Richmond Art Center Richmond Art Center

Face Forward

Face Forward: Self-image & Self-Worth Artists Panel Discussion: Saturday, April 7, 2-4pm

The group exhibition, Face Forward: Self-Image & Self-Worth, includes artists working across many platforms to address issues of identity, race, gender, status and societal values. Painting, photography, sculpture, and video present the variety of ways in which artists situate themselves in life.

Over the centuries artists from Rembrandt to Warhol have used the self-portrait as a vehicle to investigate aging, wealth and poverty, social position and social non-conformity. The contemporary artists gathered together in this exhibition use the self-portrait in these and other explorations to reflect contemporary life. In these times of diversity and multicultural experience, the artist’s image is both a cypher for the human condition as well as the foundation for complex iconography in which the cultural object stands to reflect the impact of societal norms on the individual.

From the groundbreaking feminist work of Judy Dater in her personifications of societal expectations, to the deceptively bright scenes of Allan deSouza’s collaged alter-ego responding to racism, these artworks all bring pause. The underlying values of contemporary society are brought forward for reflection and response.

Other artists participating in Face Forward: Self-Image & Self-Worth include Mildred Howard, Judith Linhares, Abel Rodriguez, Nyé Lyn Tho, Lava Thomas, Cate White, and Vanessa Woods. Using brush or camera, these artists bring humor, persistence, and intimacy to life.

Image:

Abel Rodriguez
Self-Portrait in Green with My Hair Pulled Back
2006
Oil on panel
16” x 12”

Face Forward: Self-Image & Self-Worth (Mire Adelante: Autoimagen & Autoestima)
Galería: Main Gallery
Fechas de la Exposición: 27 de Marzo – 19 de Mayo de 2018
Inauguración
: Sábado, 24 de Marzo, 5:00 – 7:00 pm

La exposición colectiva, Face Forward: Self-Image & Self-Wort (Mire Adelante: Autoimagen & Autoestima), incluye artistas que trabajan en diversas plataformas que abordan cuestiones de identidad, raza, género, estado y valores sociales. Pintura, fotografía, escultura y video presentan la variedad de las formas en que los artistas se sitúan en la vida.

A lo largo de los siglos, artistas desde el Rembrandt al Warhol han utilizado el autorretrato como vehículo para investigar el envejecimiento, la riqueza y la pobreza, la posición social y la inconformidad social. Los artistas contemporáneos reunidos en esta exposición usan el autorretrato en estas y otras exploraciones para reflejar acerca de la vida contemporánea. En estos tiempos de diversidad y experiencia multicultural, la imagen del artista es tanto un código para la condición humana como la base para una iconografía compleja en la que el objeto cultural puede reflejar el impacto de las normas sociales en el individuo.

Desde el innovador trabajo feminista de Judy Dater en sus personificaciones de las expectativas de la sociedad, hasta las escenas engañosamente brillantes del alter ego de Allan deSouza que responde al racismo, estas obras de arte provocan una pausa. Los valores subyacentes de la sociedad contemporánea se presentan para la reflexión y para la respuesta.

Otros artistas que participan en Face Forward: Self-Image & Self-Worth(Mire Adelante: Autoimagen & Autoestima)incluyen a Mildred Howard, Judith Linhares, Abel Rodríguez, Nyé Lyn Tho, Lava Thomas, Cate White y Vanessa Woods. Usando un pincel o una cámara, estos artistas dan vida al humor, la persistencia y la intimidad.

Imagen:

Abel Rodriguez
Autorretrato en verde con mi cabello al lado.
2006
Óleo sobre tabla
16 “x 12”

The Cutting Edge: Collage

The century of collage that began with George Braque and Pablo Picasso taking wallpaper or newspaper directly to drawing or painting opened a floodgate of exploration and expression making use of diverse materials in concert. Of today’s moment, the seven artists in The Cutting Edge exhibition sharpen their vision employing scissors and wit, glue and gumption.  John Hundt, David Jones, Diana Krevsky, Sherry Parker, Kim Smith, Livia Stein, and Shayna Yasuhara each pursue a different vein of inquiry to touch upon the dream, the dreaded, the seductive, and the puzzling. Riotous color, cool text, and fanciful imaginings all call for visual discovery.

Heir to this lineage, John Hundt makes use of vintage printed images to reconfigure the erotic body, to relocate the physical landscape, and to disorient the conventional thought. In the hands of Sherry Parker, the diverse elements seek to coalesce in a bitter-sweet scene of poignancy. And with yet another inflection, one tinged with nostalgia as well as irony, Kim Smith glues and writes to ask directly what is missing, what is lost, and how do we manage to make things whole again.

It is with the bits and pieces from her own drawings and paintings that Diana Krevsky re-imagines psychological landscapes. This transcends a recycling of materials and images to a discovery of new voices in the re-assembled. The taking of an element from previous work to propel a new vision is also common to Livia Stein as seen in etchings re-incorporated in larger compositions.

Livia Stein opens her work to the culture of India where she has had artist’s residencies: the intensity of color, the sensuality of cloth, and the impulse of ornamentation all propel these complex compositions into an abundance of energy and movement. Similarly, Shayna Yasuhara takes on a visual language of a specific culture – but here it is popular culture: the visual language of animé, the sensibility of cute, and the flat, close values of a palette orchestrated in a muted register.

The specificity of palette, the convention of drawing style, and the open expansiveness of space also figure in the work of David Jones. Lending a sense of nostalgia to the found images that are interrupted by the mixing of puzzles, the inconsistent visual narratives themselves take on a dreamlike disorientation so that even in a seemingly completed construction – the scene, the story, the meaning  – remain puzzling.

The Art of Living Black 2018

The Art of Living Black, now in its 22nd year, speaks to a long history of social struggles, cultural affirmation, and art making as a transformative practice.  As a preview exhibition and self-guided open studio art tour that recognizes Bay Area artists of African American descent, the exhibition contains a vast range of artistic endeavors, styles and media that references forgotten cultural histories, struggles and personal identity. Here, it is the artists’ ability to construct meaning for themselves and others that defines the significance of the work.

This year also recognizes the creative talents of Kelvin Curry and Damon Powell, who were awarded the 22nd Annual Spotlight Artists Award.

The Richmond Art Center would like to express it gratitude and appreciation to the supporters of The Art of Living Black and Steven Hopkins and Henri Schuyers, whose efforts have contributed to the success of the annual Art of Living Black exhibition and the Artists’ Open Studios.

In Focus: Current Photography

Invented during the birth of the industrial revolution, photography continues to be a critical element of our cultural lifestyle. Its ability to capture time, construct history, and illustrate or manipulate truth and identity helped it climb the ladder of importance in the art world. The evolution of photography is indeed as interesting as the evolution of art itself; with its exciting discoveries and technical progress coinciding with and reinforcing current artistic streams, and social, economic, technological and political events in society.

In the current age of digital manipulation, photography’s once sole aim to represent reality as truth has become optional and even immaterial. It once required technical expertise, specialized equipment and time to create an image. Now it takes less than a second with a mobile phone.

The juried exhibition In Focus on display, provides a diverse selection of 37 insightful and at times emotional images created by California-based artists, reflecting today’s ever-changing society. The selections were made by nationally known Bay Area photographer Judy Dater, who will have a major solo exhibition of her work, titled Only Human, at the DeYoung Museum from April 7 through September 16, 2018.

Juror’s Statement: Judy Dater

Everyone who has ever judged a contest is always faced with his or her own personal taste and biases. Mine range from being more interested in emotionally charged photographs as opposed to abstraction. I also prefer “straight” photography to “manipulated” pictures. This accounts to some degree for the choices I have made. I respond to photographs that speak to me on a visceral level. In the end, I tried to pick images that would represent the best of what was submitted, and that hopefully would make an interesting exhibition. No two people would make the same choices.

In Focus: Current Photography (En Foco: Fotografía Actual)
Galería: South Gallery
Fechas de la Exposición: 16 de Enero – 19 de Mayo de 2018
Inauguración: 3 de Febrero de 2018

Inventado durante el nacimiento de la revolución industrial, la fotografía continúa siendo un elemento crítico de nuestro estilo de vida cultural. Su capacidad de capturar el tiempo, construir historia e ilustrar o manipular la verdad y la identidad le ayudó a aumentar su importancia en el mundo del arte. La evolución de la fotografía es tan interesante como la evolución del proprio arte; con sus descubrimientos emocionantes y progreso técnico coincidiendo y reforzando corrientes artísticas actuales, y eventos sociales, económicos, tecnológicos y políticos en la sociedad.

En la era actual de la manipulación digital, el único objetivo de la fotografía de representar la realidad como verdad se ha convertido en algo opcional e incluso inmaterial. En un determinado momento, se requirió experiencia técnica, equipo especializado y tiempo para crear una imagen. En contrapartida, actualmente se lo lleva menos de un segundo con un teléfono móvil.

La exhibición jurada In Focus (En Foco) presentada, ofrece una selección diversa de 37 imágenes perspicaces y en ocasiones emocionales creadas por artistas basados ​​en California, que reflejan la sociedad actual que está en constante cambio. Las selecciones fueron hechas por la fotógrafa  de la Bay Area nacionalmente conocida, Judy Dater, que tendrá una gran exposición individual de su obra, titulada Only Human (Solamente Humano), en el Museo DeYoung desde el 7 de abril hasta el 16 de septiembre de 2018.

DECLARACIÓN DEL JURADO: JURY DATER
Todos los que alguna vez han juzgado un concurso siempre se enfrentan a sus propios gustos y prejuicios personales. Los míos oscilan entre mi interés por las fotografías que tienen una carga más emocional en vez de las fotografías abstractas. También prefiero a la fotografía “directa” a las imágenes “manipuladas”. Esto explica en cierta medida las elecciones que hice. Respondo a las fotografías que me hablan a nivel visceral. Al final, traté de elegir imágenes que representaran lo mejor de lo que se me fue enviado, y así espero haber creado una exposición interesante. No hay dos personas que tomarían las mismas decisiones.

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