JOHN OUTTERBRIDGE
Born in Greenville, North Carolina, 1933
Died in Los Angeles, California, 2020
Education
Agricultural & Technical University, Greensboro, NC, 1952-53
The American Academy of Art, Chicago, Illinois, 1956-59
State of California Teaching Credential, 1970
Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California, 1994
Professional
Artists/Director, Watts Towers Arts Center, Los Angeles, California, 1975-92
Advisory Committee, Getty Institute for Arts Education, 1978-80
Visual Arts Panelist, California Arts Council, 1978-80
Visual Arts Panelist, National Endowment for the Arts, 1978-80
Founder, Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival, 1977
Co-Founder/Artistic Director, Communicative Arts Academy, Compton, California, 1969-75
Lecturer, California State University, Dominguez Hills, California, 1970-73
Art Instructor/Fine Art Installer, Pasadena Museum of Art, Pasadena, California, 1967-72
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024 John Outterbridge, Tilton Gallery, New York, New York
2018-19 John Outterbridge, Tilton Gallery, New York, New York
2015 John Outterbridge: Rag Man, Art + Project, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California;
traveled to the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, Colorado
2012 John Outterbridge, Tilton Gallery, New York, New York
2011 John Outterbridge: The Rag Factory, LA><ART, Los Angeles, California
2009 John Outterbridge, Tilton Gallery, New York, New York
1997 John Outterbridge: Mobilization of the Spirit, El Camino College Art Gallery,
Torrance, California
1996 A Man Named John: John W. Outterbridge, Watts Towers Art Center,
Los Angeles, California
1993 John Outterbridge: A Retrospective, California Afro-American Museum, Los Angeles,
California
1992 John Outterbridge: Sculptor of Oppositions, Rancho Santiago College Art Gallery,
Santa Ana, California
1988 Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, California
1982 John Outterbridge 1970-1982, Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1971 Outterbridge, A Solo Exhibition, Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 Inheritance, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Corporeal, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
2022 Joan Didion: What She Means, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA
This Is Not America's Flag, The Broad, Los Angeles, CA
Gallery Selections, Tilton Gallery, New York, NY
2021 Art of California: Greater than the Sum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
The Art of Assemblage, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Empty Legs, Tilton Gallery, New York, NY
2020 Confinement: Politics of Space and Bodies, Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center,
Cincinnati, Ohio, November 22 – March 1, 2020
Dust My Broom: Southern Vernacular from the Permanent Collection, California African
American Museum, Los Angeles, California, September 10 – February 16, 2020
LA Blacksmith, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California, September
10 – February 16, 2020
2019 The Riddle Effect, Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, California, June 2 – September 8
Aspects of Nude: Selections from the Permanent Collection, California African American
Museum, Los Angeles, California, March 20 – September 8, 2019
Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York,
New York, March 7 – April 7, 2019
Unseen Works: David Hammons and Friends, Tilton Gallery, New York, New York,
February 26 – April 20, 2019
2018 West by Midwest: Geographies of Art and Kinship, Museum of Contemporary Art,
Chicago, Illinois, November 11, 2018 - January 27, 2019
East Coast/West Coast: Clark, Hammons, Outterbridge, Saar, Washington, Tilton Gallery,
New York, New York, September 11 – November 3, 2018
Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Met Breuer,
New York, New York, March 21 – July 22, 2018
Outliers and American Vanguard Art, The National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.,
January 28 - May 13, 2018; traveled to the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia,
June 22 – September 30, 2018; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles,
California, November 18, 2018 – March 17, 2019
2017 Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, Tate Modern, London, UK, July 12 -
October 22, 2017, traveled to Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, Arkansas, February 2 -
April 23, 2018; the Brooklyn Museum, New York, New York, September 7, 2018 -
February 3, 2019; The Broad, Los Angeles, California March 23 - September 1, 2019;
de Young Museum, San Francisco, California, November 9, 2019 – March 15, 2020;
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, April 26 – July 19, 2020
2015 Walks and displacements, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, New York
I Like it Like This, S|2 Sotheby’s, New York, New York
2014 When the Stars Begin to Fall: Imagination and the American South, Studio Museum
in Harlem, New York, New York; traveled to the Nova Southeastern University
Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Institute of Contemporary Art,
Boston, Massachussetts
Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties, Brooklyn Museum, New York
Move the world back from the abyss of destruction, JTT Gallery, New York, New York
2013 The Encyclopedic Palace, The 55th International Art Exhibition - Venice Biennale,
Venice, Italy
Outside the Lines: Black in the Abstract, Part 1: Epistrophy, Contemporary Art Museum,
Houston, Texas
Crosscurrents: African and Black Diasporas in Dialogue 1960-1980, Museum of the
African Diaspora, San Francisco, California
2012 Shift: Projects|Perspectives|Directions, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York,
New York
Blues for Smoke, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California;
traveled to The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York; Wexner Center
for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio
John Outterbridge: Rag Factory II, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York
BAILA con Duende: Group Art Exhibition, Watts Towers Arts Center and Charles Mingus
Youth Arts Campus, Los Angeles, California
L.A. Raw: Abject Expressionism in Los Angeles, 1945-1980, From Rico Lebrun to
Paul McCarthy, Pasadena Museum of California Art, Pasadena, California
2011 The Bearden Project, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York
L.A. Object & David Hammons Body Prints, Tilton Gallery, Art 42, Basel, Switzerland
Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980, Hammer Museum, UCLA,
Los Angeles, California; traveled to P.S. 1 MoMA, New York; Williams College
Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts
Under the Big Black Sun: California Art 1974-1981, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA,
Los Angeles, California
Places of Validation, Art, and Progression, California African American Museum,
Los Angeles, California
Civic Virtue: The Impact of the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and the Watts Towers
Arts Center, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and Watts Towes Arts Center,
Los Angeles, California
In Context, Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, California
2010 At Home/Not At Home: Works from the Collection of Rebecca and Martin Eisenberg,
Center for Curatorial Studies and Art in Contemporary Culture, Bard College,
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
2009 Gallery 32 and Its Circle, Leband Art Gallery, Loyola Marymount University,
Los Angeles, California
30 Seconds off an Inch, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York
2006 Los Angeles 1955 – 1985: Birth of an Art Capital, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
LA Object & David Hammons Body Prints, Tilton Gallery, New York, New York;
traveled to Roberts & Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2005 African American Artists in Los Angeles: A Survey Exhibition: Pathways (1966-1989),
California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California
2004 Renaissance, Dignity and Pride: African American Artists in L.A., University of California,
Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California
2000 The Right to Assemble, Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles,
California
1996 A Slave Ship Speaks/Tragic Wake, Spirit Square Center for the Arts and Education,
Charlotte, North Carolina
Open House, Williamson Gallery, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California
Build Watts Towers, Outdoor installation, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts,
New York, New York
Blessings and Beginnings, ARTCORE, Los Angeles, California
African Influence/Contemporary Artists, The National Civil Rights Museum, Memphis,
Tennessee
1995 ALTARS, The Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California
The Listening Sky, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York
1994 ARTCORE, Los Angeles, California
The Art of Betye Saar & John Outterbridge: 22nd International Bienal of Sao Paolo,
Brazil., United States Representative, Sao Paolo, Brazil
Africus, Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa
INSITE 94, United States/Mexico Installation & Site Specific Art, San Diego, California
LAX/94, Los Angeles Municipal Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1993 Dolls in Contemporary Art, Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art,
Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1990 Artists; Artists, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, California
1989 19Sixties: A Cultural Awakening Re-evaluated 1965-1975, California Afro-American
Museum, Los Angeles, California
The Pasadena Armory Show, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California
40 Years of California Assemblage, Wight Art Gallery, University of California,
Los Angeles, California
1986 Other Gods, Containers of Belief, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York
1984 East/West: Contemporary American Art, California Afro-American Museum,
Los Angeles, California
1981 Black Doll Exhibition, William Grant Still Community Arts Center, Los Angeles, California
1980 African American Artists of North Carolina, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh,
North Carolina
1979 William Grant Still Community Art Center, Los Angeles, California
Visions of a Spirit, The Gallery, Los Angeles, California
Celebration of Community Arts Festival, Milwaukee Inner City Arts Council,
Performing Arts Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1978 Tanner Gallery, Los Angeles, California
1977 Festival in Black Otis Art Exhibition, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, California
California Black Artists, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, New York
1976 A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr., Los Angeles Municipal Arts Gallery, Barnsdall Park,
Los Angeles, California
1975 Black Artists in California 1975, presented by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.,
Capitol Building, Sacramento, California
West Coast Black Artists, Union Gallery, Cal Poly University, Pomona, California
1974 The Black Image: West Coast 74, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, California;
traveled to Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, California
E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, California
1973 Renshaw Gallery, Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon
1972 Los Angeles 1972: A Panorama of Black Artists, Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Los Angeles, California
1971 9th Annual Southern California Exhibition, Long Beach Museum of Art,
Long Beach, California
Black Art: The Black Experience, Occidental College, Los Angeles, California
Reflections and Shadows, Otis Art Institute Galleries, Los Angeles, California
Local Black Artist Exhibition, Compton College, Compton, California
Five Black Artists:Benny, Bernie, Betye, Noah and John, Lang Art Gallery,
Scripps College, Claremont, California
1970 Gallery 32, Los Angeles, California
Dimensions in Black, La Jolla Museum of Art, La Jolla, California
Watts Summer Festival Art Exhibition, Will Rogers Park Auditorium, Los Angeles,
California
Two Generations of Black Artists, California State College, Los Angeles, California
Fine Art in the Home by Contemporary Black Artists, sponsored by Brockman Gallery,
San Fernando Furniture, Los Angeles, California
1968 John Outterbridge, Alonzo Davis, Dan Concholar, Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles,
California
6th Annual Southern California Exhibition, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach,
California
Black Artists Exhibit, Inglewood Public Library, Inglewood, California
Dialogue Through Art, National Council of Jewish Women, Los Angeles, California
1966 Ten From Los Angeles, Seattle Art Museum Pavilion, Seattle, Washington
PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
1994 Sliced Pyramid, Avalon/Imperial Green Line Station Plaza, Los Angeles, California
1993 Metrorail, Los Angeles, California
1991 Window with Ball, CHGG Architectural Building, Pasadena, California
1989 Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, California
AWARDS, GRANTS AND FELLOWSHIPS
2013 Governors' Award for Outstanding Service to Artists, Skowhegan School
of Painting and Sculpture
2012 California African American Museum Lifetime Achievement Award
2011 United States Artists Fellowship
2010 Artists’ Legacy Foundation Award
1994 J. Paul Getty Fellowship for the Visual Arts
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
J.R. Hyde Visiting Artist Fellowship, Memphis institute of the Arts, Memphis, Tennessee
1988 Fulbright Fellowship, National Conference of Maori Artists, New Zealand
1987 National Conference of Arts Educators’ Award
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
Hammer Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
NSU Art Museum Fort Lauderdale, FL
Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA
Benton Museum of Art at Pomona College, Claremont, CA
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Logan, UT
PUBLICATIONS
2011 Tilton, Connie Rogers and Lindsay Charlwood, editors, L.A. Object & David Hammons
Body Prints. New York: Tilton Gallery.
2010 Kienholz, Lyn. L.A. Rising: SoCal Artists Before 1980, The California/International Arts
Foundation, Los Angeles.
1993 African American Artists of Los Angeles (UCLA): “John Wilfred Outterbridge: American
Oral History Interview,” Conducted by Richard Candida Smith. 1989-1990, 635 pages.
1968 Lewis, Samella and Ruth Waddy, Black Artists on Art, Vol. 1.