Ryan Mrozowski, “Untitled (Orange) B, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of Ratio 3.
November 6 to December 18 – Without Stopping, group exhibition at Ratio 3: Without Stopping brings together paintings by artists whose practices reflect an ever-evolving discipline. Though styles, subject matter, techniques, and materials continuously lose, and regain the favor of artists and their audiences, the dialogues in painting proliferate and endure. Featuring Amy Feldman, Nobuya Hoki, Ulala Imai, Matthew Metzger, Ryan Mrozowski, Kyoko Murase, Noam Rappaport, and Yui Yaegashi. Ratio 3 is open Fridays and Saturdays by appointment. Please schedule a visit here.
Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Thelma Golden. Image courtesy of Stanford Arts.
Monday, November 16, 5pm – Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Thelma Golden in conversation, live on Stanford YouTube: Akunyili Crosby was born in Enugu, Nigeria in 1983 and currently lives and works in Los Angeles. Her work negotiates the cultural terrain between her adopted home in America and her native Nigeria, creating collage and photo transfer-based paintings that expose the challenges of occupying these two worlds. Thelma Golden is the Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC. Register for the live YouTube conversation here.
Tony Marsh “Cauldron” fired 6 times, assorted clay and glaze material, Sarah Amos “Lift Off” collagraph, thread, yarn on felt. Image courtesy of Patricia Sweetow Gallery.
November 7 to December 26 – Sarah Amos & Tony Marsh at Patricia Sweetow Gallery: This exhibition presents Tony Marsh, ceramic sculpture and Sarah Amos, mixed media fiber ‘paintings.’ The two artists are innovators in their respective practices, each applying material, media and process to expand boundaries and break expectations. Tony Marsh has contributed to the practice of contemporary ceramics as an artist, educator and innovator for over 40 years. In this exhibition Marsh presents Crucibles and Cauldrons, aptly named after instruments forged with fire. Sarah Amos will present three mixed media fiber works from her Chalk Lines series and nine paintings on paper from the Night Hive series. Patricia Sweetow Gallery is open Wed – Sat, 11:00 am to 5:30 pm. To visit, book your appointment here.
Jay DeFeo, Untitled, 1973, gelatin silver print. Image courtesy of The Wattis Institute.
November 18 at 5:00 pm – Online panel discussion Catching Ideas in Process: Jay DeFeo’s Photography: The Wattis Institute presents an online panel discussion with Corey Keller, Paul Mpagi Sepuya and Rayyane Tabet, moderated by Emily Markert. Jay DeFeo (1929–1989) was a key member of the Bay Area arts community during her four–decade career. Though best known for her painting The Rose, 1958–66, she worked across a variety of media, including drawing, collage, and photography, often creating works that defy singular categorization. Photography in particular enabled DeFeo to experiment with themes and forms she continually returned to in her practice. She also used the camera to capture her own process, resulting in a body of images that blur the line between documentation and art. Register for the panel discussion here.
Jeffrey Gibson “Nothing is Eternal” video still. Image Courtesy of the Wattis Institute.
Ongoing to December 12 – Jeffrey Gibson: Nothing is Eternal online film and select off-site viewings: The Wattis Institute and Jeffrey Gibson present Nothing is Eternal, a newly commissioned video with musical composition. Conceived during this pandemic era, the immersive video work depicts the American flag in unsettling stillness, as a marker of territory, and projected onto bodies, while set to a heartrending soundtrack. At once melancholic and beautiful, Gibson renders the iconic image of the flag as both elastic and unyielding. The slow transformation through time, color, and form reflects both a distillation of our social collapse and the reinvention of self and community, referencing the movement and change that is so desired for this nation. For online and off-site film screening information, visit here.
Wardell Milan, “The Parade” 2020, charcoal, graphite, oil pastel, pastel, cut and pasted paper on hand-dyed paper. Image courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery.
Ongoing to December 22 – Wardell Milan at Fraenkel Gallery: The exhibition features Milan’s ongoing series “Death, Wine, Revolt,” which combines photography, drawing, painting, collage, and sculpture to explore themes of over-indulgence, destruction, and revolution. While earlier series such as “Parisian Landscapes” looked inward, to personal questions of freedom and desire, Milan made the works on view in response to the turmoil of the global moment. Fraenkel Gallery is open Tuesday – Thursday from 11 am to 3pm. Please schedule a visit here.
Troy Chew, “Ball Street Journal”, oil on canvas. Image courtesy of Cult Exhibitions.
Ongoing to December 5 – Troy Chew: Yadadamean at Cult Exhibitions: Chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream and Coca Cola presented together on a tabletop easily recalls a setup for celebration. Troy Chew’s portrayal of this assortment of delicacies however, is a coded play on the lexicon of Hip Hop, slang terminology and Bay Area culture. Chew arranges the objects akin to scenes in Flemish still life paintings. By repurposing everyday items from the African Diaspora into fine art compositions, Chew’s paintings embody a smooth detachment from European painting traditions. Cult Exhibitions is open by appointment only, please schedule a visit here.