Image: Amir Zaki, Concrete Vessel 55, 2018, archival pigment photograph, 60 x 75 in., collection of Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, gift of the artist.
Laguna Art Museum is presenting nearly 50 newly acquired artworks in ‘Latest and Greatest: New Work at Laguna Art Museum,’ an ongoing exhibition that expands the institution’s permanent collection across more than a century of California art. The presentation includes works made after 2000 and places particular emphasis on contemporary practice, art-and-nature investigations, a broad range of California-based artists and increased representation of women.
The exhibition spans sculpture, mixed media, film, painting and large-format color photography. Rather than organizing the acquisitions around a single period or medium, the museum uses the presentation to show the breadth of its collecting activity and the ways new works can extend existing conversations within a permanent collection.
Artists represented include Fred Tomaselli, Sergei Bongart, Monique van Genderen, Jedidiah Caesar, Jimi Gleason, Jim Shaw, Russell Crotty, Deborah Oropallo, Jennifer West, Steve Roden, Robert Therrien, Channing Hansen, Einar de la Torre, Jamex de la Torre, Analia Saban, Sam Falls, Jennifer Bolande and Anthony Pearson. The list also includes artists associated with different generations and approaches to California art, from Edward Biberman and Edwin Deakin to Robert Longo, Tony Oursler and Amir Zaki.
One documented work in the exhibition is Amir Zaki’s ‘Concrete Vessel 55’ (2018), an archival pigment photograph measuring 60 by 75 inches. The work, an edition of two plus two artist’s proofs, entered the museum’s collection as a gift from the artist. Its inclusion reflects the exhibition’s combination of contemporary photography with painting, sculpture and other forms of material and moving-image practice.
The museum describes ‘Latest and Greatest’ as part of an actively growing permanent collection. The presentation also acknowledges the individuals who donated the works, making the exhibition both a display of recent acquisitions and a public recognition of the support behind the museum’s collecting program. The works collectively broaden the chronological, geographic and thematic range of the collection while maintaining its focus on California artists and artistic production.
Founded by local artists in 1918, Laguna Art Museum has collected and exhibited California art for more than a century. The independent nonprofit institution is located at 307 Cliff Drive in Laguna Beach and identifies itself as the oldest cultural institution in Laguna Beach. ‘Latest and Greatest: New Work at Laguna Art Museum’ is on view on an ongoing basis.
