Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach: 12-15-99 5:14 PM, from the Golden Gate series, 2000; chromogenic color print; 40 x 50 in.; gift of the artist, courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery.

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is proud to announce the extraordinary gift of four photographs from the Golden Gate series by Richard Misrach, shown in the recent BAM exhibition Richard Misrach: Berkeley Work. Donated by the artist, these stunning works examine a range of visual phenomena from a single viewpoint - the porch of Misrach's home in the Berkeley hills. From the sensual pinks and oranges of a spectacular sunset, to a sky overtaken by a snow-like cloud bank, to the soaring white streak left by an airplane set against a deep nocturnal black, the images track the passing of time and the mutability of nature while recording the distinctive beauty of the Bay Area. In addition, the museum has acquired one of Misrach's most recent works, a monumental eight-by-ten-foot image of a defunct bombing range bunker wall in Utah, from the series Desert Canto XXVII: The Bunkers (1990/2002). BAM/PFA is in the process of pursuing further acquisitions - gifts and purchases - from across the artist's career, with the aim of establishing a major, representative body of works by Misrach in the collections.

Dara Solomon
Curatorial Assistant