2010 California Biennial

The 2010 California Biennial exhibitions are a cornerstone of OCMA’s program and highly anticipated by art enthusiasts and the art world alike. The biennial exhibition continues OCMA’s four-decade history of presenting new developments in contemporary art and identifying new talent on the verge of national and international recognition. This year’s Biennial is curated by OCMA Curator Sarah Bancroft and is on view October 24th, 2010, through March 13, 2011.

Bancroft has identified more than 40 artists and collaborative groups from throughout the state who are presenting exciting developments in contemporary art, including drawing and works on paper, film and video, large-scale installation, painting, performance and dance, photography, sculpture, and text-based work. The 2010 California Biennial will feature work by: David Adey, Agitprop, b.a.n.g. lab, Gil Blank, Nate Boyce, Luke Butler, Juan Capistran, Zoe Crosher, Brian Dick, Dru Donovan, Mari Eastman, Carlee Fernandez, Finishing School, Eve Fowler, Rebecca Goldfarb, Katy Grannan, Alexandra Grant, Sherin Guirguis, Drew Heitzler, Violet Hopkins, Alex Israel, Glenna Jennings, Barry MacGregor Johnston, Vishal Jugdeo, Stanya Kahn, Andy Kolar, Jennifer Locke, Los Angeles Urban Rangers, Tom Mueske, Tucker Nichols, Camilo Ontiveros, Nikki Pressley, Andy Ralph, Will Rogan, Paul Schiek, Taravat Talepasand, Wu Tsang, Zlatan Vukosavljevic, Nina Waisman, Flora Wiegmann, Allison Wiese, Lisa Williamson, David Wilson, Patrick Wilson, and John Zurier.

“Sarah brings a new perspective to the Biennial—both as a younger curator and a relative newcomer to California—that is eclectic and inclusive,“ states OCMA Director Dennis Szakacs.

In visiting well over 100 artists’ studios, Bancroft engaged with a wide spectrum of work—aesthetically, conceptually, and geographically—from myriad locations throughout the state. She has brought together artists from greater Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco to give viewers a fuller perspective of the work created within these regions. Bancroft is placing a greater emphasis on artists from Northern California as well as the San Diego region than in past Biennials.

“California is an inimitable and variegated environment in which to work as an artist, something this biennial captures,” states Bancroft. “The 2010 presentation champions emerging artists, celebrates a small selection of more established practitioners, and shares a unique vision of the vibrant practices and the disparate media utilized in the state today.”

Exhibition Information

The only exhibition of its kind in California, the California Biennial brings together a large cross-section of the State’s most innovative contemporary visual artists. The Biennial continues the Orange County Museum of Art’s four-decade long history of presenting new developments in California art. In 2008, the museum presented works by more than 50 artists and, for the first time, incorporated off-site projects with collaborating venues from Tijuana to Northern California.

The 2010 California Biennial promises to be similarly full of artists, energy, accomplishments, and surprises. A fully-illustrated catalogue published by the Orange County Museum of Art will accompany this exhibition.