Storylines: Narrative Works from the Permanent Collection
University Art Museum, UC Santa Barbara
July 8 through September 13, 2009

Featuring works of art from different periods and cultures, Storylines explores the use of narrative content found in University Art Museum's permanent collection. Ranging from the illustrative to the evocative, these contemporary objects, Old Master drawings, Pre-Columbian pottery, and African sculptures each articulate a distinct story--from fairytales and parables to current events and personal accounts. These varied artists' books, paintings, photographs, prints, sculptures, and video reference cultural traditions, biography, political issues, and literature within the limits of their media and the mores of their time. Drawn together these disparate works lay bare one of the primary reasons for making art: to tell a story. Works on view include prints from Albrecht Dürer to David Hockney, a Ghanian linguist staff, artist books by Nikki de Saint Phalle and John Baldesarri, Pre-Columbian vessels and drawings by architect Robert Stacy Judd.

Sardi’s to Orange Julius®: Los Angeles Restaurants from the Architecture & Design Collection
July 8 - Sept 13, 2009

From distinctive ambiance to franchise familiarity, this exhibition tracks changes in restaurant architecture through eight specific projects.  Drawn entirely from the University Art Museum's Architecture & Design Collection, the unique drawings, vintage photographs, and ephemera chronicle selected Los Angeles eateries. Featuring designs by J.R. Davidson, R.M. Schindler, and Kem Weber, the majority of the exhibition focuses on the 1930s, an architecturally expansive decade for the city. Despite the national economic crisis, Los Angeles sustained physical and creative growth through its burgeoning energy and aircraft industries, as well as its continued film production.

The city's optimistic environment spawned the carefully designed interiors of The Nickabob, HiHat, and Sardi's restaurants, among others. The interiors of these establishments distinguished themselves through surface detail: sanded glass, exotic veneers, polished chrome, and gold leaf. Yet the facades were street-oriented structures with eye-catching signage that appealed in scale and impact to the fast-moving horizontality of the car-based town. The later works in the show, from the post-war period, include projects by Maynard Lyndon and Edward A. Killingsworth. As eating patterns changed, so too did architectural strategies. While these structures also rely on street visibility, the franchise designs for Yummer's and Orange Julius® were expected to be not only recognizable but also replicable. With these proposals came the promise of familiarity with the structure and the dining experience.