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One of the most influential artists of her generation, Kiki Smith makes sculpture of and about the body in materials as diverse as bronze, paper, and wax. Ranging from fragments of the body to whole figures in the round, from the miniature to the monumental, from neutral or natural coloration to bright, unfamiliar hues, her sculptures are united by their sensual impact and their frank acceptance of corporeal reality. This exhibition, mixing a group of new works with examples of important recent pieces from Southern California collections in an installation designed by the artist, demonstrated the visceral qualities Smith can elicit from a variety of traditional and unusual mediums-evoking solid bodies in ostensibly fragile silk tissue or creating transitory visual effects in solid bronze. It also revealed her expressive scope: rather than argue a specific political interpretation or conform to a single way of suggesting meaning, Smith's art explores the diverse possibilities inherent in the body as subject and object, self and other.

Kiki Smith, who was born in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1954, grew up in New Jersey and has lived in New York City since 1976. In the late 1970s and early 1980s she was associated with the artist's collective Collaborative Projects, Inc. (Colab), and participated in the celebrated Times Square Show of 1980. During that period she began to focus on the constituent parts of the human anatomy, a subject that continues to figure in her art.

The product of a mature, established artist, the work in this exhibition functions on multiple levels. The best way to see it is without preconceptions, to approach each object as you would a new acquaintance, discovering gradually its personality, its nuances, its humor. We recommend that the viewer not seek--or trust--any fixed meaning or singular association: this is art that grows with time and a sign of its effectiveness is the sense that some of it remains provocative or mysterious.

Elizabeth A. Brown, Curator

All Photographs by Gene Ogami