An ambitious art exhibition entitled “Some Assembly Required - Assemblage & Collage” presented by Jack Rutberg Fine Arts in Los Angeles is extended thru May 31.

“Some Assembly Required - Assemblage & Collage” will feature some of the most widely acknowledged contemporary and modern artists associated with the ascent of collage and assemblage. Assemblage and collage have been prevalent since the mid-twentieth century in virtually all aspects of contemporary art, ranging from painting to installation - from the figurative/narrative to the most ephemeral conceptual art.

Included in this exhibition of more than 50 works are artists most identified with these disciplines, including Joseph Cornell, Man Ray, Louise Nevelson, Romare Bearden, Hannelore Baron, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella and others. 

California artists are particularly evident in their commitment to assemblage and collage, especially since the 1950s and 60s with the emergence of those artists associated with the Beat Generation.  Among those in the exhibition are such pioneering artists of assemblage as Gordon Wagner, whose early beach-combing finds and other found objects were combined in a manner that wed abstract expressionism with Wagner’s interest in surrealism; Wallace Berman, often cited as the leading influence of the Beat Generation artists; Bruce Conner; and George Herms, the most significant living artist associated with the Beats.  Other California artists included in the exhibition are Hans Burkhardt, Llyn Foulkes, Ed Kienholz, and Betye Saar, who early on were particularly responsive to provocative social or political issues, as well as Terry Allen, Larry Bell, Tony Berlant, Claire Falkenstein, Michael C. McMillen, Ed Moses, Alexis Smith and others.

Among notable works in the exhibition are rare examples in the medium by Mark Tobey; an important early assemblage/painting by Ed Kienholz; a provocative construction entitled “Predator”, by Claire Falkenstein exhibited at the Whitney Museum in 1964; “Lang Vei” a 1968 painting by Hans Burkhardt employing actual human skulls, which art historians have cited as among the most important modern paintings on the subject of war; Irish contemporary painter Patrick Graham’s celebrated monumental constructed paintings; and evocative works by Jordi Alcaraz, whose recent critically acclaimed U.S. debut exhibition opened new dimensions in contemporary assemblage and collage.

“Some Assembly Required - Assemblage & Collage” is extended through May 31, 2011. Jack Rutberg Fine Arts is located at 357 N. La Brea Avenue. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., and Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.  For additional information on the exhibition, telephone (323) 938-5222 or email jrutberg@jackrutbergfinearts.com