Lawrence Jordan: Box Assemblages and Collages offers a unique examination of the Beat filmmaker's allied practices through archived materials and his new, previously unseen Celestial Fantasy Series. The constructions and collages in this exhibition open onto galaxies of unusual beauty, appearing fresh and familiar at the same time, bearing the influence of Joseph Cornell and Jordan’s peers in the San Francisco Renaissance. Here, clipped illustrations of animals, figures, and objects link up across fantastical vistas. In recent works, birds and butterflies float over an armillary sphere, and a sea serpent swallows a sadiron. Jordan plunges viewers into the hollows of imagination, guides us toward strange teeming regions, and allows us to glimpse a cavernous space or panorama.
Lawrence Jordan (b. 1934, Denver, CO) is an American avant-garde filmmaker and master of the cutout and collage animation techniques. His first foray into the genre happened while he was a student at Harvard University, motivated by the European surrealist films he saw there. In 1953, Jordan left Cambridge for Denver, where he and collaborator Stan Brakhage carried on experimentation with the medium. Their inexorable search for an audience ultimately brought them to the San Francisco Bay Area, connecting them with like-minded artists, including Jess Collins, Bruce Conner, and Michael McClure. In 1955, during a temporary stay in New York, Jordan met Joseph Cornell, who would become most influential in shaping his career. Cornell's filmic investigations and constructions of found objects inspired Jordan's enthusiasm and prompted a decade-long apprenticeship.
In 1970, Jordan was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to assist the creation of his animated film The Sacred Art of Tibet (1972). In 1976, his documentary Triptych in Four Parts (1958) and dramatic film The Apparition (1976) were presented in the Whitney Museum of American Art's New American Filmmakers Series. Other films have been screened at the Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals (1974 and 2004, respectively), and broadcast on Sundance Channel (1999). Showcases include "Meubles et Immeubles" (1993) at the Centre Pompidou, "Daydream Believer!!" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, and, most recently, "Metamorphosis" (2014) at the National Gallery of Art.
Lawrence Jordan is the Fall 2014 Maegene Nelson Visiting Scholar in Cross-Disciplinary Arts. Lawrence Jordan: Box Assemblages and Collages is curated by Jason Derouin, a student in the Fine Arts Doctoral Program specializing in Critical Studies and Artistic Practice.
The gallery will be open from 1–5 pm on Saturdays through October 25. Admission is free and parking is readily available.
Exhibitions at the Satellite Gallery are supported by the Ryla T. & John F. Lott Endowment for Excellence in the Visual Arts, the School of Art, and Landmark Arts whose exhibitions and visiting speaker programs at the School of Art are supported by generous grants from the Helen Jones Foundation and The CH Foundation, both of Lubbock. Additional support comes from Cultural Activities Fees administered through the College of Visual & Performing Arts.
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