Circa 1992
Artist
Mark Bradford(American, born 1961)American, born 1961
CultureAmerican
Titles
- Circa 1992
Date2015
MediumPaper, acrylic paint, and acrylic varnish on canvas
Dimensions49 1/2 × 204 1/2 × 7/8 in. (125.7 × 519.4 × 2.2 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment
Object number2015.527
Non exposé
Explore Further
Department
Modern and Contemporary ArtObject Type
Mark Bradford creates his collage-based paintings from materials gathered in Leimert Park, the Los Angeles neighborhood where he lived as a child. Using magazines, flyers, and other found materials, he builds densely layered compositions, echoing the rhythms of Los Angeles street life.
Circa 1992 reflects a specific moment, when the Rodney King riots tore Los Angeles apart. After the first days of violence, local church groups issued signs proclaiming: “REBUILD SOUTH CENTRAL WITHOUT LIQUOR STORES!! / RECONSTRUIRAL SUR CENTRAL SIN NEGOCIOS DE BEBIDAS ALCOHOLICAS!!” By repeating these phrases in his painting, Bradford pays tribute to the spirit of community renewal.
ProvenanceThe artist; [Hauser & Wirth Gallery, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2015.
Exhibition History"Statements: African American Art from the Museum's Collection," The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, January 24–September 25, 2016.
Published References Exhibition reviews and articles featuring closely related work: Catherine Wagley, “Mark Bradford's Art Doesn't Explain South L.A. and It Doesn't Need To,” L.A. Weekly, July 1, 2015; http://www.laweekly.com/arts/mark-bradfords-art-doesnt-explain-south-la-and-it-doesnt-need-to-5749499 Jennie Waldro, “Mark Bradford Maps the Suffering of Bodies,” Hyperallergic, August 17, 2015 Thomas Micchelli, “Mapping the Body: Mark Bradford’s New Work, Hyperallergic, November 14, 2015; http://hyperallergic.com/253552/mapping-the-body-mark-bradfords-new-work/ Tess Thakara, “Mark Bradford’s Abstract Meditations on the AIDS Crisis and 1970s Disco Come to New York,” Artsy, November 13, 2015; https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-mark-bradford-s-abstract-meditations-on-the-aids-crisis-come-to-new-york Calvin Tomkins, “What Else Can Art Do? The Many Layers of Mark Bradford’s Work,” The New Yorker, June 22, 2015; http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/22/what-else-can-art-do Kathryn Brown, “The Artist as Urban Geographer: Mark Bradford and Julie Mehretu,” American Art 24, no. 3 (Fall 2010), 100–113. Catalogues and monographs Clara M. Kim and Doryun Chong, Mark Bradford: Tears of a Tree (Shanghai: Rockbund Art Museum, 2015). Connie Butler, Scorched Earth: Mark Bradford (Los Angeles: Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, 2015). Christopher Bedford, Mark Bradford (Columbus, Ohio: Wexner Center for the Arts and New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2010). Trevor Schoonmaker, Street Level: Mark Bradford, William Cordova and Robin Rhode (Durham, North Carolina: Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, 2007). Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Unable to view verso for marks and inscriptions - 5/2016
Cataloguing data may change with further research.
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