George Herms
Since the ’50s, George Herms has created work across several disciplines, though he is most widely recognized for his collages and found object sculptures. One of the founding members of the California Assemblage movement (alongside Wallace Berman, Bruce Conner, and Jess), he is also associated with the Semina group, Beat generation poets, and with contributing to the development of the West Coast Aesthetic. Influenced by poetry and jazz, Herms transforms weatherworn, battered, and discarded materials into poetic sculptures and collages. His works assign new connotations to basic objects and orthodox materials, capitalizing on the expansive nature of assemblage.
George Herms (b. 1935, Woodland, CA) lives and works in Irvine, CA. He received a BA from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1955. His work has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY. He has received three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts; a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship in Sculpture; the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome; the Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Award; and was a visiting scholar at the Getty Research Institute. His work is included in public collections at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; the Menil Collection, Houston, TX; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA.
Artworks
George Herms
Rooftop, 1994
Found object sculpture
19.75 x 21.5 x 17.5 inches
(50 x 54.5 x 44.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Tarzan Feathers Forklift, 1986
Assemblage sculpture
13 x 22.5 x 10.75 inches
(33 x 57 x 27.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
George and Louise in Profile, 1973
Monotype in artist’s frame
15.75 x 15.75 x 1.5 inches
(40 x 40 x 4 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Wood Circle with Collage, 1963
Assemblage
36 x 36 x 3 inches
(91.5 x 91.5 x 7.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Dishrack with Paper Plates, 2000
Assemblage sculpture
14.75 x 15.5 x 11.75 inches
(37.5 x 39.5 x 30 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Kite Over Coke Mountain, 1970
Collage in artist’s frame
28.75 x 22.5 x 1.5 inches
(73 x 57 x 4 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
OUEWAO, c. 1990
Assemblage
51 x 24 x 1.25 inches
(129.5 x 61 x 3.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Hanging Saw Blade, c. 1995
Assemblage sculpture
29 x 20 x 6.5 inches
(74 x 51 x 16.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Trotsky Box, 1978
Assemblage
24 x 24 x 7 inches
(61 x 61 x 18 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Gay Talese, 2014
Assemblage sculpture
8.5 x 10 x 6.5 inches
(21.5 x 25.5 x 11.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Oval, 1988
Wood
57.5 x 30.5 x 1.75 inches
(146 x 77.5 x 4.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Newstand, 1962
Assemblage sculpture
25 x 20.5 x 15 inches
(63.5 x 52 x 38 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Wooden Moonbeam (Black), 1969
Assemblage sculpture
19.25 x 18.5 x 18.5 inches
(49 x 47 x 47 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Ancient History, 1992
Assemblage
24 x 24 x 2.5 inches
(61 x 61 x 6.5 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Seat of Coffee Filter Consciousness, 1991
Assemblage
24 x 36 x 7 inches
(61 x 91.5 x 18 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Snow Job IV, 2011
Collage
26 x 20 inches
(66 x 51 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
San Diego Rose XXI, 2011
Collage
26 x 20 inches
(66 x 51 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Collagio, 2012
Collage
30 x 22 inches
(76 x 56 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
George Herms
Collagio, 2012
Collage
30 x 22 inches
(76 x 56 cm)
Photograph courtesy of Morán Morán
