEST COAST ABSTRACTION: Selected Works from 1975 to 2007, March 13 - May 3
Mark STOCK: Reverie, March 13 - May 3
Mel RAMOS: Prints & Tapestries from 1965-2007, Modernism West, April 21 - June 1
Duncan HANNAH: Complete and Unabridged, May 15 - June 28
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Decollages from 1965 to 2006, May 15 - June 28
Jeffrey BROWNING: Painting Can Be Fun, Modernism West, June 18 - April 14
Valentin POPOV: Then and Now, July 9 - Aug 30
Charles ARNOLDI: Works 1990-2008, Sep 11 - Nov 1
Sheldon GREENBERG: Mood Indigo, Nov 6 - Jan 10
Curtis RIPLEY: Another Life, Nov 6 - Jan 10
2009
Mark STOCK: Drawings and Prints 1979-2009, Jan 15 - March 17
David SIMPSON: Paintings and Works on Paper, Jan 15 - March 17
Naomie KREMER: Paintings and Hybrids, March 12 - May 2
Gottfried HELNWEIN: The Murmur of the Innocents, May 7 - July 3
Robert Flynn JOHNSON: Hunted & Gathered; Photographs from the private collection, July 9 - Aug 29
Woody GWYN: The Coast; Above & Beyond, July 9 - Aug 29
Jerry KEARNS: Paleface, Sep 10 - Oct 31
GROUP SHOW - THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION, Sep 10 - Oct 31
Jonathon KEATS: The First Bank of Antimatter, Nov 12 and by appointment
Catherine COURTENAYE: Fieldhand and Other Works, Nov 5 - Dec 23
Mark STOCK: Short Stories, Nov 5 - Dec 23
2010
Valentin POPOV: In the Water, Jan 14 - Feb 20
Dennis PARLANTE: Allegorical Thoughts, Jan 14 - Feb 20
Mel RAMOS: Paintings & Sculptures, March 4 - April 24
Patti OLEON: Transference, March 4 - April 24
Elena DORFMAN: The Pleasure Park, May 6 - June 19
Alex NICHOLS: Alexandra’s Heteronyms, Modernism West, May 27 - June 31
James HAYWARD: Asymmetrical Chromachords, June 24 - Aug 28
Michael DWECK: Paradise Lost; Montauk N.Y., June 24 - Aug 28
Jonathon KEATS: Mars Has Arrived, Oct 21 and by appointment
Charles ARNOLDI: New Paintings, Sept 15 - Oct 30
Alan TREISTER: Red, Yellow, Orange and Blue, Modernism West, Oct 14 - Nov 21
Maria CHEVSKA: And, Nov 4 - Feb 2
Erwin BLUMENFELD: Fashion Photographs, Nov 4 - Feb 2
Andreas NOTTEBOHM: Phantasmagoria, Modernism West, Nov 23 - Jan 25
2011
Olivier O. OLIVIER: Paintings, March 3 - April 23
Naomie KREMER: Multiverse, March 3 - April 23
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Décollages From The 1960s To 1990s, May 5 - June 2
Edith BAUMANN-HUDSON: Randomness And Structure, June 30 - Aug 27
Sheldon GREENBERG: Dorothy’s Dream, June 30 - Aug 27
Curtis RIPLEY: Paintings, Modernism West, July 20 - Sept 11
Jonathon KEATS: The First Copernican Art Manifesto, Oct 20 and by appointment
GROUP SHOW - MODERN MASTERS: Works From The 1910s To 1950s, Sept 8 - Oct 29
Michael DWECK: Habana Libre, Sept 8 - Oct 29
Naomie KREMER: Multiverse Part II, Nov 3 - Dec 22
Gottfried HELNWEIN: The Child Dreams, Nov 3 - Dec 22
2012
GROUP SHOW - SELECTED WORKS By Gallery Artists, Jan 4 - Feb 25
Gottfried HELNWEIN: The Child Dreams; In Memory Of Hanoch Levin, Jan 4 - Feb 25
David SIMPSON: Paintings, March 1 - April 21
Mark STOCK: Stage Stories, March 1 - April 21
Bill KANE: New Rayogramms, Modernism West, May 10 - June 30
James HAYWARD: Primary / Formal, May 24 - July 7
Patti OLEON: Transfigured Spaces, May 24 - July 7
Andreas NOTTEBOHM: Water, Sun, Sky, July 11 – Aug 25
Lucien CLERGUE: Corps Memorables, July 11 – Aug 25
Jonathon KEATS: The Epigenetic Cloning Agency, Oct 11 and by appointment
Charles ARNOLDI: New Paintings, Sept 13 - Oct 27
Catherine COURTENAYE: Recent Paintings, 13 - Oct 27
Duncan HANNAH: The Infatuationist, Nov 1 - Dec 21
Fletcher BENTON: The Alphabet Series And New Works, Nov 1 - Dec 21
2013
Mel RAMOS: New Paintings, Jan 17 - March 2
Elena DORFMAN: Empire Falling, Jan 17 - March 2
Naomie KREMER: Sightlines, March 7 - April 27
Valentin POPOV: Face, Modernism West, March 21 - April 8
Pierre ANTONIUCCI: Question De Temps - Matter Of Time, May 9 - July 6
GROUP SHOW - Selected TAPESTRIES, Aug 2 - Sept 7 | Kiki SMITH, Mel RAMOS, Chester ARNOLD, Guy DIEHL, Donald & Era FARNSWORTH, Doug HALL & DEBORAH Oropallo
Sandra MARTAGEX: Works On Paper, Aug 2 - Sept 7
Peter GUTKIN: Wall Sculptures & Drawings 1973-2013, Modernism West, Aug 8 - Oct 31
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Theatre, Cinema, Music-Hall, Sept 12 - Oct 26
Jonathon KEATS: Spacetime Industries, Sep 12 and by appointment
GROUP SHOW - Autour du DÉSIR- ALL ABOUT DESIRE, Nov 7 - Dec 21
2014
Robert STIVERS: Photographs, Jan 16 - March 1
Elina ANATOLE: Into Elina’s Armoire, Jan 16 - March 1
Mark ULRIKSEN: Irrational Exuberance, March 13 - April 26
Charles ARNOLDI: New Paintings, March 13 - April 26
Mark STOCK: Lives of the Butlers: Memorial Exhibition, May 1 - July 3
Naomie KREMER: Desire Lines, July 10 - Sep 6
Natalie ARNOLDI: 122 Degrees West, Modernism West, July 10 - Sep 6
Jonathon KEATS: Microbial Associates, Oct 2 and by appointment
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Of Mice and Children, Sept 18 - Jan 10
2015
Andreas NOTTEBOHM: Electrical Ether, Jan 15 - Feb 28
Duncan HANNAH: Foreign Affairs, Jan 15 - Feb 28
James HAYWARD: Paintings, March 12 - May 2
Stephen SOMERSTEIN: Marching for Freedom, Selma to Montgomery, March 12 - May 2
Ben SCHONZEIT: The Language of Flowers, May 7 - June 27
GROUP SHOW - SELECTED WORKS; By Gallery Artists, July 8 - Aug 29
Michael DWECK: Nymphs and Sirens, May 7 - Aug 29
Alexandra NICHOLS: The Space Between, Modernism West, Sep 1 - Oct 17
Jonathon KEATS: Pangaea Optima, Oct 22 and by appointment
Jerry KEARNS: Give and Take, Sep 10 - Oct 24
Peter SARKISIAN: Recent Works, Sep 10 - Oct 24
Mel RAMOS: Prints and Sculptures: 1970 - 2015, Nov 5 - Dec 19
Patti OLEON: Another Way Around, Nov 5 - Dec 19
2016
Elena DORFMAN: Sublime; The LA River, Jan 14 - Feb 27
Charles ARNOLDI: New Paintings, Jan 14 - Feb 27
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Décollages From The 1960s and 1970s, March 10 - April 29
Naomie KREMER: Fugitive Earth, March 10 - April 29
Damian ELWES: Artist Studios: From Picasso to Jeff Koons, May 5 - June 25
Shawn HUCKINS: Everything Is Hilarious and Nothing Is Real, May 5 - June 25
2017
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Red Harvest, Feb 9 - March 18
Jonathon KEATS: The New Look of Neuroscience, Mar-18
ALEX & MUSHI: Unbuilding Walls, Modernism West, March 30 - May 31
Elena DORFMAN: The Origin of the New World, April 6 - May 20
David SIMPSON: Fifty Years of Painting, April 6 - May 20
Tony HERNANDEZ: Requiem of Mind and Wonder, June 15 - Aug 19
Jean DESSIRIER: Mythologies, June 15 - Aug 19
Edvard MUNCH: Breathe, Feel, Suffer and Love, Aug 31 - Oct 7
Silvia POLOTO: Dithyrambus, Modernism West, Sept 12 - Oct 31
Kai RITTUN: Skandinavian Waves, Modernism West, Nov 27 - Jan 7
Mel RAMOS: Sirens & Heroes, Nov 2 - Jan 13
2018
Stephane ZAGDANSKI: Jouissance du Temps, Modernism West, Jan 18 - March 3
Naomie KREMER: Untold: Paintings & Hybrids, Jan 18 - March 3
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Traces; Décollages from 1956-2000, Mar 15 - April 28
Judy DATER: Personas; A survey of works from 1966-2016, May 10 - June 30
Seth TANE: Trading Places, May 10 - June 30
Bill KANE: Emanations, Modernism West, June 28 - Sept 3
Shawn HUCKINS: Fool’s Gold, July 11 -Sept 8
Mark ULRIKSEN: Something in the Air, July 11 - Sept 8
Jonathon KEATS: Intergalactic Omniphonics, July 24 and by appointment
Charles ARNOLDI: Recent Paintings, Sept 12 - Nov 3
ALEX & MUSHI: Push Me Pull You, Nov 8 - Dec 22
Patti OLEON: Somewhere Else, Nov 8 - Dec 22
2019
Lindsay McCRUM: Chicks with Guns, Jan 10 - Feb 23
Valentin POPOV & Victor SYDORENKO: Collected Moments, Modernism West, Feb 20 - April 1
Mel RAMOS: Memorial Exhibition, March 7 - April 6
Mark ULRIKSEN & Richard P. DOYLE: Game Time, April 11 - May 10
Elena DORFMAN: Still Lovers & Transmutations, April 11 - May 10
Through the Looking Glass, Modernism West, May 7 - July 7 | Laurie Lipton, Judy DATER, Naomie
KREMER, Naomie, Elina ANATOLE
Philippe GRONON: Versos, May 16 - June 29
Peter SARKISIAN: Videomorphic Figure, July 10 - August 31
Laurie LIPTON: Ex Machina, July 10 - August 31
Jonathon KEATS: Pioneers of the Greater Holocene, Sept 5 and by appointment
Damian ELWES: Artist Studios; From Picasso to Kusama, Sept 12 - Oct 26
Sheldon GREENBERG: Cinéma Vérité, Modernism West, Nov 20 - Jan 4
2020
Jerry KEARNS: Fact Witness, Jan 9 - Feb 29
Eva LAKE: Her Highness, Jan 9 - Feb 29
Naomie KREMER: Embodiment, March 12 - Aug 29
John REGISTER: A Print Retrospective, April 16 - May 31
GROUP SHOW - Created in Place, Sept 5 - Oct 24
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: Les Boulevards de la Creation; Decollages from 1952-2006, Sept 17 - Oct 31
Shawn HUCKINS: All You Had to Do Was Call, Nov 5 - Dec 22
2021
Robert STIVERS: Remembered Reveries, Jan 14 - Feb 27
Duncan HANNAH: Imagined Journeys, Jan 21 - Feb 27
Glen BAXTER: Beyond the Basalt Obelisk, March 9 - April 24
Naomie KREMER: Drawn In, March 9 - April 24
Michael BRENNAN: Pandemonium, Modernism West, June 30 -Aug 1
Gottfried HELNWEIN: Eyes that Knew no Shade of Sin or Fear, May 6 - July 2
GROUP SHOW - SF Blue, Modernism West, Aug 6 - Sept 22
GROUP SHOW - LA Abstraction: 1980-2000, July 15 - Sept 4
Agnieszka PILAT: Thinking Machines; Renaissance 2.0, Modernism West, Sept 23 - Oct 31
Charles ARNOLDI: Natural Selection, Sept 9 - Oct 23
Patti OLEON: Shifting Ground, Oct 28 - Jan 15
Lindsay McCRUM: Strange Beauty; Still Icons, Oct 28 - Jan 15
ALEX & MUSHI: Two Conversations; Toward a New Language, Nov 11 - Feb 27
2022
GROUP SHOW - Autour de L’Insolite, Jan 20 - March 5 | Laure Albin GUILLOT, Dora MAAR, Hans BELLMER, Francis PICABIA, Manuel Alvarez BRAVO, Grisha BRUSKIN, Hannah HOCH, Gottfried HELNWEIN, Nono BANDERA, David McDERMOTT & Peter McGOUGH, Shawn HUCKINS, Mark STOCK, Elina ANATOLE, Deborah BROWN, Carmen CALVO, Jean-Charles BLAIS, R. CRUMB, Glen BAXTER, Tony OURSLER, Pierre MOLINIER &Clovis TROUILLE, Manuel RUFO, Douglas BOND, David BAILIN, Vladimir LEBEDEV, Robert STIVERS, David MALIN, Sandra MARTAGEX, Peter SHIRE LE BOUCHER CORPAATO, Mark STOCK, Otto Kurt VOGELSANG, Hiroshi SUGIMOTO, Edward S. CURTIS, Bruce CONNER, Wallace BERMAN, Andre DE DIENES, Michael KVIUM, Tony OURSLER, Roland TOPOR & others
Michael BRENNAN: Pandemonium, 1117 Market Street, March 17 - 20
Jonathon KEATS: The Library of the Great Silence, March 22 and by appointment
Michael BRENNAN: Pandemonium - Select Portraits, Modernism West, April 7 - May 30
Edith BAUMANN: New Works, March 24 - May 14
Jacques VILLEGLÉ: And the Streets of Paris, May 19 - July 1
Raymond HOLBERT: Aquatic Opera, July 7 - Sept 1
Kristine MAYS: Threads of Existence, July 7 - Sept 1
Henri MATISSE: Nudes and Odalisques, Sept 8 - Oct 29
Agnieszka PILAT: ROBOTa, Nov 8 - Dec 22
2023
Shawn HUCKINS: If I’m Home, Find Me Here, Jan 12 - March 4
Naomie KREMER: Terra, March 16 - May 13
Mikhail DLUGACH: Avant-Garde Film Posters of the 1920s, Modernism West, April 26 - June 16
Kirill & Ilya ZDANEVICH: 41º, May 18 - July 1
Sameh KHALATBARI: 1401 N/m² Resistance, Modernism West, May 18 - July 1
Sheldon GREENBERG: Interlaced Viewings, July 12 - Sept 1
Scot HEYWOOD: Planar Variations, July 12 - Sept 1
John REGISTER: The Long View, Sept 14 - Oct 28
GROUP SHOW - Impressions, Nov 29 - Jan 20 | Brice MARDEN, Ed RUSCHA, Radcliffe BAILEY, Joseph BEUYS, Rene MAGRITTE, MAN RAY, Howard COOK, Gerd ARNTZ, Henri MATISSE, Naomie KREMER & Judy DATER, Mark STOCK, Jim DINE, Caio FONSECA, Mel RAMOS, John REGISTER, Mark ULRIKSEN, R. CRUMB, Sam TCHAKALIAN, Leo VALEDOR, Gottfried HELNWEIN, Jean-Charles BLAIS, Richard LINDNER, John BAEDER
2024
Judy DATER: Poets, Prophets and Pioneers, Feb 8 - April 4
Naomie KREMER: Fugues, Feb 8 - April 4
Michael BRENNAN: 48 Squared, April 11 - June 8
Sheldon GREENBERG: Interlaced Viewings, Modernism West, April 12 - May 31
Helen KIM: Story Lines, Modernism West, June 27 - Sept 17
GROUP SHOW - 45th Anniversary Part I, July 2 - Aug 31
Jonathon KEATS: The Future Democracies Laboratory, Oct 30 and by appointment
Victor REYES: Memory Only, Modernism West, Sept 19 - Jan 10
GROUP SHOW - 45th Anniversary Part II, Sept 26 - Dec 21
Below: Gottfried HELNWEIN, Nightwatch, 2000, oil & acrylic on canvas (featuring Modernism artists and Martin Muller)
MODERNISM INC. FOURTY-FIVE YEARS
1979-2024
was produced under the auspices of Modernism Inc., San Francisco
Martin Muller
Danielle Beaulieu, Director
Asa Perryman
Martin Muller and the Modernism library c. 1979
