Kim MacConnel | Flotsam and Jetsam: Selections from the Beach Collection 1975-Present

ONE is pleased to present selections from Kim MacConnel’s Beach Collection, an ongoing project since 1975. Over the last 37 years, MacConnel has been steadily gathering objects left behind and washed up on beaches in San Diego and abroad. In the gallery, a colorful mound of flotsam and jetsam is formed by mass-produced items like lighters, sunscreen bottles, and children’s beach toys. MacConnel’s practice has been largely developed through his observations as a tourist traveling through foreign lands, nodding to Western art historical movements that often plumbed non-Western cultures for content. In the 60’s and 70s, Minimalism dominated arts discourse to reduce and simplify aesthetics down to concept. MacConnel challenged this school of thought by painting exuberant patterns on unstretched canvas, fabric, and salvaged furniture--along with beginning the process of accumulating beach detritus.

Kim MacConnel received both his BFA and MFA at the University of California, San Diego and was a painting professor there until his retirement in 2009. His work has been exhibited in The Whitney Biennial several times, The Venice Biennale, The Museum of Modern Art, inSite San Diego, and The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, among others. He lives and works in Encinitas, CA.