Surveying the Concept of ‘Land Art’

In his first West Coast museum show, British conceptual artist Richard Long today is scheduled to unveil the fruits of his just completed, 10-day residency at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art.

The artist, who began his residency Aug. 10, was still immersed in his work at press time, but museum director Hugh M. Davies told The Times what viewers could expect from the exhibit, which will be on display through Oct. 15.

“It will be a well-rounded show that could include as many as six works,” Davies said, outlining the artist’s plans to create two mud wall drawings, one or two stone floor sculptures, and one or two documentations of his walks--including his markings indicating the wind’s direction at various times--in the San Diego area.

The artist selected all his materials from the area during his stay, Davies said, adding that the 10-day residency did not leave time for the artist to take 100-mile walks, during which he is known for creating small sculptures, photographing them, and then leaving the works to return to the earth over time.

More than a decade ago, Long was the first artist to do “land art,” and his gallery and museum installations are composed of simple, natural materials such as stones, sticks, driftwood or mud, which are gathered from local environs and then laid out in lines, circles or flat planes.

“There’s a real directness and immediacy to his work,” said Davies, who organized the exhibition and Long’s residency. “His art is very much engaged with nature and he assembles the materials in a sort of natural state. (The materials) are arranged in a geometric form as a recollection of what’s occurred (in nature).”

AVA WINNERS: Also opening today at the La Jolla museum is the sole California showing of “Awards in the Visual Arts 8,” which includes 50 paintings, sculptures and photographs by 10 new American artists.

The artists selected for the 1989 AVA tour include two Californians: San Francisco’s Paul Kos, who does installations; and Culver City’s Jo Ann Callis, a photographer. Other AVA winners are Ann McCoy, drawing and sculpture, New York; Erik Levine, sculpture, New York; David Hammons, sculpture, New York; Patrick T. Dougherty, sculpture, North Carolina; Ron Fondaw, sculpture, Florida; Ed Fraga, painting, Michigan; Charles Wilson, sculpture, Illinois; and James Drake, drawing and sculpture, Texas.

As part of hosting the exhibition, the La Jolla museum will receive a $10,000 grant to purchase work by the artists. Director Davies said the museum had already committed to one of Hammons’ works, “a very evocative piece” of wall sculpture entitled “Champ,” and will select others at a later date.

The AVA program, which also awards $15,000 to each of the selected artists, is administered by the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, N.C.--the same institution that has been targeted by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) in his bid to ban public funding for “offensive” or “indecent” artworks.

GRANTS: Twelve California museums have been awarded a total of $140,000 to purchase contemporary American art. The grants, awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, are designed to help the museums enlarge their permanent collections of works such as sculpture, drawings, photography, ceramics, glasswork, and video and mixed media work.

Those California museums receiving the grants are La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art and Newport Harbor Art Museum, $20,000 each; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, $15,000; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, $12,500; Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego), University Art Museum (Cal State Long Beach), University Art Museum (UC Berkeley), Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, and Oakland Museum, $10,000 each; Laguna Art Museum, $7,500, and Monterey Peninsula Museum of Art, $5,000.

The grants must be matched by each museum with money raised specifically for the intended purchases.

FAREWELL: The Ankrum Gallery, which has operated on La Cienega Boulevard for 30 years, will close Dec. 30, after a final show (opens Nov. 21) by painter Morris Broderson. Gallery owner Joan Ankrum said she plans to sell the gallery at 657 N. La Cienega Blvd., and purchase something smaller, where, “I will be less visible, but no less enthusiastic and busy in behalf of Morris and the other artists I’m going to represent.”