Bank of America Sponsors Survey of Jasper Johns’s 60-Year Career at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Oct 10, 2012
Bank of America is the lead corporate sponsor of the new exhibition, Jasper Johns: Seeing with the Mind’s Eye, a 60-year career survey of the important American painter whose iconic works of the 1950s—featuring targets, numbers and the flags—led American art beyond Abstract Expressionism, then the dominant movement in modern art. The exhibition, at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), runs from November 3, 2012 through February 3, 2013.
This major show, the first museum overview of Johns’s work in San Francisco in 35 years, brings together some 90 paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints from SFMOMA, other local public and private collections and the artist himself, who is 82. The wide-ranging exhibition surveys the full scope of his achievements and reflects particular interest in his art in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Johns first visited San Francisco in 1964 to attend performances of works by his friend the composer John Cage, and in 1972, a major Johns painting, Land’s End, was given to the museum by local collectors. Over the next 40 years, a strong relationship developed between Johns and museums and collectors in the Bay Area. In 1978, SFMOMA hosted a large midcareer survey exhibition of Johns’s work and in 1999 organized an exhibition of new paintings and work on paper, which traveled nationally. The current exhibition was organized by SFMOMA curator Gary Garrels, in close cooperation with the artist. Says Garrels, “Johns has always been a prime instigator of change, and it makes sense that his art would strike a chord with collectors and museums over the past few decades in the Bay Area with its legacy of innovation.”
SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra said, “Bank of America’s sponsorship of the Jasper Johns exhibition will bring even greater recognition to the work of this artist. It’s an impressive collection of his work, and the bank’s support serves our mission of making the work widely accessible to the community.”
“As a long-standing supporter of the arts, we at the bank are delighted that audiences will be able to view many of Johns’s best works right here in San Francisco,” said Martin Richards, Market President, Bank of America in San Francisco. “This exhibition is a reflection of Bank of America’s commitment to supporting the arts. We support dozens of arts and cultural organizations in the Bay Area in the belief that a healthy arts sector helps economies and societies thrive.”
Bank of America also supports the museum’s school, youth and family programs, including KidstART, which provides free admission to children under the age of twelve, and Art Express, an outreach program that provides all Bay Area schoolchildren, educators and families with learning opportunities.
SFMOMA was founded in 1935 and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted to modern and contemporary art. From the outset, the museum has championed innovative and challenging art, and continues to exhibit and collect work by both modern masters and younger, less-established artists. Today, the museum engages diverse audiences from the Bay Area and beyond by providing innovative exhibitions, museum tours, school education programs, publications, and art-related activities.
Jasper Johns: Seeing with the Mind’s Eye is organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. “Premier corporate support is generously provided by Bank of America”.
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