Bruce Richards (b. 1948, Dayton, OH) is a New York based artist who came of age in the socially and politically charged era of 1970s California, assisting Vija Celmins as part of the first generation of graduates from UC Irvine. Richards’ work analyzes the human relationship to popular culture and mass media – as well as the process by which meaning is carefully crafted by society. Through a dense iconography that unpacks historical artifacts, sculptures, quotidian objects, and ecological fragments, Richards playfully straddles the past and the present by gingerly suspending unassuming subjects that raise timeless questions and metaphors around the human condition.

Select solo exhibitions include Sea View, Los Angeles, CA (2024); Fortnight Institute, New York, NY (2024); Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (2022); and Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA (2014). Select group exhibitions include Fortnight Institute, New York, NY (2023); Deutsches Hygiene Museum, Dresden, Germany (2016); Leila Heller Gallery, Curated by Paul Morris and Beth Rudin DeWoody, New York, NY (2014); Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, curated by Scott Canty and Isabelle Lutterodt, Los Angeles, California (2014); Jack Rutberg Fine Arts, Los Angeles, CA (2012); Nye + Brown, Culver City, CA (2011); San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio, Texas (2010); and the Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA (2009).

Bruce Richards’ work is in the public collections of the Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Laguna Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach Museum of Art, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.