An abstract affair

Young Chang

The late Elmer Bischoff likened the end of his first bout with

Abstract Expressionism to the end of a love affair.

Using his words then, the retrospective exhibit opening Saturday at

the Orange County Museum of Art chronicles his on-again, off-again

affairs with Abstract Expressionism and representational art from the

‘40s through the ‘90s.

The abstractness came first. Bischoff’s work from the ‘40s is

vivacious, whimsical and creative in design and color. The painter had

returned from serving in World War II -- his style before that was of the

Cubist school -- and was teaching at the California School of Fine Arts,

now the San Francisco Art Institute. Abstractionists including Richard

Diebenkorn and David Park were his colleagues.

“You weren’t painting the world, you were painting the inside of your

head,” said museum spokesperson Brian Langston, of the Abstract

Expressionismgenre.

The works are, for that reason, emotionally charged. Langston added

that the style invigorated the artist.

But in the early ‘50s, Bischoff suddenly turned to figurative,

representational art. He said the abstract gestures didn’t offer him the

same passion it had before.

The late ‘50s found another shift in his work. His art from that

period focuses not on human figures, but in backgrounds, colors and moods

as a whole. The overall feel of his figurative pieces is dark, pensive,

sometimes even sad. Bischoff is mostly known today for the major role he

played in kicking off the Bay Area Figurative Movement, launched in

tandem with Diebenkorn and Park. The movement gave West Coast art the

recognition previously only found in New York.

The faces in Bischoff’s paintings from this phase are often smudged.

Some don’t have clear features, some don’t have features at all.

“Two Figures at the Seashore,” a Bischoff piece that is part of the

museum’s permanent collection as well as on exhibit in the retrospective,

shows two seemingly naked figures in muted cement and sullied green

tones. One figure’s face is shadowed, the other is turned so far to the

side that the painting shows mostly a back.

The skies behind them, meanwhile, show a violent mix of reds, oranges

and yellows. The ocean, painted in thick, rough brush strokes, evokes a

sense of movement. And the reflection of the sun on the figures creates a

jarring red outline.

“In the early ‘50s, they were feeling that they wanted to maintain

their individualism and creative freedom and Abstract Expressionism had

become the dominant style and they seemed to feel that it now would be

confining,” said curator Sarah Vure, of artists switching from abstract

to figurative art.

But when Bischoff turned to figurative art, he brought over the

“spontaneity, brushwork and color and light” that had livened his

abstract work, Vure added.

Though the Bay Area Figurative Movement is considered a

well-respected, significant period in art history now, some members of

the ‘50s art world considered it a rejection of modernity, Langston said.

To some, figurative painting “was seen as a challenge to Abstract

Expressionism,” Vure said.

Bischoff’s affair with abstract art surfaced again in the 80s, with

paintings that show the influence of Wassily Kandinsky and Bischoff’s

interest in cartoons.

“But Bischoff, in fact, felt that whether he was painting abstractly

or figuratively, his ideal was creative exploration,” Vure said.

FYI

* What: “The Art of Elmer Bischoff”

* When: Saturday through May 19. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Tuesday through Sunday

* Where: Orange County Museum of Art, 850 San Clemente Drive, Newport

Beach

* Cost: $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and free for

members and children younger than 16

* Call: (949) 759-1122