Best-known for his vacuum-formed plastic works, whose curving surfaces extend from the wall in stunning, vibrant hues, Craig Kauffman (1932–2010) was one of the most significant figures to emerge from the fertile art scene in 1950s and 1960s Los Angeles. For nearly six decades, he created painterly and sculptural objects that continually experimented with form, color, material and space. Deeply engaged with art history and twentieth-century modernism, Kauffman’s work reflected artistic currents of his time, including painterly abstraction, minimalism and post-minimalism, but retained a formal thrust and an aesthetic energy all its own. Sprüth Magers has represented the artist’s estate since 2016.

© Estate of Craig Kauffman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Caroline Phillipone. Courtesy The Menil Collection
The Curatorial Imagination of Walter Hopps
Group Exhibition
The Menil Collection, Houston
March 24–August 13, 2023
The Curatorial Imagination of Walter Hopps is an extraordinary chance to see the impressive curatorial record of the legendary Hopps, who curated over 250 exhibits during his career. He was a friend of Craig Kauffman, and the two are linked to early exhibits of abstract art in Los Angeles, as founders of Syndell Studio and Concert Hall Workshop, which produced the 1955 show Action: Painters of the West Coast. Co-founder of Ferus gallery, along with Ed Kienholz, Hopps was the earliest champion of Kauffman’s work, and produced the highly influential 1958 painting show at Ferus, as well as a 1963 show which debuted Kauffman’s paintings on plastic.
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