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Bay Area Clay at Arts Benicia

Matt clay faces with a folk art and political flavor carved into a tall column, pale colors and dark shadows in the revices
Detail of “Cliffhanger”, 2017 by Mark Messenger

The ceramics show at Arts Benicia closes on November 19 and features many notable pieces worthy of a trip, for those who will travel over bridges. The center is open Wednesday–Sunday 12 noon – 5pm and the show is called “Bay Area Clay: A Legacy of Social Consciousness.”

The exhibition features well-known local artists and some wonderful work by: Robert Arneson, Stephen De Staebler, Viola Frey, Arthur Gonzalez, Michelle Gregor, Marc Lancet, Mark Messenger, Richard Notkin, Lisa Reinertson, Richard Shaw, Ehren Tool, Monica Van den Dool, Stan Welsh, and Wanxin Zhang.

I’ve always loved the work of Ehren Tool and this show features a wall of his cups on the left wall once inside the gallery. Two of my favorites include one with a quote by environmental campaigner and scientist Dr. Vidana Shiva, and there are several great ones featuring Trump imagery.

Matt cup with text impressed in We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with the earth or we are not going to have a future at all."
Cup by Ehren Tool

 

A detail of 8 cups on simple wooden shelves. One features an image of Trump holding a severed head of the Statue of Liberty, another a screaming Trump face. The other cups are subdued and have images of war impressed into them
Cups by Ehren Tool

 

I am new to the work of  Mark Messenger and loved the large central column by him that anchors the show. All pieces are worthy of spending some slow art time to absorb the rich imagery, appreciate the technical skill and enjoy the beautiful compositions and satisfying ideas on view.

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Visitors engaging with the column by Mark Messenger

 

Visit the Arts Benicia website for more information. The center is located at 991 Tyler Street, STE. 114, Benicia CA. and is free but as usual, donations are welcome for this artist run space. Telephone: 707-747-0131, email is info@artsbenicia.org.

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Studio visit with artist Bill Bruckner

On my way out of The Black Woman Is God exhibit at SOMArts in August, I was delighted to meet artist and access consultant Bill Bruckner. He’d been to a life drawing class nearby and had also visited the show. We got talking and it seemed natural that a studio visit to check out his latest work should follow. I’ve always liked his portraits but he also has some exciting new work that relates to recent eye surgery. We planned to meet soon, share some food and talk life-drawing and approaches to making art.

A full length portrait of slim, white man Bill Bruckner in acrylic paint. He is smiling and balding, looking straight at the viewer and wears jeans and is bare-chested with a single, short arm.
Self-portrait (unfinished), Bill Bruckner, 2012.
Detail of head from full-length portrait of one-armed artist. He is smiling, and is white, balding with some grey hair and wearing round wire-rimmed glasses
Self-portrait (unfinished – detail), Bill Bruckner, 2012.

Sharing works and process

Arriving at Bill’s studio near Balboa Park BART station, I was happily reminded of how important it is for artists to spend time with each other, to touch base, share experiences and swap useful contacts and ideas for future endeavors. Somewhere in there, we talked about the local disability scene and the history of the US, we showed each other our recent work and glimpsed each other’s sketch books. Bill has been drawing and painting versions of the air bubble that was part of his cornea transplant surgery,  images that his ophthalmologist has heard about but never really seen or experienced himself.

Other related paintings we discussed were inspired by the “blood moon” of April 2014. Our conversation came soon after the summer eclipse season of 2017, and his images seemed to resonate and pulse with a lightness of space and time that made them more immediate.

Image: a dark square background has a circle that resembles the moon with a golden hue, suggesting
Air bubble – Full Moon #2, acrylic, Bill Bruckner

I am always drawn to monochrome line work and loved everything black and white that Bill shared with me. He has many beautiful landscapes that remind me of English or European artists and from time to time, he adds to his wonderful series of portraits of people with disabilities and his 2012 self-portrait remains unfinished. Writer and activist Leroy Moore  features Bill’s portrait of him in his new book Black Disability 101.

He has an Open Studio as part of Artspan Week on October 28 and 29. His studio will be open 11am–6pm and is  opposite Balboa Park BART in San Francisco at 2377 San Jose Avenue (corner of Niagara). His studio is # 20 and wheelchair accessible but there is a slightly hair-raising slope for wheelchair riders down to the entrance. You will need to zig-zag down an expanse of parking lot before entering the building, and going down a long corridor to his studio.

 

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Community of Practice

Big shout out to local artists Sue Fox from Textile Dream Studio and Corbett OToole for all they do. I’ve just completed a wonderful 12 x 12 challenge with Sue, Corbett and 10 other women artists over the last 12 months. We’ve all traveled together and shared our process, our products and ourselves once a month. Their expertise and wisdom are a dynamic force in the world and we are all so grateful to them.

Much of the Farming Series has been made during this process and as the year drew to a close, the work started to become more sculptural. The gate motif is still making its presence felt and I’m more than ready to do some full on, in your face color. The piece in this photo is also within the 12 x 1 2 inch format, and made of 12, 12 inch square pieces of plastic bubble wrap and re-cycled batting, sewn together to make a cushion. The sculpture makes a crunching sound when pressed, and reminds me of the daily endeavor of reducing the amount of plastic in my life.

Image shows: square white cushion with 8 small red prayer flags sewn to bottom edge. A white gate symbol is stenciled onto a fragment of red silk fabric song with three vertical black lines and hints of blue and yellow paint.
Farming Sculpture No. 1, mixed media (including plastic, paint and silk cloth, 12 x 12 inches

The small red fabric prayer flags are torn rectangles from an old red silk dress. The white gate motif and black vertical lines were applied with a stencil. Image shows: square white cushion with 8 small red prayer flags sewn to bottom edge. A white gate symbol is stenciled onto a fragment of red silk fabric, placed in the middle of the piece with three vertical black lines and hints of blue and yellow paint around the edges.