新澳门六合彩内幕信息

Museum Celebrates Professor Mike Henderson and His Art 鈥楤efore the Fire鈥

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Mike Henderson artwork, "The Cradle"
On view beginning Sunday is 鈥淏efore the Fire, 1965-1985鈥: Mike Henderson, 鈥淭he Cradle,鈥 1977, oil on canvas, 71 inches by 120 inches. Fine Arts Collection, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art. Gift courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery. Copyright Mike Henderson. Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery. (Robert Divers Herrick photo)

Quick Summary

  • Painter, filmmaker taught at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis for 43 years
  • Noted contributor to history of radical Black politics
  • Exhibition includes works thought lost, now restored

The Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art鈥檚 Winter Season Opening will be this Sunday (Jan. 29), free and open to the public, and featuring the debut of Professor Emeritus Mike Henderson鈥檚 first solo U.S. museum exhibition in 20 years.

AT A GLANCE

  • WHAT: Winter Season Opening celebration
  • WHERE: Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
  • WHEN: 2:30-5:30 p.m. Sunday (Jan. 29)

鈥淢ike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985鈥 will be on display through June 25. Catalog available. See box below for exhibition-related programming.

鈥淢ike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985鈥 brings to light the pioneering artist鈥檚 rarely seen contributions to the history of contemporary painting and filmmaking, radical Black politics, and to the story of California art. 

The opening festivities will include a conversation between the artist and Chancellor Gary S. May, starting at 3:30 p.m.

Henderson started exploring the role and responsibility of an artist early in his practice. His 鈥減rotest paintings鈥 鈥 which he began while studying at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1965 鈥 confront the anti-Black violence of the civil rights era. One of these figurative works, Non-Violence, 1967 (included in 鈥淢ike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985鈥) was shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City, in 1969, and in 鈥淪oul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power鈥 at the de Young Museum, San Francisco, in 2019.

Non-Violence and other large-scale works bridge the gap between the past and present, challenging and resonating with contemporary audiences as America continues to grapple with systemic racism and social justice issues.

i
Mike Henderson, 鈥淟ove it or Leave it, I Will Love it if You Leave it,鈥 1976. mixed
media, 69 inches by 108 inches. Copyright Mike Henderson. Courtesy of the artist and Haines
Gallery. (Robert Divers Herrick photo)

The fire

Mike Henderson environmental, 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis faculty
The artist in studio. (Robert Divers Herrick photo)

Henderson鈥檚 subsequent works offer new ideas about Black life and utopian visions in a unique visual language that merges abstraction, Afro-futurism and surrealism. In 1985, a fire in his studio damaged much of Henderson鈥檚 work from the previous two decades and partially obliterated these vital ideas about a time of tumult and change in California and the world.

After his studio catastrophe Henderson never returned to this subject matter again. Many pieces that were thought lost have been recovered and restored by the Manetti Shrem Museum and anchor this new exhibition. A slideshow of destroyed artworks is included in the exhibition to illuminate dozens of paintings that were not able to be restored.

Sunday鈥檚 winter season celebration, 2:30-5 p.m., will mark the museum鈥檚 reopening after a closure for installation. Regular hours starting Monday (Jan. 30) are: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday, and 10 a.m-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. See box below for other winter-spring exhibitions.

Henderson and 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis

Henderson joined the groundbreaking 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis art faculty in 1970, teaching alongside Wayne Thiebaud, Robert Arneson, Roy De Forest, Manuel Neri and William T. Wiley. He taught for 43 years and had a profound effect on students.

Mike Henderson artwork, "Self-Portrait"
Mike Henderson, 鈥淪elf Portrait,鈥 1966, acrylic on canvas, 45 inches by 29 inches. Collection of John and Gina Wasson. Copyright Mike Henderson. Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery.

Last October, he received the Margrit Mondavi Arts Medallion in recognition of his many contributions over decades of teaching at 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis. Now comes this exhibition.

鈥淲e are thrilled to give Mike Henderson鈥檚 work the showcase and scholarly attention it so richly deserves,鈥 said Rachel Teagle, the museum鈥檚 founding director. 鈥溾楳ike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985 offers visitors an integrated vision of Henderson鈥檚 politically striking contributions to both painting and filmmaking at a critical phase of his career. With this exhibition, the museum fulfills one of its highest purposes: to recuperate the art of a major California artist who is central to 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis鈥 legacy.鈥

Sampada Aranke, Ph.D. 鈥13, co-curator with Dan Nadel, added: 鈥淗enderson鈥檚 visions of identity, race and art history help us understand his place in American painting and filmmaking in the late 20th century while asserting his relevance to the vanguard of contemporary art as well as our own historical present.鈥

MORE AT THE ART MUSEUM

鈥淢ike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985鈥-related programs:

  • A conversation among art historians and curators Bridget Cooks (新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Irvine) and Nana Adusei-Poku (新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Berkeley). Moderated by Stacey Shelnut-Hendrick, deputy director of public engagement and learning, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia. (Feb. 9)
  • Death鈥檚 Futurity: The Visual Life of Black Power 鈥 Book launch and signing with the author, Sampada Aranke, co-curator of 鈥淢ike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985,鈥 in conversation with Essence Harden, visual arts curator at the California African American Museum, Los Angeles. (April 20)
  • for further details and additional related programming.

Other exhibitions (both opened last fall and will be on display through May 8):

 

This story is adapted from a news release by Laura Compton, communication specialist, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art.

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Media Resources

Dateline Staff: Dave Jones, editor, 530-752-6556, dateline@ucdavis.edu; Cody Kitaura, News and Media Relations specialist, 530-752-1932, kitaura@ucdavis.edu.

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