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Robert Irwin’s new work at La Jolla’s Quint Contemporary Art — his first show in a commercial gallery space on the West Coast in three decades — consists mainly of fluorescent light tubes. But it’s important to know that it’s not about the lights.

Sound like a contradiction? On the surface, yes. But not if we take into account the dramatic evolution of Irwin’s art since the 1960s — a body of work that has made him one of the major artists of our time.

Irwin, 81, has worked with an impressive array of media. There are the painted and shaped acrylic surfaces of his ethereal, wall-mounted discs of the late 1960s. Or, the tinted fence he employed in works like “Two Running Violet V-Forms” for UCSD’s Stuart Collection in 1981. Then, there is the vast array of plant life in what is arguably his most famous work for a public place: the Getty Garden in Los Angeles.

Quint Contemporary Art has had several addresses in the past 30 years, but wherever it has been — downtown, Mission Hills, the Miramar area or La Jolla — the gallery has been a space you just had to visit. My history of seeing shows there spans 24 years; and from the first, I sensed that Mark Quint was the real thing, with his enormous passion for art and artists.

Happily, that intuition proved correct. But who knew that he was going to be able to sustain his space(s) for so long, in a town where collectors of serious contemporary art aren’t exactly plentiful?

It isn’t easy to pinpoint how he has accomplished this. But there are certain qualities that have worked in his favor: a keen eye for artists of vision and substance; the desire to stick with them; a curiosity about new artists; and a personality that appeals to museum professionals, collectors and, yes, critics, too. He was also willing to bring artists from afar for residencies (in partnership with Michael Krichman), which yielded a string of memorable shows.

Mark Quint, owner of La Jolla’s eponymous gallery, has showcased the work of contemporary artists for nearly three decades. On Aug. 15, Quint will present 75 pieces of that work by regional, national and international artists in “Three Decades of Contemporary Art” at The California Center for the Arts, Escondido Museum. The show will run through Dec. 31.

When the museum asked Quint to mount an exhibition featuring a selection of artists’ work that he has shown over the past 28 years, he had an ample list to choose from. But to build the exhibition, Quint had to borrow many pieces from Southern California museums and private collections. (At least half of the works belong to La Jolla collectors.)
“It is special for me to present the work of many of the artists that I’ve shown in one large space,” Quint said. “I haven’t seen a lot of this work in over 15 years.”

Many of the artists are from the San Diego region, and numerous pieces are large enough to require the spacious venue that the museum provides.

There is nothing conventional about the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, Museum presenting a show devoted to a San Diego gallery. But then, there’s nothing conventional about the gallery itself.

In 1981, Mark Quint opened the Quint Gallery in La Jolla to showcase his art and that of his friends. Soon, he focused on just the works of others. But instead of staying stagnant in a permanent space, he sought out places to adapt to the needs of the artist. His galleries soon became the rave of the contemporary art scene in San Diego, whether he showcased art in a large industrial building near the Miramar military base, in formal gallery or in a back alleyway in Hillcrest.

“The gallery has gone through several different permeations,” explained Quint. “We started slow with a more traditional gallery. Then it was a residency program. I’ve always enjoyed working with artists directly. If anything, that’s what my gallery is devoted to.”