Jim Newman (Dilexi Gallery, Other Minds)
Encyclopedia
Jim Newman is a film
and television producer
, contemporary art
curator, gallerist and musician.
as a teenager and trained as a saxophonist, Newman attended Stanford University
and Oberlin College
, where he received his Bachelor's degree
in Music in 1955. While at Oberlin he started a jazz club and was also a founding member, with Walter Hopps
and Craig Kauffman, of Concerthall Workshop. In addition to his activities as a musician, Newman has had extensive experience as a jazz presenter, having staged numerous concerts at Oberlin and in Los Angeles, presenting such artists as Dave Brubeck
, Teddy Charles
, Count Basie
, Chet Baker
, Charles Mingus
, Terry Gibbs
, and Gerry Mulligan
.
In 1978 Newman resumed active music making, studying flute
performance. Since 1982 he has held the baritone saxophone chair with the Junius Courtney band. With filmmaker William Farley
he produced a video documentary, In Between the Notes, on the life and career of master Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath
, working closely with Pran Nath's disciples Terry Riley
, La Monte Young
and Marian Zazeela
.
In 1992, along with Charles Amirkhanian
, Newman co-founded the new music festival organization Other Minds
, based in San Francisco. He is responsible for the design and formatting of its website. He served as President of Other Minds
(formerly the California College of Performing Arts) from 1992 to 2004 and remains on its Board of Directors.
in 1955, with Ben and Betty Bartosh, Walter Hopps
and Craig Kauffman. In that same year they presented "Action I," the first major survey of California abstract expressionist painting, at the Santa Monica Pier
merry-go-round. In 1956 he moved to San Francisco where he co-founded the Dilexi Gallery with Robert Alexander in 1958 and directed its operations until it closed in 1970. Exhibitors at the gallery included: Jeremy Anderson, Hassel Smith, Alvin Light, Leslie Kerr, Craig Kauffman, Deborah Remington
, Jay DeFeo
, Roy De Forest
, Edward Moses, H.C. Westermann, Jess
(1958), Sidney Gordin, Gary Molitor, Ron Nagle
, Richard Shaw, Robert Morris
, Joe Goode
(1962) and Charles Ross.
In 1993 Newman began a collaboration with conceptual artist Lowell Darling on a project called Hollywood Archaeology. They began making Cibachrome prints of discarded movie film found by Darling in the streets and dumpsters of Hollywood in the early '70s. More recently the project has expanded and found a home on the World Wide Web, under the sponsorship of the Whitney Museum of American Art
.
, Arlo Acton, Anna Halprin
, Yvonne Rainer
, Robert Nelson, Frank Zappa
, Andy Warhol
, The Living Theater, Philip Makanna, Robert Frank
, Edwin Schlossberg
, Walter De Maria
, and Kenneth Dewey. From 1972 to 1974 he produced two feature films, Phil Makanna's Shoot the Whale and Space Is the Place
, featuring jazz bandleader Sun Ra
. In 1976 he produced a video
documentary
on Philippine psychic
surgery
, Miracles and Metaphors.
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
, contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
curator, gallerist and musician.
Musical career and festival management
Discovering bebopBebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
as a teenager and trained as a saxophonist, Newman attended Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, where he received his Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Music in 1955. While at Oberlin he started a jazz club and was also a founding member, with Walter Hopps
Walter Hopps
Walter Hopps was an American museum director and curator of contemporary art. His obituary in the Washington Post described him as a "sort of a gonzo museum director -- elusive, unpredictable, outlandish in his range, jagged in his vision, heedless of rules."Hopps was born in Eagle Rock, Los...
and Craig Kauffman, of Concerthall Workshop. In addition to his activities as a musician, Newman has had extensive experience as a jazz presenter, having staged numerous concerts at Oberlin and in Los Angeles, presenting such artists as Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Teddy Charles
Teddy Charles
Teddy Charles is an American jazz pianist, drummer and vibraphone musician. Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, he began his musical career studying at Juilliard School of Music as a percussionist...
, Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
, Chet Baker
Chet Baker
Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker, Jr. was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and singer.Though his music earned him a large following , Baker's popularity was due in part to his "matinee idol-beauty" and "well-publicized drug habit."He died in 1988 in Amsterdam, the...
, Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus Jr. was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music...
, Terry Gibbs
Terry Gibbs
Terry Gibbs is an American jazz vibraphonist and band leader.He has performed and/or recorded with Tommy Dorsey, Chubby Jackson, Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, Louie Bellson, Charlie Shavers, Mel Tormé, Buddy DeFranco, and others...
, and Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...
.
In 1978 Newman resumed active music making, studying flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
performance. Since 1982 he has held the baritone saxophone chair with the Junius Courtney band. With filmmaker William Farley
William Farley
William Farley is an American film director, based in San Francisco. He directed Whoopi Goldberg in her first screen role, in the ensemble piece Citizen : I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away .-Biography:...
he produced a video documentary, In Between the Notes, on the life and career of master Indian vocalist Pandit Pran Nath
Pandit Pran Nath
Pandit Pran Nath was a Hindustani classical singer and teacher of the Kirana gharana , with a successful American career.-Early life:...
, working closely with Pran Nath's disciples Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
, La Monte Young
La Monte Young
La Monte Thornton Young is an American avant-garde composer, musician, and artist.Young is generally recognized as the first minimalist composer. His works have been included among the most important and radical post-World War II avant-garde, experimental, and contemporary music. Young is...
and Marian Zazeela
Marian Zazeela
Marian Zazeela is a light-artist, designer, painter and musician based in New York City.-Life and work:Born to Russian-Jewish parents and raised in the Bronx, Marian Zazeela was educated at the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and at Bennington College where she...
.
In 1992, along with Charles Amirkhanian
Charles Amirkhanian
Charles Amirkhanian is an American composer. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian extraction. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic and text-sound music...
, Newman co-founded the new music festival organization Other Minds
Other Minds
Other Minds is a San Francisco based private 501 not-for-profit organization, founded in 1992 by Charles Amirkhanian and Jim Newman...
, based in San Francisco. He is responsible for the design and formatting of its website. He served as President of Other Minds
Other Minds
Other Minds is a San Francisco based private 501 not-for-profit organization, founded in 1992 by Charles Amirkhanian and Jim Newman...
(formerly the California College of Performing Arts) from 1992 to 2004 and remains on its Board of Directors.
Gallery management and curating
Jim Newman co-founded Syndell Studio in Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1955, with Ben and Betty Bartosh, Walter Hopps
Walter Hopps
Walter Hopps was an American museum director and curator of contemporary art. His obituary in the Washington Post described him as a "sort of a gonzo museum director -- elusive, unpredictable, outlandish in his range, jagged in his vision, heedless of rules."Hopps was born in Eagle Rock, Los...
and Craig Kauffman. In that same year they presented "Action I," the first major survey of California abstract expressionist painting, at the Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent, 100-year-old landmark.-Pacific Park:...
merry-go-round. In 1956 he moved to San Francisco where he co-founded the Dilexi Gallery with Robert Alexander in 1958 and directed its operations until it closed in 1970. Exhibitors at the gallery included: Jeremy Anderson, Hassel Smith, Alvin Light, Leslie Kerr, Craig Kauffman, Deborah Remington
Deborah Remington
Deborah Remington was an American painter. She lived and worked in New York City and Pennsylvania. Remington was a veteran of more than 30 solo exhibitions and hundreds of group exhibitions including 3 Whitney Museum of American Art annuals...
, Jay DeFeo
Jay DeFeo
Jay DeFeo was a visual artist associated with the Beat generation who worked c.1950-1989 in the San Francisco Bay Area....
, Roy De Forest
Roy De Forest
Roy De Forest was an American painter known for his comic-like patchwork regionalist style, often depicting dogs & other figurative content in his art....
, Edward Moses, H.C. Westermann, Jess
Jess Collins
Jess Collins , simply known today as Jess, was an American visual artist.- Biography :Jess was born Burgess Franklin Collins in Long Beach, California. He was drafted into the military and worked on the production of plutonium for the Manhattan Project...
(1958), Sidney Gordin, Gary Molitor, Ron Nagle
Ron Nagle
Ron Nagle is an American ceramic sculptor, musician and songwriter.-History:Ron Nagle grew up in San Francisco’s Mission District...
, Richard Shaw, Robert Morris
Robert Morris (artist)
Robert Morris is an American sculptor, conceptual artist and writer. He is regarded as one of the most prominent theorists of Minimalism along with Donald Judd but he has also made important contributions to the development of performance art, land art, the Process Art movement and installation...
, Joe Goode
Joe Goode
Joe Goode was born in Oklahoma City, OK in 1937. In 1959 he moved to Los Angeles, CA where he attended the Chouinard Art Institute until 1961.First recognized for his Pop Art milk bottle paintings and cloud imagery, Goode's work was included along with Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jim Dine,...
(1962) and Charles Ross.
In 1993 Newman began a collaboration with conceptual artist Lowell Darling on a project called Hollywood Archaeology. They began making Cibachrome prints of discarded movie film found by Darling in the streets and dumpsters of Hollywood in the early '70s. More recently the project has expanded and found a home on the World Wide Web, under the sponsorship of the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
.
Film and television production
In his capacity as a film and television producer, Newman worked with KQED-TV on production of the Dilexi Series, featuring twelve original TV programs by artists including Terry RileyTerry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
, Arlo Acton, Anna Halprin
Anna Halprin
Anna Halprin helped pioneer the experimental art form known as postmodern dance and referred to herself as the breaker of modern dance. Halprin, along with her contemporaries such as Trisha Brown, Simone Forti, Yvonne Rainer, John Cage, and Robert Morris, collaborated and built a community based...
, Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer
Yvonne Rainer is an American dancer, choreographer and filmmaker, whose work in these disciplines is frequently challenging and experimental. Her work is classified as minimalist art.- Early life :...
, Robert Nelson, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
, The Living Theater, Philip Makanna, Robert Frank
Robert Frank
Robert Frank , born in Zürich, Switzerland, is an important figure in American photography and film. His most notable work, the 1958 photobook titled The Americans, was influential, and earned Frank comparisons to a modern-day de Tocqueville for his fresh and skeptical outsider's view of American...
, Edwin Schlossberg
Edwin Schlossberg
Edwin Arthur Schlossberg , founder and principal of ESI Design, is an American designer, author and artist. Schlossberg specializes in designing interactive, participatory experiences, beginning in 1977 with the first hands-on learning environment in the U.S. for the Brooklyn Children's Museum...
, Walter De Maria
Walter De Maria
-Early life and career:De Maria was born in Albany, California on October 1, 1935. He studied history and art at the University of California, Berkeley from 1953 to 1959. Although trained as a painter, De Maria soon turned to sculpture and began using other media...
, and Kenneth Dewey. From 1972 to 1974 he produced two feature films, Phil Makanna's Shoot the Whale and Space Is the Place
Space Is the Place
Space Is the Place is an 82-minute film made in 1972 and released in 1974.It was produced by Jim Newman, directed by John Coney, written by Sun Ra, Joshua Smith and features Sun Ra and his Arkestra...
, featuring jazz bandleader Sun Ra
Sun Ra
Sun Ra was a prolific jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, poet and philosopher known for his "cosmic philosophy," musical compositions and performances. He was born in Birmingham, Alabama...
. In 1976 he produced a video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
on Philippine psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
surgery
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, Miracles and Metaphors.