Courtesy of William Hendricks

On Saturday, Sept. 7, the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara opened its newest exhibit, POOCH: The Art Full Life of Keith Julius Puccinelli, to the public. A collection of Puccinelli’s art and sketchbooks spanning his immense and prolific career, the exhibit takes visitors through the evolution of one of Santa Barbara and the Central Coast’s most influential graphic designers and artists of the past four decades. 

Complexity and uncertainty are inherent in life, in living and being human. The absurdity of merely existing has to be pushed aside to be a part of the world into which we were dropped. Like ancient Greek actors, we conform and exist as a mask for others to see. Many artists seek to understand these masks more, using different artistic styles that contort the world differently in hopes of shedding more light onto the darkness we never dare to explore.

As with all great artists, Puccinelli asks: Who are we behind the mask? Drop the facade, and what lies beneath? 

His answer: Beneath the masks are clowns. 

In a beautifully curated and free-flowing exhibit, the Art, Design & Architecture (ADA)  Museum takes the visitor through the art-filled life of Keith Puccinelli — along with his wife, Fran Puccinelli — as they first encounter the Puccinellis’ private art collection that was part of a large donation to the museum. 

The donation of 600 total items, ranging from sketchbooks to studies for larger pieces to those larger pieces and to the aforementioned private collection of the Puccinellis, is barely scratched by the trove taken out for this solo exhibition.

Meg Linton, the lead curator of the POOCH show, said she wanted to “try and give an overview to those who may have not heard of or seen [Puccinelli’s] work before,” but for those who had, to “hopefully give them a new way to see his work.” 

With many solo and group exhibitions, a highlight from Focus on the Masters (a Ventura non-profit that documents accomplished contemporary artists) and a board position at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara, Puccinelli gave his heart and soul to building the art community here on the Central Coast and the exhibit thoroughly explored this rich legacy. 

The pieces shown span from his time as a graphic designer to his struggle with surviving throat cancer into his later career as he reflects on mortality. The exhibit also explores both his influence and influences. Some pieces from other artists and friends are paired with his, showing the camaraderie within the art world. 

Within the first two sections of the exhibit, community is king. Keith and Fran Puccinelli’s collection represented their commitment to the local art scene of the Central Coast and the types of art and artists by which they were influenced. 

In the room directly after is a jackpot of graphic design and history. From 1983 to 1996, Puccinelli Design was a cornerstone of the Central Coast, and encompassed within this section is the range of work he did. From a piece for an AIDS walk to a local avocado festival and even designs for UCSB and Santa Barbara City College, the room bursts with connection to the regional art scene. The designs presented in the exhibit are imbued with elements of pop art and lead beautifully into the types of art and commentary he makes further into his illustrious career.

“He didn’t want to be just a painter, just a drawer, just a sculptor or designer, [Puccinelli] wanted to be an artist,” Linton said. “He would say, ‘Everything is digitally made.’ Then, he would proceed to hold up the 10 digits of his hands.” 

Humor and its use as a coping mechanism for being human were integral parts of Puccinelli’s life, evident after venturing further into the exhibit and his life. After a throat cancer diagnosis in 1998 and the urging of his wife, Puccinelli dove headfirst into becoming a fine artist full time.  

Within the largest room of the exhibit, visitors are inundated with the sights of various forms and themes of Puccinelli’s time as an artist. The smoking section examines his long history of smoking, his overcoming of throat cancer and the associated morphine-induced fever dreams and his later struggle with the inability to produce saliva. Thirst and water show up as the primary themes in many of the pieces after this life-changing experience.  

Near the corner, dedicated to the lifelong consequences of smoking, one finds a bountiful assortment of Puccinelli’s sketchbooks flipped open to pages that relate to the themes expressed in the larger studies and pieces hanging on the gallery walls. A jar also accompanies the vast number of books, one full of red foam clown noses that reads “TAKE ONE.” Inspired by Puccinelli carrying around clown noses in his pocket, this interactive part of the exhibit invites viewes to see the world through the same lens as the artist; not taking oneself too seriously and embracing life for the wacky and wild tailspin it is. However, the noses become more reflective upon entering the next room.

A dark atmosphere hangs over a collection of clown drawings as they surround a bench that simply begs for you to sit, clown nose and all, and immerse yourself in the darkness swirling around you. The multi-paneled piece that hangs on the wall, entitled “Yet Another Dead Motherfucker,” depicts a distorted and exaggerated clown lying down dead. The room presents viewers with the ideas of mortality that Puccinelli had been playing with late into his career. He often depicted himself as a clown, and the title of the piece overflows with contempt for its own subject — a title that seems to suggest that this isn’t the first clown no one has cared about dying, and it surely won’t be the last. Sitting there and finding breathing harder because of the foam pinching your nostrils, one finds a deep and personal bond with the art. There is a connection in placing one’s own face over the dead clowns and embracing the same emotions that Puccinelli did. 

POOCH has two photographs of the artist in this room, one from when he was far younger, with a head full of dark hair. The other picture is shot similarly in terms of lighting, proportions and angle, but in it, the older, balder and more experienced Puccinelli stands nude. He stands there, with a look in his eyes that screams out “here I am. This is me… all of me” and reflects no hesitation or embarrassment. 

Puccinelli had a long and impactful life, not just for those close to him but for anyone who has ever seen a local artist or finds local art necessary. Puccinelli’s art is the work of a man invested in finding meaning through the challenges and triumphs in life, trying to make sense of the world through a body that, for him and for many of us, is an imperfect vessel prone to constant and consistent malfunction.

Courtesy of William Hendricks

His work is deeply personal; it is one man saying “this is how I feel,” and to find yourself in his art is to simply allow yourself to embrace the uncertainty of life, the elements outside of your control and admit to yourself that you are in the dark just as much as everyone else and vice versa. But let us laugh and cry together, let us be with each other as we clown around in this dark and let us create community just as Keith and Fran Puccinelli did. Take off the mask, put on the red nose, grab those big shoes and live!

POOCH: The Art Full Life of Keith Julius Puccinelli is on view at the UC Santa Barbara Art, Design & Architecture Museum from now until Dec. 15, 2024. The museum is open free to the public Wednesday through Sunday, 12-5 p.m. More information can be found at the museum website.