Lynda Benglis, Robert Mapplethorpe and Ken Price in On the Edge: Los Angeles Art
24 March—2 September 2024
Group exhibition at Laguna Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Joan and Jack Quinn represent a crucial moment in art history, as Los Angeles came to symbolize an innovative and prolific brand of creative freedom. On the Edge: Los Angeles Art from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection, explores the experimental approaches to minimalism and new materials from the 1960s to 2000s, the diversification of practices and makers, and the vital role the Quinns played in both documenting and contributing to the story of Los Angeles art. Revealed is a period of artmaking that is pivotal to understanding current practices and the west coast mentality, and collectively exudes a unique spirit of anti-conformity and the “California Cool” ethos.
This exhibition brings together an outstanding collection of artworks that define the history of contemporary art in Los Angeles as it came to symbolize an innovative and prolific brand of creative freedom found nowhere else in the world.The exhibition highlights the family’s collection, primarily amassed from the 1960s to 2000s. Works in the exhibition will explore what have become today’s mainstream themes in art movements and highlight how the Quinn family has formed friendships, supported and promoted major artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Larry Bell, Lynda Benglis, Vija Celmins, Billy Al Bengston, Kenneth Price, Frank Gehry, David Hockney, Carol Caroompas, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ed Moses, Astrid Preston, Ed Ruscha and many more.
The exhibition is divided into three sections: artworks made for or that depict the Quinn family that share the personal relationship between artists and family; exceptional examples of artwork acquired by the Quinn family; and a third section of portraits of Joan. Andy Warhol first encouraged Joan Quinn to have her portrait created, a tradition she has continued which forms a large portion of the collection.