SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA.- On April 20, 2002, the San Diego Museum of Art opens the next installment of its survey of California contemporary art, which began in spring 2001 with I-5 California: Four Decades of Contemporary Art. Featuring painting, sculpture, installation, and video art by over fifty artists in six thematic sections, the new installation titled I-5 Resurfacing: Four Decades of California Contemporary Art uses an episodic approach to movements and styles that were shaped and developed by California artists from 1960 to the present. The majority of the works in I-5 Resurfacing are new to the installation, although some works from the Los Angeles and all of the works from the film and video sections of the first installment are carried over. The installation includes selections from SDMA’s collection, as well as loans from collectors, artists, and other museums.

Since the 1960s, California’s major cities—including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego—have experienced a dramatic increase in population. However, from a global perspective, the current culture in California is relatively young, and its visual art expressions reflect the light burden of a short history. Less tied to the traditions of art history and to European culture—conditions that have had a much stronger impact on the East Coast—the West Coast has bred a more iconoclastic artist who sets out on an independent path. With relative removal from other artistic developments, California artists have had the freedom to explore new tendencies and create art in a distinctly American style. In the past few years, this apparent isolation has begun to shift, and now California artists are increasingly represented in important national and international exhibitions.

The six thematic sections of I-5 Resurfacing are organized by historical or stylistic groupings. In ’Rendering the Figure: Works on Paper and Sculpture from the Collection,’ Niki de Saint Phalle, Richard Diebenkorn, Italo Scanga, and others work in a diversity of styles depicting singular characters and personalities. The six artists in ’The Multicultural Art Scene: 1975-1992,’ including Amalia Mesa-Bains, Enrique Chagoya, and Mildred Howard, address identity politics through cultural iconography, biography, and stereotype. ’Film and Video by Independent California Artists, 1965-2000’ presents experimental and documentary media works by thirteen artists, including Eleanor Antin, Bill Viola, and Bruce and Norman Yonemoto.