The Circle of Truth | October 18, 2018 – March 10, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Maureen Cappon-Javey, Deputy Director; mcapponjavey@numulosgatos.org; 408.354.2646
The Circle of Truth: A Visual Game of Telephone that Explores the Subject
of Truth in the Human Experience
Exhibition features forty-nine paintings by LA-based artists including Ed Ruscha, created in
secret over a period of nine years.
LOS GATOS, CA — August 2018 — New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU) is pleased to present
the first public showing of the traveling exhibition, The Circle of Truth, a wholly unique
collaboration of 49 contemporary artists, each sequestered and unknown to one another,
working in absolute secrecy. Taking a full nine years from launch to completion, The Circle of
Truth Project is a modern, visual take on a common childhood classroom exercise wherein a
secret message was whispered from student to student, often referred to as the Rumor
Circle, or the Telephone Game.
The Circle of Truth Project was launched in 2009 and completed in 2016. The exhibition
makes its debut at NUMU on October 18, 2018 and runs through March 10, 2019. It will travel
to the Lancaster Museum of Art and History (MOAH) in Lancaster, CA in August 2019 and the
Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA) in Santa Ana, CA in October 2019.
The LA-based Project was conceived by artist, Laura Hipke and co-curated with artist, Shane
Guffogg. Exhibiting artists from Los Angeles, Arizona and New York include: Kim Abeles, Lisa
Adams, Lita Albuquerque, Charles Arnoldi, Lisa Bartleson, Billy Al Bengston, Justin Bower,
Virginia Broersma, Randall Cabe, Rhea Carmi, Greg Colson, Jeff Colson, Stanley Dorfman,
Cheryl Ekstrom, Jimi Gleason, Rives Granade, Ron Griffin, Alex Gross, Shane Guffogg, Lynn
Hanson, Doro Hofmann, Tim Isham, Kim Kimbro, Bari Kumar, Cal Lane, Margaret Lazzari,
Mark Licari, Dan Lutzick, Deborah Martin, Susan McDonnell, Christopher Monger, Jim
Morphesis, Andy Moses, Juan Carlos Munoz Hernandez, Gary Panter, Daniel Peacock,
Bruce Richards, Michael Rosenfeld, Ed Ruscha, Eddie Ruscha, Paul Ruscha, John Scane,
Vonn Sumner, Matthew Thomas, Alison Van Pelt, Michelle Weinstein, Ruth Weisberg, Robert
Williams and Todd Williamson.
The forty-nine works of art by forty-nine artists were created specifically for the project.
Mostly oil paintings, the works are all the same size and are displayed in the order in which
they were created by the collaborating artists.
Viewers of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities and levels of education will be able to quickly
understand the meaning of the exhibition. There are no prerequisites or any fundamental
knowledge needed to appreciate and recognize truth. The experience relies simply on the
viewers’ inherent human nature. The exhibition provides many levels of interest from
superficial amusement to existential explorations.
“The project is a microcosm of contemporary art, encompassing many artistic styles. It
pushes beyond the post-modernist era where all styles are relevant – from hyper-realism, to
pop, to pure abstraction with the myriad overlapping styles which reside between,” explains
project curator, Shane Guffogg. “Using paint and words, the artists speak to the viewers
candidly, providing a rare perspective into their experience and thought processes.”
The Project Rules
The first painting (“visiting painting”) created by Shane Guffogg, was delivered along with a
blank canvas to the second artist in the Circle. The second artist was not given the identity of
the first artist, nor what the painting was about or represented. The only instruction was to
find "truth" in the first painting and then use the blank canvas to create a work of art in
response (the “response painting”). When finished, the painting and a new blank canvas were
delivered to the third artist, and the first painting was placed in storage. This procedure was
repeated by the participating artists who were asked to keep the secret until the project was
complete. The final/forty-ninth painting was created by Ed Ruscha. The artists did not sign
their paintings or talk about the project to anyone. Each artist was asked to write an essay
about their experience. Excerpts of the essays are included in the exhibition. The
accompanying exhibition catalogue with its sequential layout and essays by the artists,
provides a lasting record of the experience.
What transpired over the course of the project – what truths were explored and discovered,
how the artists were affected – broadened the scope of the project from an interesting
exploration of sensitivity and creativity into an unexpected examination of what truth means
sociologically and spiritually.
“The Circle of Truth opens a dialogue regarding the nature of what we consider truth to be,
and even whether we think it exists. Of course, as intelligent beings we understand the
potential of rumors and the inherent flaws of receiving and re-transmitting information. But
few give more than a shake of the head in response,” says project curator, Laura Hipke. “The
exhibition allows the viewer to witness each and every change in the seed of truth.”
What is truth? How do people feel about their access to truth? What is our responsibility to
preserve truth? Is truth still important or even relevant? How does the subtle erosion of our
confidence in truth affect our sense of well-being? The exhibition touches on a need that
resonates deeply in the human psyche – access to meaningful, truthful contact with others.
This truthful contact is the secret ingredient in the Circle of Truth project.
About the Curators
Laura Hipke and Shane Guffogg are artists living in the Greater Los Angeles Area. They are
former members of Pharmaka (co-founded by Guffogg), a defunct painter’s group
museum/gallery in downtown Los Angeles.
Shane Guffogg was born in Los Angeles, California. He received his B.F.A.
from Cal Arts, and during his studies he interned in New York City.He relocated to Los
Angeles, where he lived in Venice Beach and worked as a Studio Assistant for
Ed Ruscha from 1989 until 1995. Guffogg’s work is in the collections of the Hammer Museum,
Los Angeles, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, Fundación/Colección
Jumex, Mexico City, The Imperial Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Russia, The Gallery of
the Museum Center, Baku, Azerbaijan, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, Long Beach
Museum of Art, Long Beach, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, Van Pelt-Dietrich Library,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles
and other public collections. Guffogg is also a celebrated curator, lecturer and television host.
More information: shaneguffogg.com
Laura Hipke is a Los Angeles based artist and curator. Thematically, Laura explores the
interiors of the heart and what it means to be human. Her work includes painting and
printmaking, as well as ongoing projects that require the input of strangers. Laura has been
described as an intuitive. She is self-taught, except for briefly attending California Institute of
the Arts when she was sixteen. More information: laurahipke.com
____________________________________________________________________________________
Image 1: Shane Guffogg, oil on canvas, Courtesy of the Artist
Image 2: Ed Ruscha, oil on canvas, Courtesy of the Artist
About New Museum Los Gatos
New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU), formerly The Museums of Los Gatos founded in 1965, is a
public non-profit art and history museum located in the Civic Center Plaza in downtown Los
Gatos. NUMU’s mission is to engage the community at the intersection of art, history and
education through innovative, locally connected and globally relevant exhibitions, programs
and experiences. Visit: numulosgatos.org
The Circle of Truth Project is generously supported by the following sponsors.
###