CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts California College of the Arts 1111 Eighth Street CA 94107 San Francisco États-Unis
Selections from the Life and Work of Michael Bravo
Harrell Fletcher, himself a renowned artist, is the author of this unique, biographical exhibition featuring artworks by Michael Bravo, his mentor, family member, and friend. The presentation includes not only paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, and sculptures produced by Bravo over the past 50 years, but also a wide range of personal objects that Bravo created for Fletcher’s family, including wooden ships, airplanes, and mobiles. It will also feature family snapshots and other ephemera from Bravo’s life and career. The exhibition is part of The Magnificent Seven, a Wattis Institute program in which seven contemporary artists are integrated into the larger artistic and academic life of California College of the Arts.
Bravo married Fletcher’s older sister when Fletcher was a baby. Fletcher grew up wanting to be just like him; Bravo was an artist, a builder, a musician, and a generally unorthodox person completely different from everyone else in the Fletcher family. Bravo’s artwork made a particularly early and deep impression; Fletcher recalls being confused and intrigued by Bravo’s abstract, strange, and varied pieces. Fletcher was 10 years old when Bravo and his sister divorced, and he didn’t see his mentor again until he was 18 and enrolled at Humboldt State University, where Bravo was an instructor. After Fletcher graduated the two saw each other only occasionally over the next decade, but their lives continued to coincide in interesting ways. Fletcher attended graduate school at CCA, where Bravo had obtained his BFA and MFA degrees. Bravo’s life and artwork continue to serve as guideposts for Fletcher.
About The Magnificent Seven
September 2009 marked the launch of The Magnificent Seven at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts. The seven participating international artists are Abraham Cruzvillegas, Harrell Fletcher, Ryan Gander, Renata Lucas, Kris Martin, Paulina Olowska, and Tino Sehgal. Over a three-year period they are being integrated into every aspect of the institution’s structure and activities. Each one presents a solo exhibition, completes a Capp Street Project artist residency, produces a publication, teaches a number of courses as a CCA faculty member, delivers a public lecture, and participates in other aspects of the Wattis’s programming. The Magnificent Seven is curated by Jens Hoffmann, director of the CCA Wattis Institute.