Arthur Secunda
Arthur Secunda in his welding studio, Glendale, California
Photographer: Susan Rubinstein
Born Arturo Secunda in New Jersey in 1927, Arthur Secunda has maintained a broad and constant association with the arts in America for over 60 years. He studied at New York University prior to serving as a staff artist to the United States Air Force in World War II and, following the war, studied at the Art Students League. Secunda’s oeuvre includes prints, paintings and sculpture and he has worked as a curator, a teacher and an arts critic. He was the founding editor of the journal Artforum in 1963 and came to work at Gemini Ltd on several print editions in 1965.
The looters, Peace brother and Negro owned are good examples of the striking collage graphics for which Secunda is renowned. The works use images taken from contemporaneous media to address issues of racial tension and war that were at the forefront of American society in the mid 1960s.
Emilie Owens
Chronology
1927 Born Jersey City, New Jersey, United States of America
1946 Conscripted for Army Air Force, serving as staff artist with Special Services
1947 Studies at New York University, New York and Art Students League, New York where he comes under the influence of Harry Stenberg, Reginald Marsh, Julian Levy and Robert Beverly Hale
1948-50 Studies at Académie Julian and Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris under Andre Lhote and Ossip Zadkine; further studies at Istituto Meschini, Rome and Esmeralda Escue, Coyoacan, Mexico with Jose Ruiz and Antonio Lazo
1952 Solo exhibition, Galerie Lucien Gout, Montpellier, France
1956 Lives in Mallorca, Spain
1958 Moves to Santa Barbara, California where he works as Curator of Education, Santa Barbara Art Museum, California. Produces and hosts radio broadcast “Arts of all times”, on KTMS Channel 3
1960 Co-founder, Gallery 8, Santa Barbara
1963 Inaugural editor of journal, Artforum
1965 Completes editions of Peace brother, Negro owned, The looters, at Gemini Ltd., Los Angeles
1966 Solo exhibition, La Jolla Art Museum, California Completes editions of Search and David Stuart Galleries, at Gemini Ltd., Los Angeles
1968 Solo exhibition, Richard Foncke Gallery, Ghent, Belgium; included in exhibitions: James Ensor Museum, Ostend, Belgium; National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
1969 Included in exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
1970 Receives Tamarind fellowship, California. Solo exhibition, Memorial Union Art Gallery, University of California, Davis; included in exhibition, Oakland Museum, California
1971 Solo exhibition, the Konstsalongen Kavaletten, Uppsala, Sweden. Receives grant from Centre Genevois de la Gravure Contemporaine, Geneva, Switzerland
1972 Receives Tamarind fellowship, Mexico
1973Included in exhibition, Alderich Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
1974 Included in exhibition, San Jose Museum, California
1978 Included in exhibition, Los Angeles County Institute of Contemporary Art, California
1979 Included in exhibition, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
1983 Included in exhibition, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California
1987 Solo exhibition, Fukui Cultural Center, Fukui, Japan
1987 Solo travelling exhibition, organised by Galerie Cramer, Geneva travelled to Nagoya, Tokyo, Fukui, Sendai and Osaka; invited as a guest artist to the Otaki Imadate-Machi paper mill
1990 Included in exhibitions, Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, Utah
1993 Solo exhibitions: Roberts Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona; Las Vegas Art Museum, Nevada
2001 Included in exhibition, the Greengate Gallery, Amsterdam, Holland
2003 Solo exhibitions: at McMasters University, Hamilton, Canada; Robert Roman Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona; Pfriem Gallery, Lacoste, France.
2022 Arthur Secunda died in Los Angeles, California
Kate Buckingham, 2007
This chronology provides an overview of selected biographical information, major solo and group exhibitions held within the artist's own lifetime.
Further Reading
NATIONAL GALLERY PUBLICATIONS
- Workshop: The Kenneth Tyler Collection, Jane Kinsman (ed.), 2015
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