Initial Public Offering: New Works from SJMA’s Collection
March 1 – August 24, 2014

SAN JOSE, California (February 12, 2014)—The San Jose Museum of Art will “go public” with artworks added to its collection in the past three years in a new exhibition this spring. Initial Public Offering: New Works from SJMA’s Collection, on view March 1 – August 24, 2014, will showcase 30 works in a variety of media by artists including Jay DeFeo, Eric Fischl, Tim Hawkinson, Judy Pfaff, Alan Rath, Clare Rojas, Alison Saar, Darren Watterson, and others. Twenty of the works will be on view at SJMA for the first time.

“In the business world, ‘going public’ signals future opportunities for growth and innovation,” said Rory Padeken, assistant curator at SJMA. “Through these acquisitions of work by pivotal artists working in California, throughout the United States, and abroad, SJMA has developed and expanded its collection of socially engaged art, landmark new-media works, and innovative and representational strategies in art.”

Tim Hawkinson’s cardboard and urethane foam sculpture Scout (2006 – 2007) is representative of the artist’s absurdist humor. Hawkinson created a distorted, headless figure, in which its body parts are built in proportion to their degree of sensory perception. Scout’s hands are comically oversized and outspread in an imploring gesture. Hawkinson’s use of cardboard for the base, due to its semblance to skin, further lends Scout a human presence. 

Stephanie Syjuco’s The International Orange Commemorative Store (A Proposition) (2012) is a mixed media installation commissioned by the FOR-SITE Foundation as part of the exhibition “International Orange” in honor of the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th Year Anniversary. The installation consists of a faux souvenir shop complete with merchandise saturated in the orange hue of the Golden Gate Bridge. Thwarting the purchasing impulse, the work serves as a reminder that certain experiences cannot be bought. The installation will be on view in its entirety.  

The Museum expanded its collection of new media works with the acquisition of Alan Rath’s Absolutely (2012), a feathered kinetic sculpture infused with an uncanny lifelike quality. Composed of Chinese pheasant feathers, aluminum, fiberglass, and custom electronics, the anthropomorphic sculpture is activated by a motion sensor and moves organically without repetition. The feathers flutter and wave as if to communicate through a dance set to an inaudible soundtrack.

SJMA’s growing photography collection is represented by works by John Chiara, Katy Grannan, and Huang Yan. The Museum acquired two works from Huang’s 2008 series “The Four Seasons” following the popular 2013 exhibition Rising Dragon: Contemporary Chinese Photography. 

Also included are works by: Lisa Adams, Jim Barsness, Ashutosh Bhardwaj, Chitra Ganesh, Sam Hernandez, Robin Kandel, Kara Maria, Ranu Mukherjee, Marc Pally, and Sarah Ratchye. 

The works included in Initial Public Offering were acquired by the Museum by purchase and gift. Funds were contributed by the Collection Committee, the Council of 100, Tad Freese, and Barbara and William Hyland. Gifts of art were received from: TJ Dermot Dunphy and Dunphy Family Foundation; Dixon and Barbara Farley; Harold and Loretta Gambill 2002 Revocable Trust; Sam Hernandez; Robin Kandel and the Andrea Schwartz Gallery; Merry Karnowksy and James Panozzo; the Lipman Family Foundation; Kara Maria; Dipti and Rakesh Mathur; Anne Sconberg and Mark Henderson; and Stephanie Syjuco and Catharine Clark Gallery.  

OPENING RECEPTION 

SJMA will celebrate the opening of Initial Public Offering with a public reception on Tuesday, March 4, from 7 PM to 8:30 PM. The evening will include Mardi Gras-themed refreshments and music by the Magnolia Jazz Band. Tickets are $15 (free to members) and are available at www.sjmusart.org/IPO-reception. 

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART

The San Jose Museum of Art celebrates new ideas, stimulates creativity, and inspires connection with every visit. Welcoming and thought-provoking, the Museum rejects stuffiness and delights visitors with its surprising and playful perspective on the art and artists of our time.

The Museum’s burgeoning permanent collection includes over 2,500 modern and contemporary works of art: paintings, sculpture, installation, new media, photography, drawings, prints, and artists’ books. Widely known for supporting California artists, SJMA has earned a reputation for acquiring pivotal artists early in their careers. As San Jose has grown from an agricultural community into the capital of Silicon Valley, SJMA has expanded the focus of its collection to reflect the high-tech interests, dynamic cultural diversity, and international scope of its communities. The Museum remains committed to the work of California artists, yet now also strives to bring greater national and international context to the collection for the future. The collection includes works by Elmer Bischoff, Joan Brown, Jim Campbell, Enrique Chagoya, Andy Goldsworthy, Bari Kumar, Markus Linnenbrink, Louise Nevelson, Catherine Opie, Tony Oursler, Tino Rodriquez, Ben Rubin and Mark Hanson, Alison Saar, Jennifer Steinkamp, Masami Teraoka, and William T. Wiley. 

The San Jose Museum of Art is located at 110 South Market Street in downtown San Jose, California. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 AM to 5 PM and until 8 PM or later on the third Thursday of each month. For more information, call 408-271-6840 or visit www.SanJoseMuseumofArt.org.

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