SANTA MONICA.- From September 13 to December 13, 2008, Santa Monica Museum of Art presents three new exhibitions: Martin Kersels: Heavyweight Champion, Project Room I: Henry Taylor: Girrrrrl!, and Project Room II: Bruce Pollock: Circling West.

Martin Kersels: Heavyweight Champion is the first retrospective of this influential and pioneering Southern California artist. Spanning the years from 1994 to 2007, the exhibition includes thirty three multi-media artworks ranging from small sculptures, to large-scale photographs, to monumental installations. Kersels has long been esteemed in Southern California artistic and academic circles, and his work is in many collections worldwide. The advent of Heavyweight Champion marks a timely opportunity for this 2008 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow to enjoy the broader recognition and respect his work and creative achievements so well deserve.

Project Room I: Henry Taylor: Girrrrrl! is the first West Coast museum exhibition of a Southern California artist whose painting practice pointedly and poignantly examines the profound social, political, and racial disparities that persist in the United States. Girrrrrl! is comprised of 4 major new works depicting scenes from Taylor’s personal life and urban community.

Project Room II: Bruce Pollock: Circling West is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition and West Coast debut. Pollock presents a series of seven 24” x 24” abstract oil paintings that are monochromatic explorations of the same subject matter. He also creates an expansive, site-specific wall drawing that is a linear interpretation of the geometric scheme used in the paintings. Both the panoramic and the more compact works reveal the artist’s fascination with mathematical systems and the recurring patterns and forms found in the natural world.