Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara update for May 14 — OPENING THURSDAY | James Benning: Quilts, Cigarettes & Dirt (Portraits of America)

Join us Thursday, May 16, 2019 from 6 – 9 pm for a reception celebrating the opening of
new MCASB exhibition, James Benning: Quilts, Cigarettes & Dirt (Portraits of America). Plus, enjoy tunes by DJ Val-Mar Records, interactive art activities, and drinks on the terrace.

Want to know about exclusive events and perks related to the exhibition?

MCASB Members receive special benefits. Learn more about what membership can provide by contacting development@mcasantabarbara.org.

James Benning: Quilts, Cigarettes & Dirt (Portraits of America) marks the U.S. West Coast museum debut of artist and independent American filmmaker James Benning. For more than 40 years exploring the film medium, Benning has engaged with history, memory, and documentary traditions, often encompassing a rigorous treatment of the American landscape. Benning’s exhibition at MCASB presents some of the filmmaker’s most recent works, including the films Twenty Cigarettes, and READERS, put in dialogue with a selection of photographs and objects from his Portraits series.James Benning (b.1942, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) lives and works in Val Verde, California, USA. Benning is a major figure of American cinema. In the late 1960s, he directed his first short films in the experimental-cinema tradition, retaining its formal rigor and taste for conceptual constraints while pioneering the notion of “figurative narrative.” His films rest on an experience of time and perception and its relationship to space. They also approach the notion of place from autobiographical, cultural, political, and historical viewpoints. In 2014, his film, 13 Lakes, was added to the National Film Registry. Benning has been teaching at the California Institute of the Arts since 1987.

James Benning: Quilts, Cigarettes & Dirt (Portraits of America) is curated by Abaseh Mirvali, Executive Director & Chief Curator.