Fred Tomaselli: The Early Works or How I Became a Painter
Septmeber 12 – December 12, 2015
Curator: Begovich Gallery Director, Mike McGee
About the Exhibition
The exhibition featured one video, seven installations, and twelve mixed media works dating from 1984-1992. Many of these works had not been exhibited since they were originally fabricated and this marked the first time the works were exhibited together.
Tomaselli made these works prior to the paintings for which he is best known. Mostly created shortly after moving to Brooklyn, these early works were influenced by Tomaselli’s punk rock roots and interest in California Light and Space art; two movements that were never supposed to be together. One of the unifying themes in this early work is the use of low cost, nondescript commercial objects to generate perceptually modifying experiences in the viewer.
Catalog: The exhibition is accompanied by a book published by the Cal State Fullerton, University, Grand Central Press. Foreword and Essay by Mike McGee, former director of the Lee and Nicholas Begovich Gallery, with an essay by Gregory Volk, a New York-based art critic and curator.
