Tag Archives: Berkeley Art Center
Berkeley Art Center showcases sculpture in new show
By Marcia Tanner
One of the many aesthetic pleasures of ORIGINS:Elemental Forms in Contemporary Sculpture — a provocative group sculpture exhibition now at the Berkeley Art Center through June 9 — is the installation itself. Walking into the light-filled airy gallery, you’re confronted with an artfully composed array of three-dimensional (and a few two-dimensional) forms: large and small, inspired by geometric and organic shapes, abstract or figurative or somewhere in between, mostly using traditional materials and all crafted by hand.
The display has such visual coherence it takes a minute or so to realize that the individual works are very different from each other, and that several artists — twelve to be exact, four women and eight men, all from the Bay Area — are represented here, in mini-solo shows whose close proximity sparks a lively conversation among themselves and with the viewer. … Continue reading »
The It List: Five things to do in Berkeley this weekend
PREPARE TO BE BEWITCHED Thaisa Frank’s short fiction has been captivating readers for decades, even before the publication of her highly regarded and widely translated novel Heidegger’s Glasses. Now Frank has collected 61 old and new stories in Enchantment: New and Selected Stories, published this week by Berkeley’s Counterpoint Press. As Booklist puts it:”The title of this collection hints at its contents — delectable stories with touches of the surreal as well as many plot twists and surprises. From short-short story to novella, each narrative demonstrates mastery of the genre.” Frank will be reading from Enchantment at Mrs. Dalloway’s on College Avenue at 7:30 pm on Friday, July 13.
A SALUTE WOODY GUTHRIE In 1988, Peter Glazer, the chair of UC Berkeley’s Theater, Dance, and 
Performance Studies, wrote a musical based on the life and songs of Woody Guthrie. Almost 25 years later, Woody Guthrie’s American Song has been performed hundreds of times, on stages from Seattle to New York. Glazer himself has directed the award-winning play 25 times and his latest interpretation is playing at the Freight & Salvage Coffee House until July 22. On Saturday, July 14, the 100th anniversary of Guthrie’s birth, Glazer and the cast from the musical will hold an open house from 1 to 5 pm and perform some classics like “This Land is Your Land.” There will also be a discussion of Guthrie with Glazer. The Freight is also displaying the first public exhibit of The Kids Write to Woody . . . Woody Writes Back, letters Woody Guthrie wrote in the summer of 1955 when he was bed-ridden with Huntington’s Disease at Brooklyn State Hospital. A few dozen children attending a summer camp outside St. Louis had sent post cards to Guthrie, and he answered each one individually. … Continue reading »
The environment: Three art shows that reflect landscape
By Plinio Hernandez
As a life long resident of Berkeley, being conscious about the environment and global justice comes as second nature in my daily life. Biking, gardening, beekeeping, or donating to a much needed cause are all part of what I live and breathe in Berkeley. If you want to visually experience art that reflects these issues, three ongoing art exhibits in Berkeley, all varying in medium and style, exemplify ideas of the poetic and the political by exploring concepts of land usage, abstract landscape, and migrant farm workers.
The first and the most conceptual of these exhibits is “Land, Use” at the Hazel Wolf Gallery, located inside the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley. For this exhibition, the Brower Center has commissioned the first collaboration between Amy Franceschini (San Francisco, CA) and Fernando García-Dory (Madrid, Spain). Individual projects by these artists are also on display. The exhibit is made up of documentary-style videos, drawings, photographs, silk-screen posters, remnants of a workshop facilitated at the gallery, and writings that both artists use to bring their social practice methodology into the gallery space. … Continue reading »
Paper Quilt Project raises thought-provoking questions
The “Paper Quilt Project’ is a collaborative exhibit currently showing at the Berkeley Art Center, until December 4, 2011.
Using various mediums, but primarily pieced paper, teams of artists have created evocative works whose themes of interconnectivity and interdependence use as a reference the standard of American folk art – the quilt. Elements of the show play into the theme of the traditional patchwork quilt: compositions that unite miscellaneous and incongruous parts into a harmonious collaborative whole.
However the show does raise several interesting questions. Is it possible to straddle simultaneously the line between contemporary art practice and folk art and still produce work of artistic integrity? Do the resulting works of art manage to stand up under the weight of the overarching focus of the show – that of the process of collaboration itself? And finally, does such emphasis on the criteria of collaboration simply lead to too much consensus and not enough ‘bite’? … Continue reading »
Panel to discuss whether abstract art refutes digital age
The Berkeley Art Center is celebrating the centennial of abstract painting with an exhibit curated by Peter Selz, one of the founders of the Berkeley Art Museum and an expert in German Expressionism.
On Saturday at 4 p.m., Selz will moderate a panel with several of the artists featured in Abstract Visions, including Gary Edward Blum, Donna Brookman, Bruce Hasson, Kevan Jenson, Naomie Kremer, Keiko Nelson, and Gloria Tanchelev. After the panel, each of the artists will … Continue reading »
New Enrique Chagoya print to benefit Berkeley Art Center
The Berkeley Art Center has released a limited edition print by Bay Area printmaker Enrique Chagoya created in partnership with San Francisco’s fine arts press Electric Works to raise funds for the gallery and as part of its new exhibtion, Light/Dark.
The humorous print, titled “Downsize Gazpacho (with reduction of NEA)”, and multiples, is modeled on Chagoya’s popular series of “Cannibull’s” soup cans released by Electric Works last year.
Chagoya, a Mexican-born painter and print-maker, studied art at the San … Continue reading »
Berkeley’s youth get the chance to shine in two art shows
The Berkeley Arts Center on Walnut Street is showing “Identity: Youth Arts Exhibition” in which K-8 students from the Berkeley Unified School District are presenting artwork based on the theme of identity. Berkeley teachers were selected to curate the student artwork and the exhibition runs through March 20.
Accompanying programs include a day-long family art workshop and music and drama performances.
Meanwhile, the Kala Institute on San Pablo is showing ”Youth Arts Festival: Berkeley High School” through April 8. In partnership with the Arts and Humanities Academy at Berkeley High, Kala’s Artists-in-Schools program has been leading intensive curriculum-driven workshops at each grade level. The student artists/scholars are presenting work that explores immigrant voices, HIV prevention, First Amendment rights in relation to artists, and ways of mapping our local communities. … Continue reading »
Silent auction for BAC
The Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park is holding a silent auction over the next three weeks which provides the opportunity to acquire work by more than 75 artists. The artists have donated their work in support of the center.
Some of the artists’ works have been posted on the center’s Flickr page.
The auction kicks off tomorrow night with an opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. Visitors will be able to pay a “buy-it-now” price, … Continue reading »
