artist profiles

"Another" is in the vast atrium of the UC San Diego Price Center East. The large interior wall bears a massive double image of clocks which is punctuated by terrazzo-like areas that contain phrases. Two LED displays show live current news, adding another level of interest, as well as meaning, and suggesting how our lives are, to some degree, culturally inflected, constructed and contained. This combination of graphic image and moving text creates a space which functions on both a pictorial and a time-based level. The visual motif of the wall is extended to the floor by the use of terrazzo rectangles placed throughout the area, containing quotes from prominent figures in both the arts and sciences. The expansiveness of the wall and floor anchor the area with powerful images and, with the texts, create a space of visual pleasure, and relevancy. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37822]

Snake Path consists of a winding 560-foot-long, 10-foot-wide footpath in the form of a serpent, whose individual scales are hexagonal pieces of colored slate, and whose head is inlaid in the approach to UC San Diego's Geisel Library. The tail wraps around an existing concrete pathway as a snake would wrap itself around a tree limb. Along the way, the serpent's slightly crowned body circles around a small "garden of Eden" with several fruit trees including an apple, a fig and a pomegranate. These pointed allusions to the biblical conflict between innocence and knowledge mark an apt symbolic path to the University's main repository of books. The concept of finding sanctuary within oneself - outside the idealistic and protected confines of the university - speaks directly to the student on the verge of entering the real world. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37815]

For the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, William Wegman created his first major outdoor permanent sculpture: he installed a scenic - or nonscenic - overlook at one edge of the campus, near the location of the university's theater and dance complex. The site commands a view not of the Pacific Ocean, but of La Jolla's suburban sprawl. Wegman's overlook makes a simple cartoon-like connection between Southern California's still-picturesque natural scenery and its booming economic growth/development which places an ever-increasing strain on the region's environment. Wegman's La Jolla Vista View uses the language of fantasy and humor to convey a serious message. By defamiliarizing the ordinary world of suburban life - through its transformation into an exotic or scenic overlook - Wegman encourages the university community to view its surroundings with fresh and newly critical eyes. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37811]

For the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, William Wegman created his first major outdoor permanent sculpture: he installed a scenic - or nonscenic - overlook at one edge of the campus, near the location of the university's theater and dance complex. The site commands a view not of the Pacific Ocean, but of La Jolla's suburban sprawl. Wegman's overlook makes a simple cartoon-like connection between Southern California's still-picturesque natural scenery and its booming economic growth/development which places an ever-increasing strain on the region's environment. Wegman's La Jolla Vista View uses the language of fantasy and humor to convey a serious message. By defamiliarizing the ordinary world of suburban life - through its transformation into an exotic or scenic overlook - Wegman encourages the university community to view its surroundings with fresh and newly critical eyes. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37811]

A bear constructed of boulders. Eight granite stones, together they make a bear 23.5 feet high with a total weight of 180 tons. Bear pushes the bounds of credibility. Questions arise. Where did they find these rocks? How did they get them here? Are they real? How are they held together? On one hand, the sculpture is massive, permanent, thoroughly engineered. At the same time, it has a form (a toy bear) that one knows to be soft and cozy - a form that one associates with childhood, play, and security. The bear can be seen framed through the trees lining the paths that lead to the courtyard. As you get closer, you see the mass, the monumentality and the stone surfaces. It becomes immense, especially in the context of the scale of a toy. The rounded, ancient, and weathered natural granite contrasts with the high-tech, anodized, and highly manufactured surfaces of the surrounding buildings. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37821]

For the Stuart Collection, "Two Running Violet V Forms," Robert Irwin was drawn to the eucalyptus groves so characteristic of the UC San Diego campus. Irwin installed two fencelike structures in V-forms amidst the trees. The "fences" are blue-violet, plastic-coated, small gauge chain-link fencing supported by stainless steel poles that average twenty-five feet in height. At no point is the fence an obstacle; rather it acts as a screen reflecting the changes in light throughout the day and the year, the moment and the season. Its gentle introduction of industrialized geometry recalls the unnatural grid that organized the grove, and suggests a sensual intrusion into the forest. For people who walk the grove's various paths, the sculpture provides an ever-changing perceptual experience. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37805]

Nam June Paik's "Something Pacific" at UC San Diego relates specifically to its site, which includes outdoors, where the work features several ruined televisions embedded in the landscape. In striking contrast to this video graveyard, the lobby of the UCSD Media Center houses Paik's lively interactive bank of TV monitors. Viewers are able to manipulate sequences of Paik's own tapes and broadcast TV. "Something Pacific's" outdoor and indoor sections use the video medium to contrast two very different experiences of time -- one involving extended contemplation and the other instantaneous reaction. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37808]

Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) is best known for her oversized figures that embrace contradictory qualities such as good and evil, modern and primitive, sacred and profane, play and terror. De Saint Phalle's "Sun God" was the first work commissioned by the Stuart Collection and was her first outdoor commission in America. Sun God has become a landmark on the UC San Diego campus, with the annual springtime Sun God Festival as the largest event sponsored by the UCSD Associated Students. The grassy area beneath it is a popular site for rendezvous and celebrations, and there have been countless spontaneous responses which embrace the Sun God as a campus character. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37804]

For the Stuart Collection at the UC San Diego, Adams created a musical composition with and within the signature landscape of the campus: the eucalyptus grove. There are no pre-recorded elements, everything that occurs in "The Wind Garden" is driven by the wind and the light conditions on the site, in real time. This work never repeats itself. Hidden in the trees are 32 small loudspeakers and 32 accelerometers that measure the movements of the trees in the wind. As the velocity of the wind changes so does the amplitude of the sound. The musical foundation of The Wind Garden is two “choirs” of virtual voices – a “day choir” tuned to the natural harmonic series, and a “night choir” tuned to the sub-harmonic series. The rising and falling of these choirs traces the contours of the sun’s movement above, below and around the horizon over the course of the year. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37824]

Richard Fleischner's "La Jolla Project" is located on the Revelle College lawn at UC San Diego. Seventy-one blocks of pink and gray granite are arranged in configurations that refer to architectural vocabulary: posts, lintels, columns, arches, windows, doorways, and thresholds. These elements transform an ordinary, nearly flat lawn into a space with allusions ranging from an ancient ruin to a contemporary construction site. What is most important for Fleischner is to interpret and essentialize a place by using minimal means to delineate natural lines and boundaries, while establishing an interplay of horizontal and vertical elements. La Jolla Project generates a complex set of spatial and historical relationships that invigorate and give meaning to the formerly undefined area it occupies. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 37806]

Ehren Tool is the ceramics studio manager in the Department of Art Practice at UC Berkeley. In his off-time, he makes clay cups that he hopes start conversations about war. Series: "UC Berkeley News" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 36762]

Opera News has called UC San Diego Music Professor Anthony Davis A National Treasure, for his pioneering work in opera. His six operas include works centered on recent historical figures & events, including Malcolm X and Patty Hearst. Davis' latest opera The Central Park Five, an exploration of the wrongful conviction of five teenagers of color in NYC in the 1980s, premiered at Long Beach Opera in 2019 to international acclaim. In this conversation with UC San Diego Music Professor Emeritus Cecil Lytle, Davis explains the genesis of The Central Park Five, and the challenges that ensue when art collides with current events. Series: "Contemporary Composers (1900-Present)" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 35078]

In 1960 a young American art student named Patricia Patterson first traveled to Inishmore, largest of the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. The windswept landscape and its ancient culture made a deep and lasting impression, as did the relationships she developed during many visits and prolonged stays in the years since. Patterson has continued to draw on her vivid memories of Aran as inspiration for paintings and sketches. Series: "Portrait of the Artist" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 34756]

Renowned composer John Luther Adams discusses “The Wind Garden,” his soundscape installation for the Stuart Collection at UC San Diego, with the Collection’s Mathieu Gregoire. Series: "Stuart Collection at UC San Diego" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 30732]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33265]

Luis Urrea is a prolific writer who uses his dual-culture life experiences to explore greater themes of love, loss and triumph. Born in Tijuana to a Mexican father and American mother, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 16 books. He talks with Steven Schick about his life and work, and their collaboration on a new version of Stravinsky's "L'Histoire du Soldat" with texts from Urrea's writings. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Public Affairs] [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 33265]

One of the most important composers in jazz history, Charles Mingus documented his lively impressions of Tijuana in "Tijuana Moods," a rarely performed suite. Join Grammy-winning jazz author Ashley Kahn; eminent alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, a longstanding member of Charles Mingus' band; Anthony Davis, UC San Diego professor of music and noted composer, pianist and improviser; and Steven Schick, UC San Diego professor of music, percussionist, and conductor, for an exploration of the legacy of African-American composer Charles Mingus and his historic Tijuana Moods album. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 32750]

One of the most important composers in jazz history, Charles Mingus documented his lively impressions of Tijuana in "Tijuana Moods," a rarely performed suite. Join Grammy-winning jazz author Ashley Kahn; eminent alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, a longstanding member of Charles Mingus' band; Anthony Davis, UC San Diego professor of music and noted composer, pianist and improviser; and Steven Schick, UC San Diego professor of music, percussionist, and conductor, for an exploration of the legacy of African-American composer Charles Mingus and his historic Tijuana Moods album. Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 32750]

For more than a half century, John Lithgow has been delighting audiences on stage, in movies and on television. In a lively discussion with Peter Gourevitch, distinguished Professor Emeritus of Political Science at UC San Diego, Lithgow reflects on his preparations for the wide diversity of roles that have shaped his career and influenced the larger culture, from his star turn in “The World According to Garp” to his SAG-award-winning role as Winston Churchill in the Netflix original series “The Crown.” Series: "Helen Edison Lecture Series" [Humanities] [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 32265]

The two Verdi operas presented during San Diego Opera's 2016/17 season, La Traviata and Falstaff, represent the composer at two distinct stages in his life and career. Nicolas Reveles examines the evolution of Verdi's style over the forty years that separated the premieres of these masterpieces, from midlife to old age. Singers Cherylyn Larsen, soprano, and Bernardo Bermudez, baritone, join Dr. Nic to perform excerpts from the two operas. Series: "San Diego OperaTalk! with Nic Reveles" [Arts and Music] [Show ID: 30717]