Press Release: Right Here, Right Now, Richmond
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, August 19, 2024
ANNOUNCING:
Press Release: Right Here, Right Now, Richmond
September 4 – November 21, 2024
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
Exhibitions and events are all free and no rsvp is necessary
Richmond, CA: Richmond Art Center is proud to present Right Here, Right Now, Richmond. Now in its third iteration, this biennial exhibition celebrates the visionary art and ideas of local artists in Richmond, California.
A year ago, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, seven artists who live or work in Richmond were invited to create new work that expanded their creative practices. These artists are: Anthony Delgado, Art Hazelwood, e bond, Erin McCluskey Wheeler, Helia Pouyanfar, Quinn Keck, and Taro Hattori. The resulting work for Right Here, Right Now, Richmond offers a creative lens on Richmond and the Bay Area’s history, environment, and the experiences of its vibrant communities.
“As the artists created new work for this show, a theme to emerge is ‘home’ in its many forms—physical, cultural, and emotional,” says Roberto Martinez, the exhibition’s curator. “Maybe it’s obvious, but in a rapidly changing city, home is always worth exploring.”
Erin McCluskey and Art Hazelwood respond to the impact of capitalism’s consumerist tendencies on Richmond’s natural and social environments. McCluskey’s micro-plastic mosaic sculptures, made from reclaimed trash collected from the shoreline, reflect the lasting impact that excessive consumption and waste has on our bodies and planet. In a similar spirit, Hazelwood’s gothic prints depict the mechanisms of capitalism as monstrous entities, countered by the hope of community unity overcoming these oppressive forces.
Set against the backdrop of Richmond’s urban landscape, Anthony Delgado’s photographic documentation of Lucha Libre dramatizes the eternal struggle between good and evil, capturing a visual opera that transcends language and borders.
Taro Hattori and Helia Pouyanfar open up conversations around home, memory and belonging, centering the refugee experience in our understanding of community. Hattori’s sonic installation created in collaboration with refugees and non-refugees, provides a stage for songs and stories that illuminate our shared human experiences, helping find points of connection and revelation. Pouyanfar’s sculptural works speak to a more intimate conversation, a grappling of the refugee body and its negotiation and reconciliation with place. Through the use of mirrors, drywall and other building materials, Pouyanfar materializes memory and forces us to think about the meaning of home.
In an exploration of our different experiences and relationships to home, Quinn Keck has woven together words, stories, poems and images of Richmond into a multi-media installation that abstracts, recombines and superimposes personal contributions and archival materials onto each other: deriving and capturing the infinite ideas and profound beauty that come together to evoke a sense of place.
Lastly, e bond presents a series of vibrant mixed media collage prints whose individual but infinite circular forms call for moments of singularity. bond’s work presents a deep exploration of images and words that map connections between our disparate thoughts and experiences, culminating in unity as a singular whole.
PROGRAM
EXHIBITION
September 4 – November 21, 2024
Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Admission is free. CLICK HERE to learn about our Art Tours program, including free tours for Richmond youth.
OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, September 7, 1pm to 3pm | Free
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Join us for the opening reception of Right Here, Right Now. Also opening are fall exhibitions, Sentinels & Saviors; Abi Mustapha: Recent Work; and The Art of Sumi-e. All are welcome to attend. No RSVP necessary.
RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW: SUNSET SOCIAL
Friday, September 20, 5pm-8pm | Free
Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Avenue, Richmond, CA 94804
Let’s gather at sunset for art and community as we bid farewell to summer. Richmond Art Center’s courtyard and galleries will be transformed into a space for celebrating the artists featured in Right Here, Right Now with performances, live art demonstrations, and more. It’s not often we open our galleries after dark – don’t miss it!
WATERSHED’S COASTAL CLEANUP WITH ERIN MCCLUSKEY WHEELER
Saturday, September 21, 8am-5pm
Shimada Friendship Park, Peninsula Drive and Marina Bay Parkway
Artist Erin McCluskey will be participating in the 40th Annual Coastal Cleanup Day on September 21, collecting beach litter to incorporate into her mixed media work. Join Erin in finding artistic inspiration while contributing to the cleanup of Shimada Friendship Park’s shoreline. This event is organized by The Watershed Project and County Supervisor John Gioia. Please dress in layers, wear a hat and/or sunscreen, and sturdy closed-toe shoes. Cleanup supplies will be provided, but if possible, bring a bucket, reusable gloves, and a water bottle to help minimize waste. Learn more and register: https://thewatershedproject.org/event/coastal-cleanup-day-2024/
About Richmond Art Center: Richmond Art Center has been sharing art and creating with the community since 1936. Our programs encompass classes, exhibitions, and events at our facility in downtown Richmond, as well as off-site activities that bring free, high-quality art-making experiences to WCCUSD schools and community partners. richmondartcenter.org
For more information contact:
Amy Spencer, amy@richmondartcenter.org
Above image details (clockwise from top left): Artworks by Art Hazelwood, e bond, Anthony Delgado, and Erin McCluskey Wheeler.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
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