| Ralph Goings, American (1928 - )
Born: May 9, 1928; Corning,
CA
The history of realism in art is as old as
the history of art. Throughout the development of art the issue
of realism has reappeared countless times. The tradition of
realism in western art allows for a very broad interpretation
of realism itself. An investigation of realism in modern western
art ranges from Vermeer to Ralph Goings and todays minimalist-realist
art which concentrates on the verifiable physical properties
of its objects. Ralph Goings work may be taken for what it is;
totally noninterpretative matter-of-fact transpositions ot 35mm
color slides "untouched by trope or deviation." The photograph
intercedes between the subject and the act of describing it
and serves to cancel "content" and emotional response.
Ralph Goings paints pick-up trucks, franchised
hamburger stands and California banks with the late model trucks
gleaming arrogantly in the California sun. Next season they
will be new only in the painting, in twenty years they will
be perfect antique pickup trucks and their sentimental value
will heighten. Hence the process of nostalgia. Goings proves
again and again that the place or object, no maffer how cold
and stark, when vividly proclaimed within a short seasonal change,
begets a larger meaning. It's a democratic triumph: all things
become equal in both their power and vacuity.
As a photo realist Goings neither glorifies
or censures; but his objective rendering does often reveal the
visual beauty and fascination of the pictorial subject. A hamburger
stand may be one of the more typical symbols of our urban sprawl
and convenience culture but, as Goings' paintings show, it may
also be visually engaging precisely because of its synthetic
qualities and the variety of texture, light play and reflections
they afford. And it is this reflectiveness in our environment
that offers us an incredibly fascinating and diverse array of
visual entertainment. Goings and his fellow photo realists present
us with visual truths: the object's presence is enough justification
to make it a work of art.
ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS:
- 1960
- Artists Cooperative Gallery, Sacramento, California
- 1962
- Artists Cooperative Gallery, Sacramento, California
- 1968
- Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, California
- 1970
- O.K. Harris Gallery, New York, N.Y
- 1973
- O.K. Harris Gallery, New York, N.Y
- 1977
- O.K. Harris Gallery, New York, N.Y
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
- 1961
- 80th Annual Exhibition of the San Francisco Institute,
San Francisco Museum of Art, California
- 1963
- Kingsley Annual, Sacramento, California
- 1964
- Sacramento State College, California
- 1965
- Kingsley Annual, Sacramento, California
- Crocker Art Association Invitational, Love Arena Show,
Dwan Gallery, Los Angeles, California
- 1969
- Kingsley Annual, Sacramento, California
- Nevada University, Reno, Nevada
- Directions 2: Aspects of a New Realism, Akron Art Institute
- Art Center, Wisconsin
- Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas
- O.K. Harris Gallery, New York, New York
- 1970
- Cool Realists, Jack Glenn Gallery, Corona Del Mar, California
- The Highway, Institute for Contemporary Art, University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.
- Institute for the Arts, Rice University, Houston, Texas
- The Akron Art Institute, Akron, Ohio
- Directly Seen: New Realism in California, Newport Harbor
Art Museum, Balboa, California
- 1971
- New Realism, State University Museum, Potsdam, New York
- USA West Coast, Kunstverein, Hamburgi Hannover/Koln/Stuttgart,
Germany
- Directions 3: Eight Artists, Milwaukee Art Center, Wisc.
- 1972
- Sharp-Focus Realism, Sidney Janis Gallery, New York,
N.Y
- Phases of the New Realism, Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables,
Florida
- Documenta, Kassel, Germany
- Hyperrealistes Americains, Galerie des 4 Mouvements,
Paris
- The Realist Revival, New York Cultural Center, New York
- 1973
- Amerikanischer Fotorealismus, Traveling Exhibition,
Wurttembergischer Kunstverein, Frankfurt Kunstverein,
Kunst-und Museumsverein Wuppertal, Germany
- Realism Now, Katonah Gallery, Katonah, New York
- Grands Maitres Hyperrealistes Americains, Galerie des
4 Mouvements, Paris, France
- The Super-Realist Vision, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln,
Mass.
- Separate Realities, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery,
Barnsdall, California
- Hyperrealistes Americains, Galerie Arditti, Paris, France
- Options 73/30, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati,
Ohio
- Hyperrealisme, Galerie Isy Brachot, Brussels, Belgium
- Amerikariske Realister, Randers Kunstmuseum, Sweden
- 1974
- Hyperrealistes Americains/Realistes Europeens, Centre
National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France
- New/Photo Realism, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Conn.
- Tokyo Biennale '74, Tokyo, Japan
- Our Land, Our Sky, Our Water, Infernational Exposition,
Spokane, Washington
- Contemporary Paintings from the Lewis Collection, Delaware
Art Museum, Wilmington, Delaware
- Selections in Contemporary Realism, Akron Art Institute,
Akron, Ohio
- California Climate, Root Art Center, Hamilton College,
Clinton, New York
- 1975
- O.K. Harris Gallery, New York, New York
- A Change of View, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary
Art, Ridgefield, Conn.
- Super Realism, Baltimore Museum. Baltimore, Maryland
- Photo-Realism, Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita
State University, Wichita, Kansas
- Reed College, Portland, Oregon
- Layfayette Natural History Museum and Planetarium, Lafayette,
Louisiana
- Signs of Life: Symbols in the City, Renwick Gallery,
Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.
- Fine Arts Center Gallery State University of New York,
Oneonta, New York
- 1976
- VI International Print Biennale, Krakow, Poland
- Urban Aesthetics, The Oueens Museum, New York, N.Y
- Today/Tomorrow, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami,
Fla.
- 1976
- Contemporary Images in Watercolor, Akron Art Institute,
Akron, Ohio
- Photo-Realist Watercolors, Neuberger Museum, State University
of New York, Purchase, New York
- Art on Paper, The Weatherspoon Guild, Weatherspoon Art
Gallery, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
- Perspective 1976, The Freedman Art Gallery of Albright
College, Buffalo, New York
- 1977
- Art '77: A Selection of Works by Contemporary Artists
from New York Galleries, Root Art Center, Hamilton College,
Clinton, New York
- Jacksonville Art Museum, Jacksonville, Florida
- A View of a Decade, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
- John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, California
- 1977-78
- Illusion and Reality, Australian Traveling Exhibition,
Australian National Gallery, Canberra
- Western Australian Art Gallery, Perth
- Oueensland Art Gallery, Brisbane
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sidney
- Art Gallery ot South Australia, Adelaide
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
- 1978
- Representation of America, The Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York, New York
Artist's Gallery
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