Michael Kohn Gallery is pleased to present photographs, collages and a film installation by
esteemed San Francisco based artist Bruce Conner. Conner emerged in the late 1950s among the
Bay Area’s beat generation and quickly came to prominence for his quasi-erotic sculptures,
assemblages, and found footage film installations. He later garnered critical acclaim for his punk
photographs, wood engraving collages and inkblot drawings.
For PUNKS and DEAD ASHES, Conner pays homage to dead punk stars in a rendition of
collages made of plywood, glue, ragboard, tacks, posters and photocopies of punk photographs
taken in the late 1970s. The rare, sculptural collages, which are eulogies and odes to punk stars
such as Ricky Williams, Frankie Fix, Johnny Strike and De Detroit, bare a striking resemblance
to Conner’s assemblage pieces from the early 1960s. Also on view are photographs taken from
Mabuhay Gardens, a performance venue that hosted many San Francisco punk bands such as the
Avengers, Roz of Negative Trend, The Situations, UXA, Toni Basil and Devo among others.
In the second gallery is the digitally restored version of THREE-SCREEN-RAY, now titled EVERAY-
FOREVER. This was originally shown at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University in
1965 in 8mm silent film. Conner has digitally transferred the film to DVD, and is being presented
as a continuous loop. The film mixes found footage from early 20th century sources containing a
striptease, educational film clips, animated cartoons, and silent movies.
Conner is included in the permanent collections at the Museum of Modern Art, New York;
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Musée Nationale de l’art Moderne, Centre
Pompidou, Paris; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Los Angeles County Museum of
Art. Conner’s films have been preserved in the Library of Congress along with numerous other
film archives. Bruce Conner lives and works in San Francisco.
For further inquires, images and press materials please contact Lizvet Corral at
liz@kohngallery.com.