Untitled, casein/canvas, by Gordon Onslow Ford

Artwork of the 1950s—A Selection from the Lucid Art Foundation Collection

Curated by Fariba Bogzaran

Cosponsored by the Lucid Art Foundation •
www.lucidart.org

February 6–March 31
CIIS Minna Street Center Second Floor
 
Reception
Friday, February 17, 7–9pm
CIIS Minna Street Center

Created in 1951, the American Academy of Asian Studies was one of the first institutions to introduce the philosophies of Vedanta, Taoism, Zen, Sufism, and other Eastern spiritual traditions to the Bay Area. Among the Academy’s key scholars was Dr. Haridas Chaudhuri of Bengal, who was a student of the Indian philosopher Sri Aurobindo. In 1968, Dr. Chaudhuri and his wife, Bina, founded what is now known as California Institute of Integral Studies.

In the early 1950s, painter Gordon Onslow Ford was among Dr. Chaudhuri’s first students at the American Academy of Asian Studies. He also studied with Alan Watts and Roshi Hodo Tobase. He and many other artists were greatly influenced by the Asian philosophies presented at the Academy.

After Onslow Ford’s death in 2003, the Lucid Art Foundation, a nonprofit California arts organization, was the recipient of Onslow Ford’s extensive art collection. This exhibit features the work from the 1950s of a selected group of artists from that collection, many of whom were inspired by Eastern philosophies. The exhibition also addresses the work of the Dynaton group, comprised of artists Onslow Ford, Lee Mullican, and Wolfgang Paalen, who simultaneously launched a new art movement.

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