Overview
Jess (Burgess Franklin Collins) was born in Long Beach, California in 1923 and died in San Francisco in 2004. His 50-year art-making practice centered on appropriation, and included collage, painting, drawing, assemblage and poetry. Synthesizing literature, mythology and the language and images of popular culture, he transformed the everyday into fantastical narratives, creating one of the most original bodies of work to come out of the American 20th Century.
Works
Exhibitions
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Drawn to Drawing
12 Jul - 16 Aug 2025Todd Hosfelt combines approximately 200 drawings in an installation designed to reveal thematic and conceptual relationships across time and place. In drawings spanning the globe as well as the 16th...Read more -
Bruce Conner + Jess
The Virtue of Uncertainty 5 Sep - 14 Oct 2023Reception: Saturday September 9, 3-5pm, with a curatorial tour at 3pm Two of the most original and broad-ranging 20th century American artists — Bruce Conner (1933-2008) and Jess (1923-2004) —...Read more
Press
News
Events
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Fog Design + Art 2025
23 - 26 Jan 2025Artwork by San Francisco masters Bruce Conner, Jay DeFeo, Jess (Burgess Collins), and Wayne Thiebaud juxtaposed with works by contemporary artists Mansur Nurullah, Jutta Haeckel,...Read more -
Dr. Devin Zuber on Jess
5 Oct 2023Join us for a conversation with Dr. Devin Zuber who will discuss his book-in-progress, Angelheaded Hipsters: Art and Esotericism in Cold War California . The...Read more -
Norma Cole on Jess
14 Sep 2023Links to the full recording and full size images of the Mars and Catasters covers can be found below. Join us in the gallery for...Read more
Art Fairs