BAY AREA FIGURATION: ORIGINS AND TODAY
by Csilla Kristof
(clockwise from top) Joan Brown,
Self Portrait, n.d., oil on panel,
33 x 22”; Richard Diebenkorn,
Seated Nude, 1963, ink wash
drawing on paper, 17 x 14”; Nathan Oliveira, Seated Woman
Fur-coat, 1961, oil on canvas,
54 x 50”. All images are courtesy of private collections.
18 A|C|A March 2012
There is an inviting quality in Bay Area Figurative
work. The paint is tangibly buttery, applied with a force that
lingers in each stroke. The ambiguity of the figuration calls the
viewer to engage, then leaves space to linger. Vibrant brushstrokes, weighty colors, and dramatic composition manipulate
the senses. These devices are used to hint at narrative and provoke emotion — at the time they expanded the boundaries of
figure painting.
The Bakersfield Museum of Art (BMOA) presents “Legacy in Continuum: Bay Area Figuration”. Curated by Vikki L.
Cruz in conjunction with Roberta Carasso, art writer and critic
based in Southern California, the exhibition highlights important artists from the movement’s origins to its lasting presence
in contemporary works. The exhibition includes several pieces
from private collections — work largely unseen by the public — giving this intimate exhibition additional appeal. These
paintings are prized by their owners and will likely go swiftly
back into hiding when the exhibition closes.
The Bay Area Figurative (BAF) Movement — though not
recognized as a “movement” until much later — began in the
late 1940s when note-worthy Abstract Expressionists abandoned their strictly intellectual approach to painting and made
a stylistic shift toward representation. In 1951, David Park, a
well-known abstract painter, submitted a figure painting to a
San Francisco art competition and won a coveted prize. It was
viewed as a defection by fellow artists, but by some in the Bay
Area especially, it was a welcome reprieve from the prevalence
of abstraction.
David Park, Elmer Bischoff, Theophilus Brown, and
Richard Diebenkorn were of the first generation of painters
to explore this new figurative style. Roberta Carasso, on the
movement’s origins, wrote, “The Bay Area Figurative artists
expanded and integrated the thinking of Abstract Expressionists by seeing a profound connection between abstraction
and figuration. Artists realized that their heritage need not be
discarded; that it is possible to work in both modes simultaneously. Moreover, melding two forms of expression could be
a metamorphosis yielding a perceptibly new aesthetic form.”
These paintings were groundbreaking because they continued
to employ Abstract Expressionistic elements in their representational work, reviving and renovating a form that some
deemed passé.
The only key figure not included is David Park, who
worked closely with Bischoff and Diebenkorn throughout their
careers. Bischoff, though one of the most influential and innovative members, began and ended his career as an abstract
painter — this is perhaps why his figures are so captivating.
Included in the exhibition is one of Bischoff ’s colorful and fluidly painted watercolors. The untitled portrait is comprised of
solid lines and dense areas of color, a deceivingly simple piece
that reveals the brushstrokes of a masterful hand. Echoes of
Bischoff ’s figure are seen in Joan Brown’s Self Portrait (see
above left). Brown uses panels of color to delineate her figure
from the background. Minimal marks are used to portray in-
formation as to gender or characteristics; rather,
it is the bold composition saturated with red and
ochre that creates a sense of power and meaning.
Known for his monochromatic style, Nathan Oliveira depicts a seated woman subsumed
by rich hues of burgundy, blue, and green. This
portrait, titled simply, Seated Woman Fur-coat
(see opposite page, bottom left) is of his mother,
who he honors in this painting. One is left to
imagine she is sitting on a bench awaiting the
arrival of something or someone. She is centered in the composition with legs crossed. Her
vertical leg — the one that should be resting on
the ground — is lost in the darkness of the background. Her bare knee protrudes forward, and
finds itself bathed by the only light in this introspective portrait.
In Nude and Indian Rug, Paul Wonner skillfully defines the figure and her vast environment
using minimal detail: just a few dark strokes
across the pale canvas. Art historian Caroline
Jones commented on his quietly captivating
painting: “The narrative richness, psychological
nuances, and sheer ambiguity of Wonner’s figurative works were
unmatched by any of the first generation of BAF artists, with the
possible exception of Elmer Bischoff ” (C. A. Jones, BAF pg.93).
Wonner rose to prominence as an Abstract Expressionist and ended his career as a hyperrealist. This painting and others like it seem
to capture the better of the two extremes.
A major subject amongst Bay Area painters is, of course,
the figure, and it is therefore a prevalent theme in Continuum.
However, from the beginning the style encompassed landscapes,
domestic scenes, and still lifes. Best known are Diebenkorn’s Interiors which pay homage to Matisse’s studio paintings. Theophilus
Brown’s Untitled #4 mixed-media collage serves as an intriguing
example of non-figuration. For Brown, Wonner, and others, even
when painting the figure, it is often treated as an image or a feature
of a landscape rather than the centerpiece.
Fresh perspective on these themes has come from the more
recent generations of BAF artists, best represented here by the
works of Kim Froshin and Mitchell Johnson (see right). Froshin
creates an architectural feel to the canvas by building up the paint
rather than blending. Froshin’s piece titled Picnic Window is a
playful combination of nostalgia, pop culture, and BAF tradition.
Also creating in a collage-like fashion, Johnson adds flat geometric
shapes over his existing paintings. Torrenieri, painted by Johnson
in 2011, and Picnic Window by Froshin are brilliant examples
of BAF today: the use of strong color and abstract elements that
bring naturalism to life.
The title “Legacy in Continuum” suggests that the Bay Area
Figurative movement is not only for art historians. Contemporary
artists working in the Bay Area are as diverse as Siddharth Parasnis
from India, Waldemar Mitrowski from Poland, and Eduardo Alvarado from Spain. These artists differ in style, though they draw
from the same original visual vocabulary. Their work provides the
exhibition with a contemporary perspective across cultures and
generations. Other outstanding artists included are: Suhas BhuACA
jbal, John Goodman, Dennis Hare, and Brook Temple.
Mitchell Johnson, Torrenieri, 2011, oil on linen, 22 x 28” Courtesy of Private Collection; Kim Froshin, Picnic Window, 2011, collage, playing card, wire mesh, acrylic,
ink, pencils, archival board, 18 x 15” Courtesy: Paul Thibaud Gallery, San Francisco CA
Bay Area Figurative artists are widely collected and shown
at institutions such as: Museum of Modern Art, Tate Gallery,
Guggenheim Museum, and the Smithsonian American Art
Museum. “Legacy in Continuum: Bay Area Figuration” is an
engaging view into an art movement from its courageous beginnings through today. It shows at the Bakersfield Museum
of Art from March 22nd to May 27th, 2012.
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