Afterglow: Rethinking California Light and Space Art (closes Sept. 29)
An eye-opening exhibition that springs from California’s metaphysical brand of minimalism developed in the ‘60s and ‘70s documents how this movement has evolved. A large scale color minimalist interior from 1974 by Helen Lundeberg is an example of key works from the early days of the movement. Among the artists represented are Thomas Akawie, Henry Wessel, Kathryn Von Dyke, Michael Damm, Gina Borg, Evan Holloway, Dean Smith, and Michele Blade. Many of the younger artists use optical effects to create a shift from the object to the experience.
Surfaces: Lee Saloutos—Transformative Photography from Nevada and the Great Basin (closes Sept. 22)
Award-winning photographer Lee Saloutos has spent over three decades depicting the abstracted beauty of weathered surfaces found in humanity’s desert debris. In Surfaces, Saloutos captures vividly colored, haunting and memorable images of discarded vehicles and equipment as they oxidize and crumble, drawing out the complexity of the object hidden beneath the surface.
Points of View: Contemporary Landscapes by Mary Lou Correia and Paul Kratter (closes Sept. 22)
Two of the East Bay’s most vibrant contemporary plein air painters, Mary Lou Correia and Moraga’s Paul Kratter, began their academic training and successful careers in commercial art. From a controlled indoor work environment, they now are subject to the whims of nature. To capture a moment in time, they haul painting equipment on foot, and even on horseback, searching for dramatic vistas, racing against fading light.
Recent Exhibits
Sunday, May 5 - Sunday, July 14
Building a Collection: Highlights and Recent Acquisitions from the Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of Saint Mary’s College of California, the Museum of Art has selected notable works from its 5000 piece collection, many of which have never been displayed. This wide-ranging exhibition, comprised of both historic and contemporary objects, highlights the major collecting areas of the Museum.
Noted for its California landscapes, the collection is known for its nearly 200 paintings by William Keith. It includes landscapes by Bierstadt, Edwin Deakin, August Gay, Percy Gray, Armin Hansen, Gregory Kondos, Lorenzo Latimer, Mary DeNeale Morgan, Charles Rollo Peters, Charles Dorman Robinson, Carl Sammons, Will Sparks, Jules Tavernier, and others.
The collection also has works on paper and selected paintings by Bernard, Daumier, Dürer, Goya, Hogarth, Inness, Kandinsky, Manet, Lautrec, and Rembrandt, along with contemporary pieces by Christopher Brown, David Gilhooly, Morris Graves, Motherwell, Rauschenberg, Tamayo, and Thiebaud, photographs and Polaroids from the Andy Warhol collection, and sacred art including Russian icons, a Tiepolo drawing and European statuary. The ethnographic collection displays Southwest pottery, and objects from New Guinea, Malaysia, Africa, the Philippines, and the Inuit people of Alaska.
Talk by Carrie Brewster, director: The State of the Museum: Where We Began and Where We Hope to Be in the Next Decade
Sunday, May 5, 2 – 2:45 PM, Soda Center
Public Reception following, Art Patio
In the John and Julia Armistead Gallery
Sunday, May 5 – Sunday, July7
Marc Chagall: Stories of the Bible
On view are 16 prints from Marc Chagall’s Bible series, one of his most important and ambitious projects, commissioned by Parisian art dealer and publisher Ambroise Vollard.
Chagall (1887-1985) was a master of black and white etching, depicting a range of emotions from despair to hope to triumph. Each scene is alive with movement and drama, created by flowing lines, textured surfaces and strong areas of black. The artist called the works a “modest gift to the Jewish people who always dreamed of biblical love, of friendship and peace among all people.”
After a trip to Palestine and Egypt, where he made a set of preliminary gouache studies for the project, Chagall began to etch the copper plates in 1931, completing the 105 etchings in 1939. Decades later, Chagall gave the struck plates to the Musée National Message Biblique Marc Chagall in Nice. On loan from a private collection.
In the Studio Gallery
Sunday, May 5 – Saturday May, 25
Senior Thesis Exhibition &Selected Works by Undergraduate Students
Highlighting the work of graduating Studio Practice majors Ann Boyd, Amelie Hutt and Gianna Russo, the exhibition focuses on their practice, conceptual development, and individual research projects. The thematic series of digital images and oil paintings explores environmental concerns, personal history, and pop culture. Selected works by undergraduate students are also on view.
In the Studio Gallery
Saturday, June 1 – Sunday, Sept. 22
Points of View: Mary Lou Correia and Paul Kratter
Two of the East Bay’s most vibrant and spontaneous en plein air painters, Mary Lou Correia and Paul Kratter, began their academic training and careers in the field of commercial art. Leaving a controlled indoor environment, they now work at the whims of nature. To quickly capture a moment in time, they haul painting equipment on foot and occasionally on horseback, searching for a dramatic vista, or racing against fading light.
Before embracing en plein air painting full time occupation, Correia designed book covers for UC Press then became Director of Publications and chief designer for Saint Mary's College. In her latest paintings, Correia’s brush strokes are exuberant and emotional, with vibrant colors depicting the landscape’s changing moods. Correia skillfully paints small human figures in her favorite locations, as if to remind us to be careful stewards, treading lightly in our environment.
Sports and wildlife were Kratter’s early passions, so he was fortunate to begin his career in advertising design for the National Football League and several major league baseball clubs. He moved on to children’s book and wildlife illustration, but his love of the outdoors eventually attracted Kratter to en plein air painting and a dramatic shift in style. His new works are confidently loose and contemporary, yet their subtlety bespeaks his knowledge of, and admiration for, early 20th century Tonalist painters.
Reception for the Artists - Sunday, June 2, 2 – 4 pm
In the Keith Gallery
Building a Collection: Highlights and Recent Acquisitions from the Saint Mary's College Museum of Art Permanent Collection extends into the Keith Gallery. Several William Keith works are on display in this exhibition.
*All programming subject to change
