The exhibition “Fragile Thoughts” is a 25-year survey representing Studio Arts professor Jane Brucker’s exploration of personal and collective history, mortality and fragility. The exhibition will be on view at the Long Beach Museum of Art from September 28, 2018 – January 6, 2019.
Brucker is a visual and performance artist who examines history, mortality and fragility by combining found objects and heirlooms with other materials—textiles, wood, glass, paper, text and cast metals. A hallmark of the artist’s work is the combining of found objects and heirlooms with other materials—textiles, wood, glass, paper, text, and cast metals to create works with a resonant poetic spirit and a tactile sensibility. Objects and materials are transformed through Brucker’s attention to detail. Narrative passages from her own family invite the audience to relate to shared themes and stories. Many of the featured installations in the exhibition are on-going projects, cumulative over years of activity.
An example is Memorial Project, begun in 2001, when Brucker crafted a small canvas from her late father’s favorite shirt to create a private remembrance piece for her mother. When her mother’s friends visited the house and saw it, they too recognized the shirt as belonging to her father. Each of the women visitors then asked to send a similar article of clothing. Brucker then made each of them canvases the same size and shape as the one made in memory of her father.
“To this day, I am still receiving articles to be included in Memorial Project” Brucker said. “I find that participants like the idea that their own memorial piece is joining the others, creating a chorus of memory.”
Brucker also collaborated with Judson Studios in creating a series of seven antique chairs combined with historical and contemporary glass techniques. The piece conveys the legacy of Elizabeth Milbank Anderson, a turn of the 20th century public health pioneer and Brucker’s inspiration for the piece. Anderson’s 1912 summer home has been a part of the LBMA campus since its founding.
There are over 300 pieces in this project on view at the Long Beach Museum of Art. Generous grant support from Pasadena Art Alliance made the new installation possible.
“Fragile Thoughts”
September 28, 2018 – January 06, 2019
Preview Reception: Thursday, September 27, 2018 from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Public Reception: Friday, October 12, 2018 from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Long Beach Museum of Art
2300 E Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90803
