Episode No. 245 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features curator Gary Garrels and historian Anastasia Aukeman.

Gary Garrels is one of the co-curators of “Bruce Conner: It’s All True,” a 250-object retrospective that examines one of the most important figures  in post-war art. Conner was a leader of the pioneering group of San Francisco-area artists that used new media, especially assemblage, drawing, performance, film, photograms and prints, to address issues such as violence and faith, and in so doing found one of the ways out of abstract expressionism that had dominated American art since the war years. The exhibition debuts at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, where it is on view through October 2. It was organized by SFMOMA, where it will arrive this fall. The show was co-curated by Garrels, Rudolph Frieling, Laura Hoptman and Stuart Comer with assistance from Rachel Federman. The exhibition’s excellent catalogue was published by SFMOMA in association with University of California Press. Amazon offers it for $52, a $23 discount off of the list price.

Conner’s 1959-67 film LOOKING FOR MUSHROOMS is streamed at MoMA’s exhibition site.

On the second segment, historian Anastasia Aukeman discusses her new book “Welcome to Painterland: Bruce Conner and the Rat Bastard Protective Association.” The book tells the story of Conner’s San Francisco and how artists such as Joan Brown, Jay DeFeo, and Manuel Neri created a community of artists that responded to influences as disparate as abstract expressionism and the Beats. It was also published by University of California Press.

Air date: July 14, 2016.