Laguna Art Museum unveils an exhibition showcasing nearly 50 newly acquired artworks. This collection marks a significant expansion of the museum’s permanent collection, focusing on pieces by influential California artists, works exploring the nexus of art and nature, and those by a diverse range of California-based artists with a particular effort to increase representation of women. Additionally, the exhibition aims to broaden contemporary themes by featuring artworks created after the year 2000.

The artworks, spanning over a century of creation, encompass a diverse array of mediums including sculpture, mixed media, film, painting, and large-format color photography. Notably, a series of John Humble’s photographs titled “Sunday Morning” will be highlighted as a standalone mini-exhibition.

More than simply displaying these new acquisitions, the exhibition serves as a gesture of gratitude to the generous individuals who donated these artworks to the Laguna Art Museum. Among the artists featured are Jay McCafferty, Woods Davy, Roger Kuntz, Astrid Preston, Millard Owen Sheets, Craig Stecyk, and newcomers to the collection such as Mark Bennett, Sergei Bongart, Carole Caroompas, Rosson Crow, Fannie Eliza Duvall, John Frost, Jimi Gleason, Jennifer Gunlock, Grace Carpenter Hudson, Tom Lamb, Robert Landry, Malerie Marder, Carter Mull, Evan Nesbit, Deborah Oropallo, Phil Paradise, Rozeal, Richard Roth, Heidi Schwegler, Robert Standish and Patrick Wilson.

John Humble’s Sunday Afternoon series features images of industrial areas near the Port of Los Angeles. He took these photos when there were no cars, trucks, or work activities, revealing scenes that are remarkably quiet. Humble is interested in photographing these locations because they show what large parts of Los Angeles look like. These are places rarely visited or experienced by most people, and even less seen when businesses are closed for the weekend.

Humble used a large format film camera to create detailed color photographs. He frequently set up his camera in the middle of abandoned streets, draped a black curtain over his head to block out light, and adjusted the tripod to handle uneven surfaces, ensuring he captured the perfect shot. The stillness of these images helps viewers notice hyper-realistic and intricate details in the buildings and surroundings that are usually missed.

John Humble is a distinguished photographer who has made Los Angeles his home since 1974. His career has been shaped by his military service in Vietnam, his tenure as a photojournalist at the Washington Post and his advanced studies at the San Francisco Art Institute. His work is in the collection of institutions around the world, and he has exhibited in many prestigious museums including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The J. Paul Getty Museum where he had a solo exhibition in 2007.