Artifacts : Mary Black , Kirk Crippens , Linda Race
date:Thursday, July 24, 2008 time:12:00 PM to 5:00 PM venue:Berkeley Arts Center address:1275 Walnut Street Berkeley, CA 94709 View map posted by:Berkeley Art Center
From almost every place or time, random objects remain -- artifacts-- that offer
a glimpse into human experiences often seemingly disparate from our own. Three
formally dissimilar artists, painter Mary Black, photographer Kirk Crippens and
book artist Linda Race, respond variously to such artifacts as an impetus for
their own artistic journeys, both real and imagined.
Black's dense encaustic pictures are excavations of the subconscious, as she
builds layers, then digs back down into them, discovering bits of found objects
previously embedded. For Crippens, his Treasure Island series is a literal hunt
amid a visual bounty left abandonned at a decommissioned naval base; ruins of a
ghostly community set in the middle of the thriving San Francisco Bay Area
metropolis. Committed to recording this journey without staging or manipulation,
his photographs nonetheless evoke an otherworldly illumination and clever,
poignant, even humorous juxtapositions of the content-rich objects he
encounters. The magical microcosms Race creates are assembled as secular shrines
of objects she encounters in life: a leaf, a toy, or a gift from a loved one.
Set variously within boxes and books, these objects find a new identity and
importance, often referencing the artist's personal memories or fantasies.
The artists in the exhibition were selected from other Finalist Awardees of the
2007 Members' Showcase. All Berkeley Art Center Artist Members are encouraged to
submit one work of art to this annual winter exhibition
Hours:Wednesday - Sunday at 12.00 pm -5.00 pm
