Bruce Conner (1933–2008) was one of the foremost American artists of the postwar era. Emerging from the California art scene, Conner’s work in sculpture, collage, painting, drawing, and film, touches on crucial themes of postwar American society, from a rising consumer culture to the dread of nuclear apocalypse.

The present, iconic early assemblage by Conner anticipates his 1964 exhibition at Batman Gallery in San Francisco, in which he included twelve canvas panels printed with the words DO NOT TOUCH. In this assemblage, a plastic pouch containing various material including embossed papers written with the name and address of the work’s first owner (Ed Janss)–is printed with the words DO NOT REMOVE, a reference to the stringent rules applied in institutional settings for which Conner had no patience.