Modernist Maverick: The Architecture of William L. Pereira

This exhibition surveys the architecture, urban planning, and design work of American architect William L. Pereira through images, models, drawings, and plans. The exhibition re-examines the modest spaces he created early in his career and the large-scale structures for which he is largely remembered.

The structures Pereira designed were far-flung and often large in scale, ranging from San Francisco’s iconic Transamerica Tower to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the University of California, San Diego Geisel Library to the master plan for California’s Irvine Ranch and the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX); Marineland of the Pacific to Cape Canaveral; a master plan for Doha—the capital city of Qatar—to the National Medical Center of Iran. Pereira became the first architect for the University of California system and master planned and designed many of the buildings for the University of California, Irvine.

The purpose of the project is to frame Pereira’s practice within the histories of architectural modernism and southern California in the mid-twentieth century. Because Pereira’s career parallels the arc of modern architecture and its focus on iconic form, the evolution and trajectory of his work sheds light on the closing window of the modern movement.

Photography is encouraged in this exhibition. Post and share your images with us on your favorite social sites!

Become and Museum fan on Facebook (LINK) and take part in our daily competition throughout August. Answer the question: “What am I looking at?” for the chance to win a prize. A BIG thank you to Scott Mortimore of Mortimore Creative for the images and prose!

Exhibition design by Nik Hafermaas, Uebersee (LINK)

CATALOGUE

A fully illustrated exhibition catalogue accompanies the exhibition. The book is introduced by Colin M. Robertson with essays by Curtis Fentress, Alan Hess, Thomas S. Hines, Scott Johnson, Geoff Manaugh, JoAnne S. Northrup, and Elizabeth A.T. Smith. Copies are available for $29.99 in the Museum Store. To purchase a catalogue via phone order, please contact Jackie Clay, Manager, Museum Store at 775.329.3333 ex. 106.

This exhibition is originated by the Nevada Museum of Art and curated by Colin M. Robertson, Charles N. Mathewson Curator of Education, Nevada Museum of Art.

Lead sponsors

Louise A. Tarble Foundation, E.L. Cord Foundation and Nancy and Martin Cohen

Major sponsors

Nancy and Brian Kennedy, Susan and Bill Pereira, Reno Orthopaedic Clinic and Volunteers in Art (VIA)

Supporting sponsors

Dickson Realty, Jan and David Hardie, Eleanor and Robert Preger, and RBC Wealth Management

Additional sponsors

Charlotte and Dick McConnell, MINI of Reno and the Mark E Pollack Foundation

In-kind support

The Irvine Company, LAYAR, and Fortyonetwenty

Media sponsor

KNPB Channel 5 Public Broadcasting

Toulouse-Lautrec and La Vie Moderne: Paris 1880-1910

This exhibition celebrates avant-garde artists–—including the legendary Henri Toulouse-Lautrec—who were living and working at the center of the artistic and cultural scene of Paris at the turn of the last century. Through a variety of paintings and other materials, visitors will explore the nightlife of cabaret theaters, elaborate circus performances, and intimate café concerts that helped to define Paris as an iconic modern city.

Drawn from prestigious private collections, the artworks in this exhibition were made by a generation of artists who battled against the formality of Academic art standards, rebelling against the styles of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism espoused by artists like Georges Seurat, Paul Gaugin, and Vincent Van Gogh. In addition to paintings by Henri Tolouse-Lautrec, Mary Cassat, Paul Heleu, Juan Gris, and Pierre Bonnard, special attention is given to small groups of artists –the Nauralists, the Symbolists, the Incohérents, and the Nabis—who offered new visions for life and society during this era that has been popularly coined the fin de siècle.

The exhibition includes over 185 objects, ranging from paintings, watercolors, and drawings, to rare cabaret shadow puppets, illustrated theater programs, and archive and ephemera materials from Parisian theaters, circuses, and concerts.

This exhibition is organized and circulated by Art Services International, Alexandria, Virginia.

Lead sponsor

George and Irene Drews and the Thelma B. and Thomas P. Hart Foundation

Sponsor

Goldcorp, US

Supporting sponsors

Earl and Wanda Casazza, Casazza SLV, LLC, and Catherine and John Farahi/Atlantis Casino Resort Spa

 

His Excellency Francois Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United States of America, is Honorary Patron of the exhibition.

Phyllis Shafer: I only went out for a walk…

This feature exhibition celebrates the iconic landscape paintings of Phyllis Shafer, while also carefully examining her early artistic influences shaped by her time spent in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. The title of the exhibition, “I only went out for a walk…” is inspired by a phrase written by nineteenth century naturalist and conservationist John Muir, and links to Shafer’s work as a plein air painter who frequently finds inspiration in the Sierra Nevada.

The largest presentation of her work to date, the exhibition will include nearly 100 paintings, gouaches, and drawings dating from the 1980s to present. In addition, visitors will encounter displays Shafer’s working tools such as brushes, paints, sketchbooks, notebooks and unfinished drawings.

A fully-illustrated book documenting Shafer’s work from the 1980s to the present accompanies the exhibition. Interview by Ann M. Wolfe, Senior Curator | Deputy Director, 112 pages, hard cover, $40 per copy. Copies available for purchase in the Museum Store or call 775.398.7206.

Major sponsor

The Phil and Jennifer Satre Family Fund of the Community Foundation of Western Nevada

Additional sponsors

Mimi Ellis Hogan, The Law Office of Tammy M. Riggs, P.L.L.C., Cheryl Sedestrom, and the Nevada Arts Council, a state agency and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency