Into The Bonniverse – A limited engagement of ICONIC photography opens April 20th at The Muck in Fullerton

Bonnie Schiffman’s iconic photography, featuring never seen before Polaroids, letters, negatives, scans, final prints, and proof sheets of famous figures.

FULLERTON, CA, UNITED STATES, April 12, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — A special, limited engagement of Bonnie Schiffman’s iconic photography, featuring never seen before Polaroids, personalized letters, answering machine messages left from (Uncle Milty, Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg), negatives, scans, final prints, and proof sheets of famous figures will be on view at The Muck from April 20th to May 3rd.

In alignment with The Muck’s mission of arts education, the exhibition includes an educational component of photography: darkroom equipment and vintage cameras, including a small collection owned by the Muckenthaler family. Need some creative inspiration? Just listen to Bonnie describe her first time…the moment she KNEW she wanted to be a photographer as she watched the color appear on the paper in the dark room at her high school.

For over 40 years, Bonnie Schiffman has photographed icons like Robin Williams, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, Jerry Seinfeld, Betty White, Steve Jobs, Julia Childs and countless others, many of whom she calls friends. Bonnie brings such energy and spontaneity to her work—we as viewers get a new, direct and honest perspective of her subjects.

Laurie Kratochvil, former Photo Director for Rolling Stone and INStyle Magazine said, “Bonnie doesn’t put herself in the picture, so you don’t get the celebrity, you get the real person.” Bonnie opened the door to her home in Los Angeles, which doubled as her photography studio for over 30 years, where the most important stage was set—the LUNCH Table… It always started with a GREAT lunch. Bonnie always “broke bread” before she clicked the shutter, to peel back the layer of Celebrity and get to the real person. “Bonnie caught a side of me that’s more revealing than any other portraits I have”, said Billy Crystal in his introductory essay to her Rolling Stone Book of Comedy. Her images have been seen globally in countless magazines including Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, GQ, and Esquire, movie posters and included in the permanent collection of 68 museums. Her work is on view now at the Federal Reserve, Washington D.C. & The National Comedy Center in N.Y.

Lisa M. Berman remarks on bringing this exhibition to The Muck, “From the moment we met, Bonnie has been a friend to my entire family. We met twenty years ago at my gallery Sculpture to Wear and a decade later she asked if I had some ideas about presenting her work. We’ve collaborated in placing her work in the National Comedy Center, had a great time selling her images at Photo LA (Berman Arts Agency booth) where we placed her work in the celebrated Greenburg Photograghy Collection now in permanent collection at The Getty. In the past 4 months, I have had both the honor and pleasure of the Athenian task to organize her 40 years of archives. Looking through her archives is like looking through family photo albums—it’s truly remarkable, the vast amounts of work and familiar faces BEFORE they were famous. And OH, the laughs we’ve had”.

A portion of all Gallery Sales support The Muck, an arts education nonprofit. Curatorial walk-throughs are available on request. For more information visit: themuck.org/program/2022/bonnieverse

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“Into the BONNIEVERSE…”

Opening Reception: April 21, 6-8pm / Free to attend

On view: April 20-May 5, 2022

Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday, 10am-5pm

Admission: $5 per person

Website: www.themuck.org/program/2022/bonnieverse

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The Muck mission is to spark the imagination and encourage the creativity of their community through art exhibitions, music and community outreach, all made possible through the innovative use of the historic Muckenthaler Estate. We welcome new visitors and are open creating

The estate, consisting of an 18-room mansion and the surrounding 8.5-acre grounds, was built in 1925 by Walter and Adella Muckenthaler and has been recognized by the National Register of Historic Places since 1999. In 1965, Harold Muckenthaler donated the mansion to the city of Fullerton, with the request that his childhood home be used as a public cultural center.

Fifty-seven years later, the Muck continues that legacy. Each year, the center is home to more than 60 performances, gallery exhibits, festivals and special events. They provide more than 6,000 hours of arts education classes, both on location and at 42 outreach sites that serve more than 43,000 people each year. The unique and photogenic mansion and grounds are also home to around 75 weddings each year.

The Muck has been awarded the 2009 Fullerton Chamber of Commerce Quality of Life award for best non-profit organization and the 2010 Arts Program of the Year award from Arts Orange County.

The Muckenthaler Cultural Center, known affectionately as the Muck, is located at 1201 West Malvern Avenue, Fullerton, California 92833. For more information please visit www.TheMuck.org.

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Ana Cottle
Muckenthaler Cultural Center
+1 714-738-6595
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