MOCA brings distinctive exhibit to L.A.

  Bruce Conner This photogram, titled "Sound of Two Hand
Angel," is part of the MOCA’s current exhibit.

By Carolyn Brown
Daily Bruin Contributor

Artist Bruce Conner is an innovator. He pioneered the
development of assemblage art ““ the use of objects the artist
finds in various types of collages ““ during the ’50s
and ’60s and includes everything in his collections, from
sculptures to films.

Conner’s art is currently on exhibit at the Museum of
Contemporary Art in “2000 BC: The Bruce Conner Story, Part
II.” The exhibit is an extensive display of Conner’s
work from his early years in San Francisco, to his more recent
projects. This show, assembled by the Walker Art Center in
Minneapolis, is the first to offer a comprehensive look at the
multiple artistic identities of Conner.

His work is engaging and seems to invite the viewer to interpret
it through their own frame of reference.

Because each of the six art series on display are so different
from one another, it is somewhat hard to believe they were all done
by the same artist. The series includes assemblages in sculpture
form, collage printmaking, inkblot prints, black and white photo
prints, and films.

In the pieces, tattered collections of beads, lace, silk, fur,
bits of cotton, and even old mop heads are assembled and then
wrapped in filmy shreds of nylon, creating provocative images. For
instance, “Spider Lady House,” done in 1959, looks like
a collage of old jewelry and bits of flowered wallpaper from a
distance, but a closer look in the nylon shrouded window reveals a
shocking image of a doll’s head with a nail driven through
its forehead.

Exhibits such as this show that Conner’s work is not
something that can be viewed quickly or absorbed in a few
minutes.

Conner’s frustration with the role that authorship played
in establishing the value of art led him, in 1967, to display his
series of collages using wood engravings in, “The Dennis
Hopper One Man Show.”

These works use astounding intricacy and detail. The exclusive
use of black and white in these works provides a light/dark
contrast that is indicative of much of Conner’s art.

  BRUCE CONNER Bruce Conner’s artwork, including "Totem
Time in Dreamland," will be displayed at the Museum of Contemporary
Art until Jan. 14. The light/dark motif also pervades
Conner’s films, all of which are edited collages of footage
found by Conner. In “The Movie,” he uses such contrasts
to create a theme of violence and destruction.

Images of explosions, bombing, erupting volcanos and streams of
refugees also add to the theme, whereas in, “Take the 5:10 to
Dreamland,” the color contrast elicits a feeling of serenity
through the use of nature scenes.

“The Angel Series” is a film series done with black
felt pen, millions of carefully placed dots on paper use light and
dark to create the feeling that you are gazing at the night
sky.

“The Angel Series” also uses color contrast and is
demonstrative of Conner’s most dramatic use of light and
dark. His creation of life-sized ethereal, using light on
photo-sensitive paper, results in images that are nothing less than
angelic. This series alone is worth a trip downtown to MOCA.

Conner appears to be a master with his use of light and the
striking intricacy he applies to every detail of each piece.

In an untitled series, the enormous care that went into creating
the profound visual image of elaborate sequences of tiny inkblots,
is breathtaking. Conner placed hundreds of drops of ink on
accordion folded paper to create the effect.

Conner’s exhibits provide an opportunity to roam through
the rebellious creativity of one remarkable artistic mind.

ART: “2000 BC: The Bruce Conner Story, Part II” is
on display at MOCA now through Jan. 14, 2001. The Museum is open
Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with special late
hours on Thursday, staying open until 8 p.m. Admission is $6 for
adults and $4 for students. Admission is free on Thursday from 5
p.m. to 8 p.m. For information call (213) 626-6222 or visit
www.moca.org.