Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner/Recording Angel
Marciano Art Foundation
February 21 – July 18, 2026
The Marciano Art Foundation (MAF), housed in a former Masonic Temple in Los Angeles’ Hancock Park, is currently exhibiting BRUCE CONNER / RECORDING ANGEL, a series of short films Conner made over a fifty-year period (on view through July 18, 2026). Conner who died in 2008, age 74, was a multi-disciplinary artist whose films, little seen during his lifetime, are now getting the screening they deserve at MAF. His non-narrative films, many of which are in black-and-white, convey a strong anti-war sentiment, and speak to the power of images in an increasingly consumerist society. There is a poignancy to the fact that Conner would have loved to see his work restored, displayed so well, and appreciated so widely.The multiple floor-to-ceiling screens in MAF/’s Theater Gallery are large, the prints seemingly pristine, the sound plays immersive, with couches to sit on and watch as the films screen.
Bruce Conner, BREAKAWAY (1966), 16mm, black/white, sound, 5minDigitally Restored, 2016. Dance and Vocals: Toni Basil Music:“ Breakaway”(1966), composed by Ed Cobb. Courtesy of the Conner Family Trust and Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles © Conner FamilyTrust.
Conner’s work speaks to us today, because as he said in a 1986 interview, “I learned to distrust words. I placed my bet on vision.” Today, we are constantly barraged by images, swiping from one image to another on screens, all providing a visual narrative that we recognize in his work. By using images from Westerns, soft core erotica, and public footage of nuclear tests, Conner addressed the inner metaphors that shape our thoughts and the way we perceive the present, his work seeming more relevant than ever.
Born in 1933, Conner grew up in Kansas and received his BFA from the University of Nebraska. After brief sojourns in New York and Colorado, he moved to San Francisco in the 1950s. There, he became friendly with a group of outsider artists including Wallace Berman, George Herms, and Lynn Hershman Leeson. Conner began making assemblages, as well as sculptures, drawings, prints, photo-based artworks, and films. The films combine found images from newsreels and old films, as well as footage he shot himself.
Installation view, BRUCE CONNER / RECORDING ANGEL at Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles. Photo by Heather Rasmussen, courtesy of Marciano Art Foundation
Dennis Hopper claimed that the editing for Easy Rider was derived from Conner’s films. Conner was involved with Liquid Light Shows at the Avalon Ballroom and made some of the earliest music videos. Indeed, he was at home with the Beats during their era, and Punk during its time.
Organized by Douglas Fogle, the seven films shown at MAF are A MOVIE (1958), BREAKAWAY (1966) which features Antonia Basilotta (better known as singer, choreographer, actress and director Tony Basil). There’s also work Conner made to the music of Devo. Another highlight is, LOOKING FOR MUSHROOMS, which is viewed as a three-minute short to the Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows, and a longer version (14 minutes) to music by Terry Riley. Other films feature music by Ray Charles, David Byrne and Brian Eno.
Image credit: Bruce Conner, CROSSROADS, 1976. 35mm, black/white, sound, 37 min. Digitally Restored, 2013.
His films continue to be both a celebration and a critique of American culture. Regarding BRUCE CONNER / RECORDING ANGEL, Conner himself deserves the last word: “When I think about nonlinear perception, I think about the way you collect various pieces of information and put them into some kind of functional use to make sense of the world. It is about consciousness itself.”
Cover image: Installation view, BRUCE CONNER / RECORDING ANGEL at Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles, February 21 to July 18, 2026. Photo byHeather Rasmussen, courtesy of Marciano Art Foundation
