Sheldon Museum of Art Main Content

Exhibition

Re-Seeing the Permanent Collection: The Long 1968

January 17, 2018 through July 29, 2018
  • William N. Copley, Untitled (from Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Viet Nam).
  • Untitled (Hexagonal Composition) by Alvin Loving
    Alvin Loving, Untitled (Hexagonal Composition).
  • Jaxon, "Flip Flop," The Fugs, The Ace of Cups, Allmen Joy, April 12–14, Avalon Ballroom.
  • Roger Brown, Oral Roberts' Vision of a Two Mile High Jesus.
  • Ad Reinhardt, Untitled (from Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Viet Nam).
  • Josef Sudek, View From My Window.
  • Byron Burford, Homage to Clyde.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of 1968, a notable twelve months of worldwide political upheaval and burgeoning social movements. Through six distinct gallery installations and a number of rarely seen objects from the permanent collection, Sheldon explores the politics of activism, cultural experimentation, and artistic production of the late 1960s.

The permanent collection galleries feature:

  • Rock posters that promoted shows at the two major venues in San Francisco between 1966 and 1968;
  • Photography by Josef Sudek, known as "the poet of Prague" for the lyrical qualities of his images;
  • Works selected by guest curator Bridget R. Cooks to present visions of life at the crossroads of the modern Civil Rights Movement;
  • A unified portfolio, with contributions from sixteen visual artists and eighteen poets, published as Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Viet Nam;
  • Paintings, sculpture, drawings, and prints by artists who exhibited together as the Hairy Who, Nonplussed Some, and False Image and are now grouped under the name Chicago Imagists; 
  • Works by artists included in the 1968 Venice Biennale's United States Pavilion, organized by Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery (today Sheldon Museum of Art) and its founding director, Norman Geske.