George Herms in Moten Swing 2019
CO-CURATED AND CO-PRODUCED BY ULYSSES JENKINS AND DEBORAH OLIVER.
A pioneer in the 1950s of California assemblage works made out of discarded found materials and objects, Herms’ sculptural works have been likened to visual poetry, a free-form conversation between individual components, much like a be-bop jazz riff. Some of his objects that also function as sound-producing percussive instruments, were assembled for Moten Swing, a performance/sculptural event with Kei Akagi and UCI undergraduate students. Mr. Herms was awarded the fourth Lifetime Achievement Award.
George Herms in Moten Swing (2019)
Press Release & News
Jazz Pianist – Kei Akagi
Student Performers: Yi-Ting Chen, Liang Fang, Karen Garcia, Kathryn Handler, Audrey Hernandez Peterson, Yunhan Jiang, Christie Lu, Romy Rosas, Katherine Rutz-Robbins, Beverly Siu, Lloyd Sosa, Melissa Whitsel, Charlotte Wilson
Program Details
George Herms, a seminal figure in West Coast assemblage art, began making found-object sculpture in the late 1950s, when he was part of the community of poets and artists who later became known as the “beat generation.” Since that time, Herms has been transforming objects salvaged from quotidian life and popular culture into alchemic productions imbued with the poetics of jazz, love and beauty. His assemblage aesthetic extends to painting, sculpture, drawing, collage, theater, printmaking, photography, and filmmaking. His works are in major museums and private collections in the U.S. and abroad.
Kei Akagi, Pianist and composer has been a mainstay of the international jazz world for four decades. Perhaps best known for his work as a member of the Miles Davis band in the late 1980’s, his career also includes extended associations with major figures such as Stanley Turrentine, James Newton, Joe Farrell, Al DiMeola, and Airto Moreira. He has also performed or recorded with Art Pepper, Blue Mitchell, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter, Charlie Haden, Charnett Moffett, Tom Harrell, Bobby Shew, Eddie Harris, Slide Hampton, Steve Turre, Robin Eubanks, Jean-Luc Ponty, Allan Holdsworth, and others Akagi has recorded 14 albums as a solo artist and leader. As a sideman and accompanist, he is on over 60 albums worldwide, including Miles Davis’ last recorded works. He has also written numerous original works for his own and others’ recordings, with over 100 compositions currently in publication.Akagi’s performance schedule revolves around two major international concert tours a year. As Professor of Music at the University of California, Irvine, he oversees the jazz studies program, teaching jazz history, theory and composition, jazz piano, and performance. He is also a recipient of the distinguished title of UCI Chancellor’s Professor.
Ulysses Jenkins is a video/performance artist and professor. He received his MFA in Intermedia-Video /Performance Art from Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA in 1979. Since 1993 he has been a Professor at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, University of California, Irvine, within the Department of Art. He received his BA degree in Painting and Drawing from Southern University in Baton Rouge Louisiana. From 2008-2010 he was Director of the African American Studies Program in the School of Humanities at UCI. Ulysses has received awards, commendations, or recognition from the Smithsonian Institute, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Getty Museum, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the Walker Art Center and the Yerba Buena Art Center, among numerous others. The historical importance of his concepts of “doggerelism” and “griot storytelling” have been discussed in essays and major conferences, as has his research into the context of video and performance, and his unique role in African-American art history. This research has been recognized within the discourse of Afrofuturism, which also has been a major theme in his teaching at UCI. Deborah Oliver is an educator, independent curator, producer, and interdisciplinary artist. Her practice is focused on the intersection of Performance Art, it’s history, the practice and the curatorial discourse in and around community exchange. She is the curator and founder of Irrational Exhibits; an immersive performance/installation exhibition she began in 2001. The 11th Edition took place on November 9, 2109 at five galleries in the Bendix Building in DTLA. The10th Anniversary Edition took place in 2017 at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions with support by The Metabolic Studio, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation. Since 1998 Oliver has been a faculty member at the University of California Irvine, teaching Performance Studies and New Genres. In 2015 Oliver co-founded “The Art of Performance in Irvine” an annual performance event at the xMPL, Experimental Media and Performance Lab at UCI.
Production Acknowledgements:
Curator ~ Ulysses Jenkins
Producer ~ Deborah Oliver
Production Manager ~ Caleb Engstrom
Technical Director ~ Bruce Warner
Lighting Designer ~ Shelby Thach
xMPL Student Crew ~ Alexander Mauthe, Anna Olson, Beverly Siu, Brandon Garcia , Brenda Chow, David Thompson, Eric Eaton, Jennifer Mast, Katie Thomas, Kayo Tokuue, Lucas Goodman, Minh NHU Tran, Sonya Wong, Timothy Cheung, Victoria Gallegos
Photographer & Videographer ~ Caleb Engstrom
Poster Designer ~ Beverly Siu
House Manager/Stage Manager ~ Deborah Oliver
Department Analysis ~ M. Kathi Thompson
Department Manager ~ John Medina
Special Thanks to Stephen Barker, Kevin Appel, John Crawford, Antoinette LaFarge, John Medina, M. Kathi Thomson, Bruce Warner, and Anna Barbara Mueller.
The Art of Performance in Irvine is an annual performance event in the xMPL Theatre at UCI founded by Ulysses Jenkins and Deborah Oliver in 2015, dedicated to experimentation in live art