Bruce Conner facts for kids

Bruce Conner (born November 18, 1933 – died July 7, 2008) was an American artist. He was known for working in many different art forms. These included assemblage (art made from found objects), film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography.

Bruce Conner's Life Story

Bruce Conner was born on November 18, 1933, in McPherson, Kansas. When he was four, his family moved to Wichita. He went to high school there. Bruce studied at Wichita University and later at the University of Nebraska. He earned a degree in fine arts in 1956. Even from a young age, Conner explored many different types of art.

Early Art Adventures (1950s-1960s)

In 1955, Bruce studied art in New York City. His first art show in New York was in 1956, featuring his paintings. In 1957, he moved to San Francisco. His first shows there, in 1958 and 1959, displayed a wide range of his work. This included paintings, drawings, prints, collages, and sculptures.

Conner became well-known for his unique "assemblages." These were artworks made from everyday objects he found. He used things like old stockings, bicycle wheels, broken dolls, and jewelry. He often combined these with painted surfaces. These artworks showed his ideas about modern America. They sometimes suggested how society affects people or commented on consumerism. Bruce Conner often used his art to share his thoughts on society.

A Movie (1958)

Conner also started making short films in the late 1950s. His first and most famous film was A Movie (1958). Instead of shooting new scenes, Conner used old newsreels and other films. He cleverly edited these clips together. He added music by Ottorino Respighi. The result was a thought-provoking 12-minute film. It explored what it's like to watch a movie and think about life. In 1994, A Movie was chosen to be saved by the National Film Registry. Bruce Conner made almost two dozen more experimental films after this.

In 1959, Conner explored ideas about artistic identity. For one show, the gallery sent out announcements that looked like death notices. They read "Works by the Late Bruce Conner." This was a playful way to make people think about who an artist is.

One of Conner's sculptures, called Child, caused a lot of discussion. It was a small figure made of black wax, partly wrapped in stockings. It sat in an old child's high chair. When shown in San Francisco in 1959, it made headlines. People had strong reactions to it. The sculpture was later bought by the New York Museum of Modern Art. It was carefully restored in 2015-2016 and shown again.

His exhibitions in New York City in 1960 and 1961 received good reviews. In 1961, Conner finished his second film, Cosmic Ray. This short, fast-paced film used found footage and his own shots. It was set to Ray Charles's song "What'd I Say." Many people felt the film was about war.

Middle Years of Art (1960s-2000)

Around 1962, Bruce and his wife, artist Jean Conner, moved to Mexico. They returned to the U.S. in 1963. When President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Conner filmed the TV coverage. He edited this footage with other clips to create a film called Report. This film explored ideas about violence and media.

In 1964, Conner had a unique show in San Francisco. It lasted only three days and was announced with a tiny newspaper ad. Part of this show was documented in his film Vivian. Later that year, he decided to stop making assemblages. Even though they made him famous, he wanted to try new things.

Conner was known for his playful approach to art. Once, he published a detailed, step-by-step report of how he made a peanut butter sandwich. He presented it as if it were a serious work of art. This made people think about what art truly is.

From the 1960s onward, Conner continued to create in many ways. He was part of the San Francisco counterculture scene. He helped with Liquid light shows at the Avalon Ballroom. He also made detailed black-and-white drawings using new felt-tip pens. Many of these looked like mandalas. He also made collages from old 19th-century pictures.

He made several short films in the mid-1960s. These included Ten Second Film (1965), a very fast advertisement. Breakaway (1966) featured dancer Toni Basil. The White Rose (1967) showed another artist's large sculpture being moved. Looking for Mushrooms (1967) was a colorful, fast-moving film set to music by the Beatles. In 2004, he created the film Luke from footage he shot in 1966.

In the 1970s, Conner focused on drawing and photography. He took many photos of the punk rock music scene. He also created large photograms called Angels with photographer Edmund Shea. For these, Conner posed in front of special photo paper. This created white images of his body against a dark background. He also started making complex inkblot drawings.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Conner continued to make collages and inkblot drawings. Many of these included religious images and symbols. These works showed the deep, thoughtful nature of his art. His 1981 collage, May the Heart of the Tin Woodsman be with You, is an example of his mystical and symbolic art.

In 1999, a large book about his work was published. It was called 2000 BC: The Bruce Conner Story, Part II. An exhibition with the same name traveled to several museums. It showed his films, drawings, collages, and other artworks.

Later Art Years (2000-2008)

Conner announced he was retiring around the time of the "2000 BC" exhibition. But he actually kept making art until shortly before he passed away. Much of this later work, especially his inkblot drawings, was shown under different names or as "Anonymous." He also made collages from old pictures. He used computers to turn his collages into large woven tapestries and prints. He completed other art projects too, including a large assemblage called King in 2008.

Bruce Conner's Films

Bruce Conner was a pioneer in filmmaking. His first film, A Movie (1958), showed his new way of editing. He skillfully put together shots from films he found. His later films were often fast-paced collages. However, he also made slower films, like Crossroads. This 30-minute film was a deep reflection on the atomic bomb, using old government footage.

Conner was one of the first artists to use pop music in his films. His films are now seen as early examples of what we call music videos today. Other filmmakers, like Dennis Hopper, were inspired by him. Hopper said that Conner's movies changed his ideas about editing.

Conner's films often commented on media, especially television and ads. His film Report (1967) used repeated footage of the Kennedy assassination. It combined this with radio broadcasts and images of consumer goods. This film powerfully showed Conner's feelings about how the media treated important events.

Conner worked with many musicians on his films. These included Devo (for Mongoloid), Terry Riley (for Looking for Mushrooms and Easter Morning), and Brian Eno and David Byrne (for America is Waiting). His film Breakaway (1966) featured a song and dance by Toni Basil.

Prints and Tapestries

In the last 10 years of his life, Conner also created prints and tapestries. He often used digital technology to rework older images and themes. For example, his woven tapestries were made from digital scans of small paper collages. These collages were based on old pictures from Bible stories.

Bruce Conner's Passing

Bruce Conner, who had playfully announced his own death as an art event twice, passed away on July 7, 2008. He was survived by his wife, artist Jean Sandstedt Conner, and his son, Robert.

Archives

Bruce Conner's papers are kept at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. His film Crossroads was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1995.

Bruce Conner: It's All True (2016 Art Show)

In July 2016, a big art show called It's All True opened. It showed art from Bruce Conner's entire career. The show was put together by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and New York's Museum of Modern Art. A critic from The New York Times called it an "extravaganza." She said Conner was a "polymathic nonconformist" and one of America's first truly multidisciplinary artists.

Another writer, John Yau, said Conner had an "inner eye." This meant he could see things in great detail and also understand bigger ideas. Film critic J. Hoberman focused on Conner’s films. He described Crossroads (1976) as "awe-inspiring." This film used secret government footage of the 1946 atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll.

The It's All True exhibition also opened at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in October 2016. It included even more of his works. A critic from the San Francisco Chronicle called it "the best art museum exhibition of 2016." He said it brilliantly showed the many sides of Bruce Conner. Artist Julia Couzens called it a "staggering exhibition." She said it took viewers into a world of "masquerades, dark desire, wit and spiritual transcendence."

Filmography

• A Movie (1958)
• Cosmic Ray (1961)
• Vivian (1964)
• Ten Second Film (1965)
• Easter Morning Raga (1966)
• Breakaway (1966)
• Report (1963–1967)
• The White Rose (1967)
• Looking for Mushrooms (1967)
• Permian Strata (1969)
• Marilyn Times Five (1973)
• Crossroads (1976)
• Take the 5:10 to Dreamland (1976)
• Valse Triste (1977)
• Mongoloid (1978)
• Mea Culpa (1981)
• America is Waiting (1982)
• Television Assassination (1995)
• Looking for Mushrooms (long version, 1996)
• Luke (2004)
• Eve-Ray-Forever (three screen installation) (2006)
• Three Screen Ray (three screen installation) (2006)
• His Eye is on the Sparrow (2006)
• Easter Morning (2008)

Exhibitions

• 2010: Les Rencontres d'Arles festival, France
• 2014: Crossroads & Works on Paper, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• 2014: Inherent Vice: This is Not a Bruce Conner Exhibition, di Rosa, Napa, CA
• 2015: Bruce Conner: Somebody Else's Prints [1], San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
• 2016: Bruce Conner: It's All True, The Museum of Modern Art
• 2016-17: Bruce Conner: It's All True, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• 2017: Bruce Conner: It's All True, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía
• 2021: Stations: Some Recent Acquisitions, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC
• 2022: Bruce Conner: Light of Darkness, Fundació Antoni Tàpies

Contributions

• 2008: Life on Mars, the 2008 Carnegie International

Images for kids

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  A Movie (1958)