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SEE CHANGE 2020

By August 18, 2020

Dear SEE CHANGE 2020 Exhibition Visitor,

We are honored to present the work of these nine celebrated Bay Area artists. Each has been or is still a part of SFArtsED as a mentor through our education programs. Their thoughtful and distinct responses are a testament to the deeply personal nature of art making.

This exhibition was planned well in advance of the very big change that we are now experiencing in our world. See / Change 2020 was the title chosen to contain the artists’ expressions regarding the status quo, any part of it on which they wished to comment or to respond.

And now the status quo is something quite different. We find ourselves in a time, it seems, when all of the issues we have been facing are in greater relief: disparities in society, lack of cohesive leadership, and the specter of impending environmental catastrophe.

All of the artists had selected their work for this group show before the pandemic. But since the world changed, and since this show has moved from our Minnesota Street Project gallery to a virtual space, I felt it important to check in with them. To a person, they think the pieces we are exhibiting are more meaningful in this moment, and it is more urgent than ever to continue making art. They are engaged in their art practices, in their homes or studios, and through their images, objects, or films, they will continue speaking their truth to power with humor, intelligence and deep beauty.

And for each, there is a belief in simply making things, the very act itself, with the intentions, the play, the curiosity about the materiality, and the poetic accident. This conversation with themselves gives them a center from which to move powerfully and to engage others in important dialogue.

I find it so heartening to know that these artists, with their deeply investigated practices and clear ideas about our world, all continue to educate young people. We are talking a lot about heroes in our community, now. These artists are among mine.


Emily Keeler
SFArtsED Artistic Director

Untitled (Chromalith II)
Alexis Arnold
2019
Epoxy resin, dichroic film, steel, enamel
13” x 8.5” x 8.5”
$2,200

Manipulated color-shifting dichroic film is cast in resin to explore perception, light, space, color, and material. The film shifts colors drastically, as well as projects a colorful shadow in a changing array that differs from those seen on the sculpture. Individual perception of the work can vary from person to person depending on viewing angle and lighting, exploring how we may not all perceive color, or a multiple of other things, the same. The optical effects help make the stationary sculpture appear kinetic. The work is further inspired by iridescent minerals and how these specimens are traditionally displayed in natural history museums. (A portion of proceeds from the sale of my works will be donated to Oakland Homies Empowerment FREEdom Store, an incredible community organization in East Oakland where Bay Area residents can shop for food and toiletries for free. http://www.homiesempowerment.co/)

PROMPT
Motley
Alexis Arnold
2014
Concrete, wood, automotive paint, acrylic rod
9” x 6” x 12”
$1500

Driftwood, a material laden with connotations in the context of art and craft, has been disguised through the application of automotive paint and combined with industrial materials (concrete and acrylic). The prismatic effect of the paint, which alter with changes in light or perspective, initiates viewer interaction through the visual play of light.

PROMPT
Silver Little Universe
Alexis Arnold
2015
Concrete, spray paint, optical glass
8” x 6” x 6”
$700

In Little Universes, optical glass spheres are perfectly hugged by concrete pillows to play with material and perception. Hidden under the glass, and at times invisible, is a galaxy of color that can explode depending on light and viewing position. The spheres flip any background imagery viewed through them, illustrating what our eyes see before our brains upright the images. (A portion of proceeds from the sale of my works will be donated to Oakland Homies Empowerment FREEdom Store, an incredible community organization in East Oakland where Bay Area residents can shop for food and toiletries for free. http://www.homiesempowerment.co/)

PROMPT
Black Mirror
Agelio Batle
2020
Gold gilt frame, book board, graphite
20” x 16” x 14”
Not for sale

I took a bit of delight ” dismantling” this very fancy frame and then reconfiguring it in a way that made sense to me. The new shape seems to have lost some pomp in its contortions and gained a nervous bling. The contained, rectangular graphite fragments were determined by the position of the inside corners of the gold frame.

PROMPT
Bodie/Bodey
Pete Belkin
2019
Music by Maneesh Raj Madahar. UHD resolution, full color, sound
8 minutes, 15 seconds

Shot on-location in Bodie, CA, this film is a meditation on one of California’s most well known ghost towns. It was once bustling as the third most-populated town in California. The town was named after Waterman Bodey, a prospector from New York who never actually saw his mining efforts in the area come to fruition. The town has been preserved in a state of arrested decay, maintained as a sort of outdoor museum by the state of California. Frozen in time, it faces the harsh weather and high altitude of the eastern Sierra. Inspired by our relationship to the land, natural resources as well as natural forces, this film is my experience of this place.

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R.I.P. A lament for recently extinct species
Lauren Elder
2020

PROMPT
Six papier-mâché grave markers
Various sizes from 2’ high to 4.5’ high
Locust & butterfly by Lauren Elder Wolf, two birds, toad by Verda Alexander, collaborator
The grave markers are not for sale. They will be used for street actions planned in conjunction with the activist group Extinction Rebellion as soon as we are all at liberty to go fully public again!
Six pencil drawings on paper
18" x 24"
Drawings are $250 each, with the first $100 donated to a wildlife conservation organization of your choice.
Sea Changes
Zoe Farmer
2020
Cuttlefish ink, cartridge paper
24’ x 4’
$800

Cephalopods (octopus, cuttlefish and squid) seem to be flourishing in our oceans. Theirnumbers are increasing worldwide according to a 2016 study. Is the increase in cephalopods a good or a bad thing?

This piece is inspired by Gyaotaku (Japanese 魚拓, from gyo “fish” + taku “stone impression”), the traditional Japanese method of printing fish, a practice which dates back to the mid-1800s. This form of nature printing was used by fishermen to record their catch but has also become an art form of its own. Gyotaku is a Japanese method of printmaking that traditionally utilizes fish, sea creatures, or similar subjects as “printing plates” in its process. Prints were made using sumi ink and washi paper. It is rumored that samurai would settle fishing competitions using gyotaku prints. This original form of gyotaku, as a recording method for fisherman, is still utilized today, and can be seen hanging in tackle shops in Japan.

PROMPT
Lopud, Summer of 2007
Renée Gertler
2020
Ink and color pencil on paper
30” x 22”
$1,700

This drawing is a blueprint for a sculpture yet to be made. My work draws on my experiences of working on a biodynamic farm, pollinating cherimoya trees, working at the Exploratorium in the life sciences department, and visiting derelict geodesic domes in Alaska. All of these places were formed with a sense of optimism during the countercultural movement in an effort to create a new paradigm. As a teen in the ‘90s, my experiences of these places was almost like coming to the party too late, the aftermath of a dream. The drawings are an attempt to capture the imagined Technicolor dreamlike state of utopia and optimism.

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Witness
Taraneh Hemami
2019
Printed photo collage
48” x 68”

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Photo credits: Market between 7th/8th, 1940s, by Unknown photographer/Open SF History/Western Neighborhood Project, Private collection |Parade on Market Street, circa 1918, by Unknown photographer/Open SF History/Western Neighborhood Project, Emiliano Echeverria/Randolph Brandt Collection

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: Lucy Mae and Eldoris on Market Street at 5th Str., circa 1945, by Street photographers/San Francisco History Center/San Francisco Public Library | March for our Lives, March 14, 2018, by Ekevara Kitpowsong/El Tecolote

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: Trick or Treat, December 3, 2003, by Brant Ward/The Chronicle/Polaris | The San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl Parade, January 23, 1989, by David Madison/Getty Images

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: “Not My President,” November 9, 2016, by Ekevara Kitpowsong/El Tecolote | “Protect Dreamers,” Women’s March, January 20, 2017, by Brenna Cruz/El Tecolote

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: Black Lives Matter protests, December 13, 2014 by Jeremy Raff/KQED | “Say No to War,” Feb. 15, 2003 by Dave Glass/FlickrCC

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: Global Climate Action Summit protests, September 13, 2018 by Marian Carrasquero/NYTimes | Global Climate Strike, September 20, 2019, by Kevin N. Hume / S.F. Examiner

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: Black Lives Matter protests, Dec. 13, 2014 by Jessica Christian/The Chronicle/Polaris | “Big Colored Parade” Market Street to City Hall, May 26, 1963, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin newspaper photograph archive/The Bancroft Library

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: Couple strolling along Market Street, July 16, 1946, by Unknown photographer | S.F. Streets-Market-1946/San Francisco History Center / San Francisco Public Library / SF Pride Parade, June 30, 2013, by Jacob T. Meltzer/FlickrCC.

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Photo credits: Occupy SF, October 2011, by ER Glenn Halog/Flickr CC | “Got $ for War But not to Feed the Poor,” November 9, 2016, by Michael Barbanov/SF Examiner.

A Project of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series, funded by the San Francisco Arts Commission and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, www.sfartscommission.org

Rehearsal
Abner Nolan
2020
Six videos. Jason Hanasik, camera and editing, with assistance from Oriyomi Origunwa

These actors, members of the SFArtsED Players, were asked to (re)perform historically significant acceptance speeches from past Academy Awards broadcasts – speeches that were chosen specifically for their relationship to personal and political forms of protest.

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Kate Winslet – Daliah Chuzhoy
Michael Moore – Leonardo Ruiz
Leonardo DiCaprio – Gavin Chen-Forral
Tom Hanks – Zachary Chaikin
Sally Field – Kiyomi DallasKidd
Patricia Arquette – Simone Thilges-Manansala
November 3 Is Garbage Day
Richard Olsen
2020
Acrylic on canvas with garbage can
16” x 8’
Each painting in the piece is $1,500 each

The paintings are from my series Toons Are People Too. Here, I juxtaposed images that suggested some of the atrocities initiated by our president with President Taz himself in a garbage can. The piece was intended to have more examples of fear and abuse going up the wall of the gallery but was cut back for the photo given the limitations of my workspace.

PROMPT
Monster in the Mirror (Diptych)
Erik Parra
2019
Acrylic on panel
Each piece 20” x 16”
$2,200

My works look to engage notions of self and cultural introspection or looking back to examine the contemporary. I like to play with the idea of reflection and the different ways of physically looking behind us. This diptych calls into question this idea of mirroring, which one is the real object, and which one is the reflection?

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