The Red-Headed Stepchild: The History of Collage & Assemblage in Santa Barbara: 1955-2018
As part of the gallery鈥檚 ongoing commitment to showcase and document the best of Santa Barbara鈥檚 historical and contemporary art scene, Sullivan Goss is proud to present The Red-Headed Stepchild: The History of Collage & Assemblage in Santa Barbara: 1955-2018. Santa Barbara鈥檚 engagement with collage as a fine art form dates back to the mid 1950s when William Dole (1910-1985) began to make the delicate paper collages that eventually brought him international acclaim. The city鈥檚 first assemblage artist, meanwhile, was almost certainly John Bernhardt (1921-1963), who arrived and began making assemblages in 1959.
The story is long, important, and rich with telling details. And yet. And yet, it is a story largely untold. Collage and assemblage certainly don鈥檛 enjoy the notoriety that plein air painting does. It is on that basis that artist Sue Van Horsen came up with the title The Red-Headed Stepchild. She and curator Jeremy Tessmer were musing over drinks on Tessmer鈥檚 notion that assemblage artists get invited to every family gathering in the Santa Barbara art world, but always seem relegated to the kids鈥� table. 鈥淵eah, we鈥檙e like the red-headed stepchild,鈥� she said. This exhibition sets out to correct the record. It presents a long tradition with plenty of historical works, but it also tracks current practice.
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As part of the gallery鈥檚 ongoing commitment to showcase and document the best of Santa Barbara鈥檚 historical and contemporary art scene, Sullivan Goss is proud to present The Red-Headed Stepchild: The History of Collage & Assemblage in Santa Barbara: 1955-2018. Santa Barbara鈥檚 engagement with collage as a fine art form dates back to the mid 1950s when William Dole (1910-1985) began to make the delicate paper collages that eventually brought him international acclaim. The city鈥檚 first assemblage artist, meanwhile, was almost certainly John Bernhardt (1921-1963), who arrived and began making assemblages in 1959.
The story is long, important, and rich with telling details. And yet. And yet, it is a story largely untold. Collage and assemblage certainly don鈥檛 enjoy the notoriety that plein air painting does. It is on that basis that artist Sue Van Horsen came up with the title The Red-Headed Stepchild. She and curator Jeremy Tessmer were musing over drinks on Tessmer鈥檚 notion that assemblage artists get invited to every family gathering in the Santa Barbara art world, but always seem relegated to the kids鈥� table. 鈥淵eah, we鈥檙e like the red-headed stepchild,鈥� she said. This exhibition sets out to correct the record. It presents a long tradition with plenty of historical works, but it also tracks current practice.
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