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THE ARTSY are getting antsy.
The new Claremont Museum of Art is set to open April 15, with its first
exhibition featuring the work of influential painter and longtime Pomona
College art professor Karl Benjamin. An easy walk from campus, the
museum is located in the newly-renovated
Claremont Packing House,
part of a larger expansion of the Claremont Village that will bring an
art-house movie theatre and more nightlife and shopping to the area.
The exhibition, A Conversation with Color: Karl Benjamin, Paintings
1953-1995, will feature 46 paintings spanning 42 years that trace
Benjamin’s career, from his early experiments with cubism to works that
represent his role as one of the founders of abstract classicism.
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Karl Benjamin's "Markers" (1955). |
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Benjamin, who began painting in 1951 while working as a public school
teacher, became an artist-in-residence and professor of art at Pomona
College in 1979, serving until his retirement in 1994. His paintings have been
exhibited throughout the U.S. and are part of collections that include
the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Whitney Museum
of American Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of
Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
“Karl Benjamin is a seminal figure in abstract classicism, more commonly
known as ‘hard edge’ painting,” said Steve Comba, who
is assistant director of Pomona College Museum of Art and interim
curator and registrar for the new museum. “Because of his inventive nature and intuitive,
creative instincts, he became part of a group of artists who invented a
new form of abstract painting in the early and mid '50s."
In 1959, Benjamin's work was part of a landmark exhibition at the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art that traveled to Europe and secured a
national and international reputation for the painter, according to
Comba.
Harrison McIntosh's ceramic
work is part of the permanent collection. |
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The museum's permanent collection will occupy the smaller of the two
museum galleries, with works from local artists such as Millard Sheets,
Harrison McIntosh and Milford Zornes '34 exhibited on a rotating basis.
All this art will be on the display in the museum's 7,400-square-foot
slice of what was once the College Heights Lemon Packing House, built
in 1922 and now revamped as a retro-remnant of the area's sunny citrus past. With
its skylights, corrugated metal and saw-tooth roof, the building is a cool destination in and of itself, Comba notes.
Along with the museum, a jazz club, wine shop, steak house and
non-profit used bookstore also have found space on the packing houses'
historic hardwood floors. Live-work lofts fill the second story.
Renovation of the Packing House was handled by Arteco Partners, operated
by Claremont McKenna alumnus Jerry Tessier. He and his brother, Ed Tessier
'91, helped create the vibrant, well-established
art colony in
neighboring Pomona's downtown, as well as the upstart
Emporia Arts
District in nearby Ontario.
Claremont, meanwhile, already has a long tradition of artistic
excellence cultivated through the colleges. The Pomona College Museum of
Art is a the oldest collecting institution in the region, according to
Comba, particularly strong in Native American art and 18th to 20th
century works on paper, while also tending a growing photography
collection.
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Along with the museum, the renovated packing house
will be home to a jazz club, steakhouse and used book store. |
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With the Pomona museum more geared toward student needs, the Claremont
undertaking could offer Pomona students a different set of experiences,
with the chance to learn about curation and interacting with the public through volunteer or
internship opportunities, according to Comba. There's also the
possibility of publicity partnerships between the College's museum and
Claremont's.
Claremont's museum should help draw visitors to the area's growing array
of art venues, which include Pomona's museum, Scripps Colleges'
Ruth Chandler
Williamson Gallery, Pilgrim Place’s Peterson Museum of Intercultural
Art as well as Pomona’s Da Center for the Arts and the
American Museum
of Ceramic Art, founded by David Armstrong '62.
"The more Starbucks in an area, the more coffee is consumed,'' says
Comba. "It helps everybody. It's the same thing with art."
And so, with the Claremont museum's April 15 opening, it looks like the
local arts scene is about to get another kick of caffeine.
Packing house photography by Schenck photo
Details:
Claremont Museum of Art public opening
April 15, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
536 W. First Street
The museum will be open Wednesday through Monday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission is free through May. Beginning June 1, it goes up to $3 for
adults but is still free for those under 18.
Related stories:
LA Times article about Pomona's latest exhibition
30-foot-high sculpture
arrives on campus
Pomona College art museum
renovated
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