Manuel Neri
Encyclopedia
Manuel Neri is an American sculptor, painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, and printmaker and a notable member of the "second generation" of the Bay Area Figurative Movement.

Biography

Neri was born in Sanger, California
Sanger, California
Sanger is a city in Fresno County, California, United States. The population was 24,270 at the 2010 census, up from 18,731 at the 2000 census. Sanger is located east-southeast of Fresno, at an elevation of 371 feet .- Geography :...

, to immigrant parents who had fled Mexico during political unrest following the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...

. He began attending college at San Francisco City College in 1950, initially studying to be an electrical engineer. After taking a class in ceramics
Ceramic art
In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...

, he was inspired to become an artist. He continued his education at California College of Arts and Crafts and at California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...

). Neri studied under Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn was a well-known 20th century American painter. His early work is associated with Abstract expressionism and the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. His later work were instrumental to his achievement of worldwide acclaim.-Biography:Richard Clifford Diebenkorn Jr...

 and Elmer Bischoff
Elmer Bischoff
Elmer Nelson Bischoff was a visual artist in the San Francisco Bay Area.Bischoff, along with Richard Diebenkorn and David Park, was part of the post-World War II generation of artists who started as abstract painters and found their way back to figurative art.-Biography:Elmer Bischoff, second...

, taking up abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...

 under their influence, but later turning toward figurative art
Figurative art
Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork—particularly paintings and sculptures—which are clearly derived from real object sources, and are therefore by definition representational.-Definition:...

 along with them.

In the late 1950s, he was a member of the artist-run cooperative gallery, the Six Gallery
Six Gallery reading
The Six Gallery reading was a poetry-reading which occurred at the Six Gallery on Friday, October 7, 1955, at 3119 Fillmore Street in San Francisco....

, along with Joan Brown
Joan Brown
Joan Brown was an American figurative painter who lived and worked in Northern California. She was a notable member of the "second generation" of the Bay Area Figurative Movement....

, Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner was an American artist renowned for his work in assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography, among other disciplines.-Early life:...

, and Jay DeFeo
Jay DeFeo
Jay DeFeo was a visual artist associated with the Beat generation who worked c.1950-1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area....

. In 1959, Neri became an original member of Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner was an American artist renowned for his work in assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography, among other disciplines.-Early life:...

's Rat Bastard Protective Association
Rat Bastard Protective Association
The Rat Bastard Protective Association was an informal group of Beat and Funk artists who worked and exhibited together in San Francisco, California from the late 1950s to the mid 1960s. The association was founded by and the group's name was coined by Bruce Conner in 1959...

.

Neri taught sculpture and ceramics at California School of Fine Arts from 1959–1965 and was on the faculty of the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...

 from 1965-1999.

In 2006, Neri was a recipient of the International Sculpture Center
International Sculpture Center
The International Sculpture Center is a 5013 nonprofit organization founded in 1960. It is located on the old New Jersey Fairground in Hamilton, New Jersey...

's Lifetime Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award.

Works

Although Neri's work includes many paintings, drawings, and prints, his primary medium is sculpture, typically using plaster, but sometimes marble or bronze. He is noted for his life-size sculptures, which though clearly figurative in nature, are abstracted figures rather than realist representations. His sculptures often emphasize surface texture, and the surfaces of his sculptures are often, sanded, chipped, or painted to emphasize textures. http://www.fresnoartmuseum.org/ex0605_neri.php His approach to sculpture is often described as "painterly," and his approach to drawing and painting is correspondingly described as "sculptural".

Work in collections

The following are among the public art collections holding works by Manuel Neri: Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...

 (Washington, D. C.), the Denver Art Museum
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is an art museum in Denver, Colorado located in Denver's Civic Center.It is known for its collection of American Indian art,and has a comprehensive collection numbering more than 68,000 works from across the world....

, the El Paso Museum of Art
El Paso Museum of Art
Founded in 1959, The El Paso Museum of Art is located in downtown El Paso, Texas. First accredited in 1972, it is the only accredited art museum within a 250 mile radius and serves approximately 100,000 visitors per year. A new building was completed in 1998...

 (El Paso, Texas), Grounds for Sculpture
Grounds for Sculpture
Grounds For Sculpture is a sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, on the former site of the New Jersey State Fairgrounds...

 (Hamilton, New Jersey), the Honolulu Academy of Arts
Honolulu Academy of Arts
The Honolulu Academy of Arts is an art museum in Honolulu in the state of Hawaii. Since its founding in 1922 by Anna Rice Cooke and opening April 8, 1927, its collections have grown to over 40,000 works of art.-Description:...

, Laumier Sculpture Park and Museum (St. Louis, Missouri), the Neuberger Museum of Art (State University of New York, Purchase, New York), the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art (Utah State University, Logan, Utah), the Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Museum of California or Oakland Museum is a museum dedicated to the art, history, and natural science of California located in Oakland, California....

 (Oakland, California), the Palm Springs Desert Museum (Palm Springs, California), the San Diego Museum of Art
San Diego Museum of Art
The San Diego Museum of Art is a fine arts museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California that houses a broad collection with particular strength in Spanish art. The San Diego Museum of Art opened as The Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego on February 28, 1926, and changed its name to the San...

 (San Diego, California), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...

 and the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...

 (New York City).Portland Art Museum (Portland, Oregon)

Personal life

Neri was married to Bay Area Figurative painter Joan Brown
Joan Brown
Joan Brown was an American figurative painter who lived and worked in Northern California. She was a notable member of the "second generation" of the Bay Area Figurative Movement....

 from 1962–1966. (Their relationship and artistic collaboration date back several years prior to this, however.) Three of his children, Noel Neri, Ruby Neri, and Julia Leonard are also artists. Ruby Neri is noted for her graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....

 work (under the name "Reminisce
Reminisce (artist)
Reminisce is a sculptor, painter, and former street artist from San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, known for her evocative portrayal of horses.- Biography :...

") and as part of the first generation of Mission School
Mission School
The Mission School is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District of San Francisco, California.-History and characteristics:...

 artists.http://people.tribe.net/amor/blog/f5fa6066-48a2-4914-abeb-a77e60843266 http://people.tribe.net/amor/blog/6eca1dd4-ac79-4566-a4ed-824d2e7d195f Neri currently resides in an old church converted to residential living in Benicia, California
Benicia, California
Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San...

.

Books

  • Cowart, Jack (editor). 1996. Manuel Neri: Early Works, 1953–1978. Washington, DC: The Corcoran Gallery of Art. ISBN 0886750466 (hardcover), ISBN 0886750474 (paperback)
  • Cowart, Jack, and Amerson, Price. 1994. Manuel Neri: A Sculptor’s Drawings. Washington, DC: The Corcoran Gallery of Art. ISBN 0886750415
  • Nixon, Bruce. 2005. Manuel Neri: The Collaborative Process. Manchester, VT: Hudson Hills Press. ISBN 1555952593
  • Marika Herskovic, Abstract and Figurative Expressionism: Style is Timely Art is Timeless (New York School Press, 2009.) ISBN 9780967799421. p. 180-183

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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