OSKAR FISCHINGER

A Centennial Tribute

and

ED RUSCHA

A Graphic View


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OSKAR FISCHINGER: A CENTENNIAL TRIBUTE
PAINTINGS & DRAWINGS
SEPTEMBER 22 - NOVEMBER 4, 2000
In conjunction with the release of "THE FILMS OF OSKAR FISCHINGER Volume II" (VHS VIDEOCASSETTE)

Shown Concurrently with:
ED RUSCHA: A GRAPHIC VIEW
SEPTEMBER 22 - NOVEMBER 4, 2000

ADDRESS: Jack Rutberg Fine Arts 357 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036-2517
CONTACT: Jack Rutberg
Tel, (323) 938-5222; Fax: (323) 938-0577
E-mail, jrutberg@jackrutbergfinearts.com

An exhibition of paintings and drawings by the pioneering modernist artist, Oskar Fischinger (b.1900 Gelnhausen, Germany - d.1967 Los Angeles), will be presented at the Jack Rutberg Fine Arts gallery in Los Angeles, beginning September 22, extending through November 4. "Oskar Fischinger: A Centennial Tribute," celebrates the one hundreth anniversary of Fischinger's birthday and is one of numerous collaborative international events paying tribute to this important pioneer of abstract art and film. The American launch of the "Fischinger Centennial Tribute" originated July 6-9 in New York at The Museum of Modern Art, with a program of film screenings organized by the iotaCenter, in conjuction with The Fischinger Archive and The Film Archive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. That program tour includes the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on July 28 & 29, the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, and the Harvard Film Archives, before its presentation at the National Gallery in Washington D.C. on October 28 and 29.

The exhibition at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts will include select paintings and drawings from the 1930s, when Fischinger revolutionized film making through his abstract animations. Many of these films were influential to artists at the Bauhaus in Germany, where Moholy Nagy illustrated his lectures with Fischingerís films (artists such as Kandinsky and Feininger also felt a strong affinity for Fischingerís images). Included in the Rutberg Fine Arts show will be works following his arrival in Los Angeles in 1936, through his paintings of the 1960s, demonstrating how Fischingerís work prefigured and influenced much of Los Angeles contemporary hard-edge abstract painting.

By 1935, Oskar Fischinger was widely known throughout Europe and America for his innovative films, winning prizes at important international film symposiums. During this time, however, Fischinger endured difficulties as his works were increasingly regarded as inappropriate by Nazi Germany due to their abstract content. They were ultimately declared "Degenerate" by the Nazis. In 1936, Fischinger was clandestinely brought to America by Paramount Studios in Hollywood where he resided until his death in 1967. Working for Paramount, MGM and Orson Welles' Mercury Studios for only a brief time, Fischinger proved too avant-garde to fit neatly into Hollywood's studio system. This was again borne out when Fischinger, as an animator for Disney's "Fantasia," resigned from the project due to artistic differences, although his influence is evident in the film's final version.

Fischinger's paintings and films reflect his interest in spirituality; particularly in Eastern mysticism. His earliest drawings and paintings in Germany were exclusively created as sequential components in his films in order to evoke various attitudes and states of consciousness.

While having a lifelong dedication to film making, Fischinger ultimately distilled his explorations through single paintings by utilizing overlays of abstract lines, color and form.

Oskar Fischinger's influence on the development of abstract avant garde films is immeasurable. The genius of his films and paintings was recognized by many of the great luminaries of the 20th century in the worlds of art and film; among them Orson Welles, Wassily Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, Leopold Stokowski and John Cage. Exploring the effects of sight, visual sound and motion as a spiritual pursuit consistent with his interest in Theosophy and Buddhism, Fischinger represents one of the earliest painters of non-objective abstraction in Los Angeles - philosophically foreshadowing the works of John McLaughlin, who pursued similar interests by way of a highly reductive form of abstraction.

Recently, Fischinger's paintings have come to broader international acknowledgment. In America, increasing numbers of museum exhibitions in recent years have featured Fischinger's works. In addition to numerous West Coast museum exhibitions, Fischinger's works have figured significantly in exhibitions such as the 1992-1993 museum tour of "Kandinsky & The American Avant-Garde," which opened at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. Fischinger's films have been the subject of recent symposiums in major American museums such as the Museum of Modern Art, as well as important cultural institutions in England, France, Germany, Japan, Australia and South America. Fischinger's painting and films will be included in the Los Angeles County Museum's major survey of California art and culture: "Made in California," later this fall.

Having produced the landmark American video release "The Films of Oskar Fischinger Vol. I," Jack Rutberg Fine Arts will offer during this exhibition of paintings and drawings the newly-released companion video: "The Films of Oskar Fischinger Volume II," produced by the iotaCenter.

"Oskar Fischinger: A Centennial Tribute" extends through November 4 at the Jack Rutberg Fine Arts Gallery located at 357 N. La Brea Ave. in Los Angeles. Concurrently the gallery will show Ed Ruscha: A Graphic View. Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m, and Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For further information phone (323) 938-5222.

The works of major contemporary artist Edward Ruscha will be presented at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts in Los Angeles in an exhibition entitled "Ed Ruscha: A Graphic View." Opening on September 22, this exhibition comes to Los Angeles following its run at the National University of Ireland, as this year's featured visual arts presentation of the Galway Arts Festival. The exhibition was curated for the Galway Arts Festival by Jack Rutberg.

Since 1959, original prints have been a formidable part Ruscha's body of work. Primarily working in lithography, Ruscha has worked in all printmaking media, creating images that comment on the urban vernacular landscape, incorporating letter relationships and wordplay overlaid onto familiar scenes, such as found in his famous "Standard Station" or "Hollywood Sign" prints. Ultimately, Ruschaís wordplay frequently overtakes his urban scenes as he created works depicting a charged phrase, or just one descriptive word .

Edward Ruscha was born in Omaha in 1937 and was raised in Oklahoma City. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1959, and soon developed imagery merging the ideas behind Surrealism, Pop Art, and Conceptual Art.

Ed Ruscha: A Graphic View will feature works spanning 30 years. The exhibition will be shown at Jack Rutberg Fine Arts concurrently with Oskar Fischinger: A Centennial Tribute, an exhibition of paintings and drawings by the pioneering abstract painter and legendary master of abstract animated film. Both exhibitions are particularly timely. Fischingerís work is the subject of major symposia and exhibitions at such formidable institutions as the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and National Gallery. Ed Ruscha is currently the subject of a major retrospective exhbition at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. and concurrently, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Jack Rutberg Fine Arts is located at 357 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles. Both exhibitions will open with an evening reception on Friday, September 22. Gallery Hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 till 6:00, and Saturday 10:00 till 5:00. Phone: (323) 938-5222

PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Images also available via email


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