Face Value: Portraiture in the Ahmanson Collection

The Ahmanson Gallery's current exhibition, Face Value , opened on November 17, 2024 with a full program beginning with "Christian Writers Today," a conversation moderated by former chairman of the National Endowment for the Art and California Poet Laureate, Dana Gioa, with writers Joshua Hren, Jessica Hooten Wilson, and James Matthew Wilson. Following the conversation, spoken word poet, Hanna Watson presented two poems inspired by the imagery in the exhibition. And to introduce the portraiture collection, curator John Silvis interviewed collector and patron Roberta Ahmanson, critic and writer Jennifer Gross, and artists Genesis Tramaine and Ale Groen. Featuring twenty-eight portraits from the Ahmanson Collection the exhibition offers a historic and cross-generational examination of the portrait genre, exploring its evolving cultural significance and diverse interpretations. The exhibition underscores the intrinsic human need for connection and reassurance, showing how portraiture continues to speak to our universal desires.   ARTISTS: Derrick Adams, Francesco Arena, Peter Brandes, Andrea Büttner, Mary Cassatt, Kieran Dodds, Iwan Effendi, Amir H. Fallah, Ale Groen, Jean-Paul Lemieux, Robert Longo, Markus Lüpertz, Lavar Monroe, Marc Padeu, Salvatore Pinto, Phang Quang, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Stanley Spencer, Antoni Tapies, Arthur Timothy, Genesis Tramaine, Ray Turner, Caroline Walker, Grant Wood.