Going Downtown: MCASD Features
Kruger's 'Twelve' and 'Fresh, New Art From UCSD'

October 3, 2005

Work by promising students and by a renowned faculty member from the visual arts department is featured in two concurrent exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Downtown now through Dec. 11: Twelve and Fresh, New Art From UCSD.

Home Depot's, 2005, by Danny Jauregui.

Showing on the West Coast for the first time, Twelve, 2004, is a four-screen video installation by Barbara Kruger, a professor of visual arts at UCSD and the 2005 recipient of the Venice Biennale's prestigious Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.

A conceptual artist best known for her found-media images in black, white and red - montages coupled with such stark and provocative slogans as "I shop therefore I am" and "Your body is a battleground" - Kruger has exhibited internationally not only in world-class museums and festivals but also in unexpected public spaces and on billboards, T-shirts, shopping bags and bus-cards.

While Twelve departs from Kruger's signature visual style, the installation addresses themes that have been central to her art since the late 1970s: power, society, culture, family and relationships.

The emotional drama of Twelve unfolds in 12 ensemble scenes scripted by Kruger. Projected individually onto the four walls of the Copley Gallery, actors playing friend and family groups carry on personal conversations across the space, while scrolling teletype text of their thoughts runs underneath each image. While the dialogue is frustrated and unproductive at best, the text (such as "I hate myself when I'm with you") belies a fundamental mismatch between what the characters think and what they say.

The exhibit marks the first time Kruger is showing her work in San Diego.

Also on view at MCASD Downtown is Fresh, New Art From UCSD. Curated by MCASD's Rachel Teagle, the exhibition presents an eclectic array of the most promising work of UCSD visual arts graduate students, ranging from a mock documentary to a new take on border art. Each of the artists offers a fresh approach to his or her chosen media or subject matter. Collectively, the diverse pieces of the group exhibition underscore the vitality of the arts at the university.

Participating artists include Veronika Bauer, Julia Dzwonkoski, Danny Jauregui, Zerek Kempf, Tara Knight, Sharon Levy, Chungmin Moon, Jorge Nava, Ian Patrick, Ed Porter, Stephen Remington, Kelly Sears, Shannon Spanhake, Sergio de la Torre, Robert Twomey and Joe Winter.

The opening of Fresh, New Art From UCSD will be celebrated at MCASD Downtown on Oct. 6. Beginning at 7 p.m., the TNT (Thursday Night Thing) event will offer sonic entertainment, including rock, Texas swing and DJs. Performance artist Weird Shadow will use fashion and photography to develop the scenario of a shadow that's come loose from (and tries to take the place of) the form that cast it. And the UCSD Dept. of Ecological Authoring Tactic, Inc. (DoEAT) will serve home-made ice cream treats on the plaza.

MCASD Downtown is at 1001 Kettner Blvd. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; closed Wednesdays. Admission is free. Information: 858-454-3541 or www.mcasd.org.