Re-Seeing the Permanent Collection: The Long 1968

Exhibition Website

Jan 17 2018 - Jul 29 2018

This year marks the 50th anniversary of 1968, a notable twelve months of worldwide political upheaval and burgeoning social movements. Through six distinct gallery installations and a number of rarely seen objects from the permanent collection, Sheldon explores the politics of activism, cultural experimentation, and artistic production of the late 1960s.

The permanent collection galleries feature:

  • Rock posters that promoted shows at the two major venues in San Francisco between 1966 and 1968;
  • Photography by Josef Sudek, known as "the poet of Prague" for the lyrical qualities of his images;
  • Works selected by guest curator Bridget R. Cooks to present visions of life at the crossroads of the modern Civil Rights Movement;
  • A unified portfolio, with contributions from sixteen visual artists and eighteen poets, published as Artists and Writers Protest Against the War in Viet Nam;
  • Paintings, sculpture, drawings, and prints by artists who exhibited together as the Hairy Who, Nonplussed Some, and False Image and are now grouped under the name: Chicago Imagists; 
  • Works by artists included in the 1968 Venice Biennale's United States Pavilion, organized by Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery (today Sheldon Museum of Art) and its founding director, Norman Geske.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

  • Various Media
  • American
  • 20th Century
  • Political / Satire / Documentary
  • Various artists

Exhibition Venues & Dates