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In July, the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art launched its first Northern California open exhibition in its primary ground-floor gallery in Novato. It runs through Sept. 28, concluding with a party and live auction that evening.
Dubbed “ART FWD,” or “Art Forward,” the theme of the show is “art all around us,” featuring artists from as far south as Monterey to as far north as Eureka — more than 100 in all, each with at least one piece on display.
Juried by top-tier Bay Area art professionals Facundo Argañaraz, Mariah Nielson, Lawrence Rinder, Mari Robles and Donna Seager, MarinMOCA’s big summer exhibit features something for almost all art lovers — unless you’re looking for traditional still life, portraiture and landscape paintings, or, at the other end of the scale, large, immersive, high-tech installation pieces.
Between these extremes fall the 107 pieces on display, all available for purchase, with starting bids as low as a couple hundred dollars and ranging up to several thousand.
According to the exhibit and auction catalog, “sale of these works via ART FWD’s silent auction directly benefits contributing artists and the museum. All money raised through ART FWD and the Northern California open supports MarinMOCA’s exhibitions, educational initiatives, public programs and work with local artists.”
Artistic intent and scale in this exhibit both vary enormously — from whimsical little sculptures made of Tomales Bay mud by Tanja Geis (“Imprinting”) to an imposing construct of fabric, ropes, springs, ceramics and found objects by April Camlin (“Where They Broke Me”). The sweetness of childhood is evident in Lauren Jade Szabo’s “Reflection is Currency,” a large oil painting of children amusing themselves with dolphins at an aquarium. Szabo is also the subject of a solo exhibit, “As Above, So Below,” in MarinMOCA’s second-floor gallery.
Three-dimensional humor reaches its limit with Hilary Bates’ “Ruminating Seat,” part of her series of cherry stools with “extravagantly hairy seats.” A more sobering sculpture is “Dear Child, Safe Space,” a charred piece of hollowed-out oak burl by Priyanka Rana, its damaged, off-putting exterior counterbalancing the inviting security of its interior. Jane Grimm’s “Duet VII” is a bulbous and sweetly erotic white ceramic piece, while Jenna Manzano’s “Coupling” is a labor-intensive woven linen construction hanging stiffly on the wall, very much an allusion to an old-fashioned drive belt from a 19th-century factory.
Paintings and other two-dimensional art include predictable austerity, such as “Water, Water, Everywhere, Nor Any Drop to Drink,” a charcoal-gray painting of a water faucet by Greenbrae artist Chris Adessa, or “Collector 005” by Jordan Benton, a black-and-white archival photo of a coastal solar panel installation. Regina Stadnik’s “Next Door” evokes a similar feeling — a lovely low-contrast depiction of a simple rural scene, made entirely of cotton and linen.
A bird, snake and fish all combine in Harumo Sato’s colorful and delightfully faux-primitive “Mizu-Ha-Mawaru (Water Circulation).” Abstraction is everywhere in this exhibit — not a genre with universal appeal, but one with unlimited opportunities for artists. Jonah Landor-Yamagata employs a limited color palette with tremendous emotional resonance in his oil painting “Magnolia Street,” a piece somewhere between realism and abstraction. In a completely different style, Merl Ross achieves a similar feeling with “Recollections,” a sort of aerial view of a dreamscape city, while Mary Finlayson combines realism, quirky humor and abstraction in her intensely joyful “Blue Room with Reclining Figure.” You may not be able to find the reclining figure, but it will always be 10 past 10 in the blue room.
MarinMOCA is one of the county’s great treasures. Those wishing to participate in the online auction can sign up at marinmoca.org and also track their bids leading up to the closing party at 4 p.m. Sept. 28. The event will also feature “a curated selection of artworks by highly esteemed Bay Area artists” and live performances, according to executive director Jodi Roberts.
Contact Barry Willis at barry.m.willis@gmail.com
If you go
What: “ART FWD”
Where: Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, 500 Palm Drive, Novato
When: Through Sept. 28; 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends
Admission: Free for the exhibit; party and live auction is $50 to $125 per person
Information: 415-506-0137; marinmoca.org
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