Acquires monumental Nancy Rubins Sculpture
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO
MCASD LA JOLLA, 700 Prospect Street, La Jolla: Weekdays 11am to 5pm; Thursdays until 7pm; Weekends 11am to 5pm. Closed Wednesdays.
MCASD DOWNTOWN, 1001 Kettner Blvd., downtown San Diego: Every day (except Wednesday) 11am to 5pm. Closed Wednesdays.
24-HOUR MUSEUM INFORMATION:
858 454 3541
www.mcasd.org
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO ACQUIRES MONUMENTAL NANCY RUBINS SCULPTURE
Commission continues Museums tradition of site-specific installations for the permanent collection
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego commissioned Los Angles-based sculptor Nancy Rubins to create a permanent, large-scale work on the west side of the MCASD La Jolla facility, which was completed on January 17, 2006. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Pleasure Point is an accumulation of rowboats, canoes, jet skies, and surfboards. Attached to the roof of the museum and cantilevered above the oceanview terrace, Rubins gravity-defying sculpture is held together under tension through welds and wire.
On February 8, 2006, MCASDs International Collectors and Contemporary Collectors groups selected Pleasure Point as the acquisition that they would fund for 2006, the highest dollar value single purchase made in the history of these two Museum donor groups. Since 1985, the Collectors have contributed over $2,500,000 in funds to purchase works for the collection, making them the most consistent and important source of acquisition funds at MCASD. (In addition to acquiring the Rubins sculpture, the Collectors acquired Russell Crottys Cluster in Perseus and Uta Barths Untitled triptych of photographs thanks to special gifts from individual donors in the group.)
Manipulating materials in space, Nancy Rubins transforms civilizations detritus into magical formal concoctions. She has worked with discarded materials such as water heaters, mattresses, and airplane parts since the mid-1970s. Even though her work demonstrates the excesses of consumer culture, she is more interested in the energy created in the compositional structure of her pieces. Rubins takes full advantage of the colors and shapes of the materials she uses to create sculptures that often act as large, elaborate drawings. That aspect of her work is especially evident in Pleasure Point, her most recent work and first sculpture using boats.
Nancy Rubins Pleasure Point continues MCASDs decades-long history of commissioning site-specific installations, for temporary exhibitions and for the Museums permanent collection. Many of the earlier works have been documented in the MCASD publication Blurring the Boundaries, 1969-1996, and the practice is ongoing, including major commissions that will take place in 2006-07 for the expanded campus at MCASD Downtownwith commissioned works by Richard Serra, Jenny Holzer, Roman de Salvo, Richard Wright, Ernesto Neto, among others.
Nancy Rubins, who earned an MFA in art from UC Davis in 1976, has been building monumental works for over 25 years. She has created works across the United States and Europe, including pieces at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Venice Biennale and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. In 1994, MCASD commissioned Rubins to build the temporary sculpture Airplane Parts and Building, A Large Growth for San Diego in the Museums downtown building. Consisting of salvaged airplane parts, the work extended through the windows of the gallery into the adjacent plaza outside.
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MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SAN DIEGO
The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, founded in 1941, is a member-supported, private nonprofit organization dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and interpretation of contemporary art. MCASD, accredited by the American Association of Museums, is one museum with two distinct and complementary locations: in La Jolla and downtown San Diego. All programs and activities are made possible by MCASD members and generous contributions from individuals, companies, foundations, and government agencies.
MUSEUM LOCATIONS AND HOURS, YEAR-AROUND:
MCASD LA JOLLA, 700 Prospect Street, La Jolla: Weekdays 11am to 5pm; Thursdays until 7pm; Weekends 11am to 5pm. Closed Wednesdays.
MCASD DOWNTOWN, 1001 Kettner Blvd., downtown San Diego: Every day (except Wednesday) 11am to 5pm. Closed Wednesdays.
ADMISSION: MCASD LA JOLLA: Admission discount for students/seniors/military; MCASD DOWNTOWN: free. MCASD LA JOLLA is free to children under 12. Admission is free the third Tuesday of each month.
24-HOUR MUSEUM INFORMATION: 858 454 3541; www.mcasd.org
