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"Glimpse" exhibition
February 15 - April 2, 2023
The exhibition started with a conversation with Lis Bensley, author of “The Glimpse.” Her recent novel is a story of relationships, centered around one character - a female artist living in New York at the height of abstract expressionism in the 1950s. The exhibition “Glimpse” takes a look at fourteen women across the United States born in 1932 through our youngest, born in 1999. Every story is unique and is boldly expressed through a variety of media.
Collage artist and author Maria Porges’ series Shortest Stories features Old World images, text and figures from 1960s readers, sheet music, and random ephemera paired with abbreviated fiction she wrote. The nostalgia draws a viewer in. Once in, the viewer sees and reads the curiosity of these stories - some sweet, some puzzling. Santa Cruz artist Robynn Smith’s large-scale mixed media wall pieces also pull from the past. The dark, mysterious imagery suggests nature, human soldiers, or dilapidated architecture and moves us into a mental space wondering what has happened here? Now where do we go?
We experience a different world of tenderness and sentiment with fiber artist Victoria May and metalsmith Lynda Watson. Both artists reveal the forgotten, overlooked narratives and discarded objects. Watson’s Brooches are sterling silver encased with shells collected decades ago from thousands of miles away next to the most sophisticated and tender drawing. May lays layer upon layer of fabric and muted patterned tablecloths in Figments of Meg’s Kitchen suggesting domesticity and something of another place in a different time.
Glimpse also features artists using their medium to make a change in the world - social, environmental, and political. San Jose artist Yvonne Escalante’s First Aid was created from her frustration with world events. The four medical cabinets hang on the wall, each with items to remedy the ills of the world and a hovering brass arcade claw attempting to grasp the cure. Activist Kim Anno shares two films that heighten our awareness of the climate crisis. Anno collaborates with choreographers to create underwater and seaside performances with original soundtracks in Praxis and Water City, Durban. Jennifer Ling Datchuk’s filmed performances depict one side of Datchuk washing unfired pottery she created alongside Datchuk covering her skin in white, as if it were a skin treatment at a spa in White Wash. In Tame, Datchuk also uses clay to show the constraints that limit the success of women of color, but this time the clay is fired and you hear the clink and clank of the fetishized figurines as you watch them sway back and forth while she carries the tray.
Our youngest and eldest exhibitors offer a uniquely raw and vulnerable look at what it is like to be making art at this point in her life. Born in 1999, Hannah Kim’s work emulates a tension and struggle that can be interpreted as temporary. Coeleen Kiebert, born in 1932, exhibits from her latest series Anubis, an Egyptian God that promises a good spiritual transition, up to, through and after death. Kiebert states “These are my last few years to create like this. I’m still driven to express all that may be left to be said.”
EXHIBITORS
Kim Anno (CA), Jennifer Ling Datchuk (TX), Yvonne Escalante (CA), Mitra Fabian (CA), Coeleen Kiebert (CA), Hannah Kim (CA and Korea), Jean LaMarr (CA), Victoria May (CA), Abi Mustapha (CA), Eleanor Oakes (MI), Maria Porges (CA), Robynn Smith (CA), Penny Truitt (NM), Lynda Watson (CA)
“Glimpse” runs February 15 - April 2, 2023 with an Artist Talk Sunday March 19, 2:00pm. Artist Workshops are Saturdays March 4 and 11. The exhibition is in partnership with Lis Bensley, author of the novel “The Glimpse.” Lis will lead readings on March 8 and 29 at 6:00pm. Each evening will offer one reading from “The Glimpse” and three additional authors reading their material.
Radius Gallery is located at the Tannery Arts Center.
Regular gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 12:00-5:00pm.
No pets. All children must be accompanied by an adult.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/1595893-0
