CCA Wattis Institute Presents The Wizard of Oz
San Francisco, July 10, 2008
The CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts will present the exhibition The Wizard of Oz from September 2 through December 13, 2008, in the lower-level Logan Galleries on the San Francisco campus of California College of the Arts. The exhibition is organized by Jens Hoffmann, director of the Wattis Institute. It is free and open to the public, with an opening reception on Tuesday, September 2, from 6–8 p.m.
The Wizard of Oz features works by 22 international artists. It takes as its starting point L. Frank Baum's classic novel, examining ideas of home and place, the relationship between art and literature, and America's cultural and social fabric. Several of the artists are presenting new pieces that have been specially conceived in response to the book; others are represented by existing artworks related to one of the book's themes: dislocation, home, family, utopia, mortality, machines, witches, illusions, anxieties, rich and poor, good and evil. The exhibition includes sculpture, film, video, drawing, photography, and a range of historical memorabilia, and it is accompanied by a full-color, 76-page catalog.
The Wizard of Oz will be the first in a trilogy of Wattis Institute shows that are based on canonical American novels and feature strong themes of exploration and self-discovery (Moby Dick will take place in 2009 and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 2010). Each exhibition will function as a metaphorical journey through which the audience experiences various notions of America's reality, both contemporary and historical, each time with a different emphasis: the fantastic in The Wizard of Oz, symbolic allegories of good and evil in Moby Dick, and questions of ethnicity and race in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Lead sponsorship for The Wizard of Oz is provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Participating Artists
Robert Bechtle, Jennifer Bornstein, Ulla von Brandenburg, Bruce Conner, Walker Evans, Simryn Gill, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Loris Gréaud, Joseph Grigely, Carsten Höller, Evan Holloway, Glenn Ligon, Steve McQueen, Gareth Moore, Rivane Neuenschwander, Raymond Pettibon, Clare Rojas, Harry Smith, Donald Urquhart, Andy Warhol, Cerith Wyn Evans
About the CCA Wattis Institute
The Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts was established in 1998 in San Francisco at California College of the Arts. It serves as a forum for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary art and curatorial practice. Through groundbreaking exhibitions, the Capp Street Project residency program, lectures, symposia, and publications, the Wattis Institute has become one of the leading art institutions in the United States and an active site for contemporary culture in the Bay Area.
About California College of the Arts
Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts is noted for the interdisciplinarity and breadth of its programs. It offers studies in 20 undergraduate and seven graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. The college offers bachelor of architecture, bachelor of arts, bachelor of fine arts, master of architecture, master of arts, master of fine arts, and master of business administration degrees. With campuses in Oakland and San Francisco, CCA currently enrolls more than 1,650 full-time students. Noted alumni include the painters Nathan Oliveira and Raymond Saunders; the ceramicists Robert Arneson, Viola Frey, and Peter Voulkos; the filmmaker Wayne Wang; the conceptual artists David Ireland and Dennis Oppenheim; and the designers Lucille Tenazas and Michael Vanderbyl.