The San Jose Museum of Art Fully Explores Humour in Art

Written by Carol Houseman Thursday, 02 February 2012 20:40

San Jose, California.- The San Jose Museum of Art is proud to present "Renegeade Humour", on view at the museum from February 3rd through July 8th. The exhibition explore artists’ amusing and tradition-defying use of humor and begins with a look at the bawdy irreverence, parody, and puns that are hallmarks of the work spawned at the University of California, Davis, in the 1960s and 1970s. It continues with works by artists of later generations who enlist humor to make a point and ends with new works by Kathy Aoki and Imen Yeh, who satirize election-year politics in projects commissioned by SJMA. Renegade Humor comprises 45 works drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection, including paintings, works on paper, monumental sculptures, and ceramics. Visitors will encounter traditional and untraditional media: a millipede-like couch, a pinball machine, a ceramic plate embedded with taxidermy eyes, and “paper” dolls of Barack Obama and Newt Gingrich.

Davis School artists represented include Robert Arneson, Roy de Forest, David Gilhooly, Peter VandenBerge, William T. Wiley, and others whose flippant attitudes reflected the shifting values of the time. Their humor often belied deeper social messages. In addition, Renegade Humor includes works by: John Bankston, Ray Beldner, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Robert Colescott, Robbie Conal, Brian Goggin, Llyn Foulkes, Viola Frey, Jane Hammond, Evri Kwong, Lynn Hersman Leeson, Marilyn Levine, Bruce Nauman, Dennis Oppenheim, Nathan Redwood, Walter Robinson, Richard Shaw, and M. Louise Stanley.  “This exhibition gives visitors the opportunity to laugh out loud, and at the same time make meaningful connections to the hot topics examined through the lens of humor,” said Susan Krane, Oshman Executive Director. “With sometimes rowdy, always transgressive humor, the artists in this exhibition raise important social and societal issues. 'Renegade Humor' looks at this play of politics and humor, from the 1960's to today.


SJMA has commissioned new works inspired by the notion of "Renegade Humor" from artists Aoki and Yeh. In this presidential election year, both artists will create interactive works that comment on the political process. For "Renegade Humor," Aoki designed a series of three-foot-tall “paper” dolls (actually constructed of steel) representing Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Aoki will make a set of rugged paper clothes and accessories for each doll, including a windmill costume for Obama and a “mama grizzly” suit for Palin. Visitors will be able to dress the dolls in the galleries; the costumes are interchangeable among the four figures in any combination. Yeh has imagined a fictional political candidate, taking as inspiration a real design challenge for a campaign identity that would appeal to both Latino and Asian voters. She developed a logo for “Juan Ton” through whom she skewers cultural stereotypes and marketing clichés. Her installation will include an array of propaganda with Juan Ton’s logo, such as t-shirts, posters, and buttons. Yeh has also designed a hands-on activity for visitors, who will create their own Juan Ton campaign buttons. The fictional candidate will also have a social media “campaign.” Visitors are encouraged to post their photos, wearing the buttons outside the Museum, to Juan Ton’s Facebook page.

In "Desire for the Other" (2004), a thirty-foot long, millipede-shaped red couch stuffed with household objects, Brian Goggin comments on people’s insatiable desire for things. Walter Robinson’s larger-than-life, hot pink, and melting polar bears ("Melt," 2008) point to the realities of global warming. William Wiley also comments on climate change with his "Punball Machine" (2008). In this working vintage pinball machine, Wiley depicts Eskimos and femmes fatales in the North Pole perched on icecaps with walruses and polar bears. Wiley, Arneson, and de Forest were influential instructors at UC Davis in the 1960s, when they and their students challenged the traditions of ceramics and craft. Among their students were VandenBerge, Shaw, and Gilhooly. In "Couple Watching Saturday Night Movie" (1969), VandenBerge depicts two snuggling ceramic carrots. In "Little French Girl" (1996), Shaw reinterprets Constantin Brancusi’s famous sculpture of the same name using porcelain hot dogs and other eccentricities.


The San Jose Museum of Art (SJMA) is a distinguished museum of modern and contemporary art and a lively center of arts activity in Silicon Valley. The leading institution in the area dedicated to the art of our time, SJMA is committed to providing access for its extraordinarily diverse populations and to pioneering new approaches to interpretation. Established in 1969, SJMA presents art ranging from modern masterpieces to recent works by young, emerging artists. The Museum’s permanent collection—1,400 varied artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries—has a special focus on West Coast art, seen in an national and international context. SJMA is accredited by the American Association of Museums, a recognition given to just 750 of the nation’s 8,000 museums. SJMA serves 100,000 people a year, including 37,000 school children: SJMA is the largest provider of arts education in Santa Clara County. Initiatives such as the award-winning school program Let’s Look at Art Program and SJMA’s participatory activity stations in the galleries further distinguish the Museum as an innovator in museum education. The SJMA's collection contains approximately 2,000 20th and 21st century artworks including paintings, sculpture, installation, new media, photography, drawings, prints, and artist books. The collection continues to evolve as a set of works reflecting important movements in recent art history, the accomplishments of emerging West Coast artists, acquisitions from their special exhibitions, and other significant works. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.sjmusart.org/

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