An exhibition in the tradition of a Kunstkammer, or "art chamber," featuring more than ninety works on paper spanning four hundred years.

Berkeley, CA, April 23, 2007 - The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) presents Kunstkammer, an abundant exhibition of works on paper - including drawings, prints, and photographs - illustrating the richness and depth of the museum's collection. The exhibition, which is on view in the museum's Theater Gallery, runs through October 14, 2007.

Kunstkammer is based on the idea behind some of the earliest museums, which originated in Europe during the Renaissance. Typically, a Kunstkammer contained a varied assortment of scientific, natural, and manmade curiosities. Among the most famous Kunstkammern were those established in Denmark and Russia, known for the size and uniqueness of their collections.

The exhibition Kunstkammer is an opportunity for visitors to sample the wide variety of works of paper in BAM/PFA's collection. The works included in the exhibition span four hundred years and many countries, and illustrate a range of different printing styles, including lithograph, etching, engraving, silkscreen, woodcut, and linoleum cut, as well as black and white and color photography, drawing, and watercolor painting. The works are hung "salon" style - one above the other on the wall, in thematic arrangements that blend styles and periods.

Eighty-nine artists are represented in the exhibition, including many important international names, such as Albrecht Dürer, Paul Gauguin, Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, André Derain, Gustave Courbet, Honoré Daumier, Pablo Picasso, Eva Hesse, and Paul Klee. American artists include Tom Marioni, Louise Bourgeois, Jay DeFeo, Brice Marden, Joe Brainard, Jim Dine, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Constance Chang.

About BAM/PFA
The UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) aims to inspire the imagination and ignite critical dialogue through contemporary and historical art and film, engaging audiences from the campus, Bay Area community, and beyond. BAM/PFA is one of the largest university art museums in the United States in both size and attendance, presenting fifteen art exhibitions and five hundred film programs each year. The museum's collection of more than 15,000 works includes exceptional examples of mid-twentieth-century painting, including important works by Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, Eva Hesse, and Mark Rothko, as well as historical and contemporary Asian art, early American painting, Conceptual and contemporary international art, and California and Bay Area art. The PFA film and video collection now includes the largest group of Japanese films outside of Japan, as well as impressive holdings of Soviet silents, West Coast avant-garde cinema, seminal video art, rare animation, Central Asian productions, Eastern European cinema, and international classics.

Credit Line

The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Additional support is provided by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Koret Foundation, the Bernard Osher Foundation, Packard Humanities Institute, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Columbia Foundation, the Christensen Fund, the William H. Donner Foundation, San Francisco Foundation, Gap Inc., other private foundations and corporations, and our individual donors and members. Major endowment support has been provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation and by George Gund III.

Gap Inc. is proud to support First Impressions: Free First Thursdays at BAM/PFA. For more information about Free First Thursday gallery tours and screenings visit our website at bampfa.berkeley.edu.

Museum Information

Location: 2626 Bancroft Way, just below College Avenue near the UC Berkeley campus.

Gallery and Museum Store Hours:
Wednesday and Friday to Sunday, 11 to 5; Thursday, 11 to 7. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Admission:
General admission is $8; admission for seniors, disabled persons, non-UC Berkeley students, and young adults (13 – 17) is $5; admission for BAM/PFA members, UC Berkeley students, staff and faculty, and children under 12 is free; admission for group tours is $3 per person (to arrange a group tour, call [510] 642-5188). Admission is free on the first Thursday of each month.

Information:
24-hour recorded message (510) 642-0808; FAX (510) 642-4889; TDD: (510) 642-8734

Website: bampfa.berkeley.edu

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