Re-collections: San Diego Art since 1980 — A Survey
by Kevin Freitas and David Fobes
If San Diego’s beginnings can be traced back to Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and the 16th century, can we as easily trace its art history? It would seem like a daunting task for anyone. It is likely though; that this has already been accomplished and archived for the remotely curious to peruse. One such example exists to my knowledge; it is the history of the San Diego Art Guild. Founded in 1915 by a group of artists, it has over the decades, evolved into the San Diego Visual Artists Guild. While the Guild takes a specific view of itself and history, Re-collections: Art in San Diego since 1980 is then, a modest attempt to categorize that history into a broader re-collection of the past 30 years of San Diego’s contemporary art world and artists. Grammatically speaking of course, it is the subject of our interest and a noun — person, place, or thing — brought together in an informal yet personal biography of those individuals who have participated in, contributed to, and shaped San Diego’s rich artistic life. Why is this important?
The short answer is that I’m simply unfamiliar with the city’s cultural history. Over the last five years, I’ve met quite a number of artists and art activists who have relayed this history back to me in bits and pieces. They all speak of a “Golden Era” during the 1980’s when San Diego was a much more dominant figure in the cultural scene than it appears to be today. My specific interest in contemporary art, its artists, and its practices, has given me the desire to document this particular moment in time. Parallel stories encompassing many diverse voices can help shape a broader and stronger artistic community.
The long answer is David Fobes. David is an accomplished artist, furniture designer, and currently a lecturer at the School of Art, Design and Art History at SDSU and has been for the last 15 years. He has also been witness to San Diego’s past artistic heritage since the early 1980’s not only as a musician and visual artist, but as a shaper of its destiny through a variety of gallery design projects and the building and design of the now defunct JAVA coffee house with collector and arts advocate Doug Simay. David is a key element and piece to the puzzle we would both like to put back together. In a recent conversation, I expressed my interest in having him help me to accomplish this task. I’m grateful he has accepted.
photo: Lynn Murphy
Survey
But there’s another reason for establishing this history. You often hear people refer to San Diego as a transient city. A place to go to school and the beach but not for establishing roots; you can’t really call it a brain drain but it seems people have a tendency to move on after their University studies. Does or has the art community now or in the past, suffered this same drain? For the moment it is hearsay, it is a well known fact that many career artists including Robert Irwin, John Baldessari , Eleanor Antin, the late Allan Kaprow and Manny Farber, have made their reputations elsewhere, but have chosen to live and work in San Diego.
However, like most art communities San Diego seems to be at a crossroads, trying to define itself as either individual entities working within the same conglomerate or as a group of artists with a common goal or style. Is there a San Diego style or movement of art, probably not? But as the city of San Diego grows and the art world never sleeps, it could mean that the city’s cultural identity is never more important than right now and if not clearly established, could be left behind. Defining one’s character is never easy, it can be made easier I believe, if you know where you’ve started from. It is from this premise; beyond it being a wonderful story to tell and a very important one that David and I ask you to be part of enabling all of us to learn something about ourselves, as well as a means to moving forward.
We ask then and strongly encourage you to send us any images or written texts about past San Diego art events that you may want to share. These might include announcements, photos from openings, band shots, anything that would help visually document the Arts History in San Diego. We also kindly ask that you fill out the survey here and send the link on to someone else you might know. As the documents and images are accumulated, they will be published online successively in a series of chapters, this will allow others to add to or compliment that subject’s particular moment in San Diego’s visual arts history. If we receive the responses we are anticipating, a subsequent publishing of the survey results, texts, and documents could be envisioned. Won’t you please help us keep San Diego’s cultural history alive and available to everyone?
Sincerely,
Kevin Freitas
David Fobes
Re-collections: Art in San Diego since 1980