Constance_Lewallen

Constance Lewallen

Constance Lewallen

American curator of art

Constance Lewallen (1939–2022) was an American curator.[1][2] She was curator at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.[2] She was known for her support of Conceptual art and West Coast artists.[2][3]

Life and career

Lewallen was born in New York.[2] She attended Fieldston School followed by an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College.[4] She received a master's from San Diego State University in 1970.[2]

Lewallen's first worked at Bykert Gallery in New York, where she met Michael Snow and Vito Acconci.[3] After moving to Los Angeles, Lewallen worked for Cirrus Editions and Broxton Gallery (with Larry Gagosian).[5] Lewawllen then founded ThomasLewallen Gallery and Foundation for Art Research, a non-profit.[4] Lewallen moved to the Bay Area in 1980.[2] She worked for the Berkeley Art Museum from 1980 until 2007; first as Matrix curator (1980–88), then as Senior Curator (1998–2007).[6][3] Lewallen also worked as associate director of Crown Point Press, a fine-art printer and publisher, in the 1980s and 90s.[4] She was a contributing editor to the Brooklyn Rail.[4]

Lewallen was married to poet Bill Berkson.[7]

Curatorial work

Lewallen was known for her work around the California Conceptual art movement of the 1970s.[2] Her exhibitions helped to assert that Conceptual art had roots beyond New York City.[3] "State of Mind New California Art circa 1970", curated with Karen Moss in 2011, was a seminal contribution to the history of West Coast conceptualism.[3][8] In 1980, Lewallen wrote a chronology for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art about the development of conceptual art in the 1970s.[3]

In addition to her work on conceptualism, Lewallen was known for her solo shows of single artists, including Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, Bruce Nauman, Joe Brainerd, Jay DeFeo, and Paul Kos.[2][3]

References

  1. [1]
    Whiting, Sam (2022-05-27). "Connie Lewallen, Bay Area curator and champion of conceptual art, dies at 82". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  2. [2]
    "Constance Lewallen (1939–2022)". www.artforum.com. 28 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  3. [3]
    Greenberger, Alex (2022-04-27). "Constance Lewallen, Curator Who Boosted Conceptual Art in California's Bay Area, Dies". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  4. [4]
    "In Memoriam: Constance Lewallen | | Squarecylinder.com – Art Reviews | Art Museums | Art Gallery Listings Northern California". www.squarecylinder.com. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  5. [5]
    "CONSTANCE LEWALLEN Obituary (2022) - New York, NY - New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  6. [6]
    "Constance Lewallen – 500 Capp Street". Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  7. [7]
    McMurtrie, John (2016-07-01). "Bill Berkson, San Francisco poet, art critic and teacher, dies". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
  8. [8]
    Wright, Andy (2012-03-02). "Back to the '70s, When a Traffic Jam Could Be Art". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-29.
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