…nya Zimbardo, Public Works: Artists’ Interventions 1970s – Now brings together a group of female artists working in the public realm. Believing not all public art is monumental and not all monumental art is truly impactful,Public Works focuses on temporary interventions online and in the urban environment. The list of participating artists — too lengthy to mention here — is an impressive one, including off-site commissions by Constance Hockaday a…

…nal clay to 3D-printed joints and pajamas that restore athletes’ muscles, the use of ceramics for objects rooted in decoration, ritual and utility is as old as it is expansive. The practices of four living artists whose exploration of the medium provides commentary on its past and insight for the future are presented in Formed & Fired: Contemporary American Ceramics at the Anderson Collection at Stanford University. An exhibition of ceramics…

…last fall after the departure of former director Susan Dackerman. A lengthy investigation, begun after an exposé in the Stanford Daily, revealed a toxic work culture at the museum and ended with Dackerman’s resignation in late November. The university has been circumspect about personnel matters, but did issue a press release at the time indicating that a transition team “will work closely with stakeholders from across the campus and…

…Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California, that traveled to the Oakland Museum, Oakland, California, in the 1970s, and was finally acquired by Jantzen and Beth in 2016. Jantzen and Beth are thrilled that the painting is entering the Anderson Collection and becoming available to the community to enjoy. “We are dedicating this gift to the museum’s staff and volunteers in honor and recognition of all they do to share their passion with o…

…criticize such artworks a lot, not understanding the value placed on artists like Rothko. But seeing such pieces in a museum in front of you feels very different than looking at images online after Googling the artist. These large canvases and colors, though they are just large patterns, weigh on you, and that weight was calming. It almost had an aura that transcended my mind from my real life, making me not ponder about the events of my daily li…

…ated. But then the grand staircase, which takes the visitor to the second floor where the majority of the art is installed, leads directly to an encounter with Clyfford Still’s “1957-J No.1.” The work is an interesting choice for such a focal point; large in scale, with only three colors of paint (red, black, white) applied thickly with a palette knife. Its jagged forms and bold composition are confrontational and somewhat unse…

On September 21, the Anderson Collection building opened at the Palo Alto campus of Stanford University—our frequent partner-in-crime when it comes to celebrating the West. Designed by the same team that created Stanford’s stellar Bing Concert Hall, the structure houses 121 works of modern and contemporary American art, all donated by Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson. Of course, we’re most excited about the pieces that have a Western flavor:…

…the world’s most famous antiauthoritarian artist could not quite pull off engineering a successful ongoing show in America’s most famous prison, but the effort of all involved earned the event an indelible place in Bay Area art history. (Through April 26.) Shoebox Orchestra: A humbly entertaining group show, easily overlooked within a dreary but clamorous local art economy, this commemorative event reopened a souful, nonprofit mainstay of the Do…

…visit. Here are just a handful of the museum’s highlights: “Jackson Pollock’s ‘Lucifer’ is something that people come to see. It previously hung over Putter’s bed, before moving to the dining room and before coming here.” “There’s an incredible Mark Rothko (‘Pink and White Over Red’) that’s just beautiful — a seductive red painting.” “Robert Irwin’s untitled disk is capturing people’s attention. There’s this shadow quality — he was very intereste…

…dsuits are formed from memories. The Chicago artist’s creations are part sculpture and ornament, armor and instrument and are often worn as costumes and performed in. The energetic vibration of each single, insignificant article is magnified by how Cave chooses to bind them together. Each found object is transformed through the combination of color, history, function and sound. They force a reaction based on the viewer’s personal hist…

When Allison and Dan Rose moved into their historic Palo Alto home, their art was essentially limited to Pottery Barn and Z Gallerie buys. It was interior designer Jon de la Cruz who suggested the couple consider elevating their acquisitions. Four years later, the walls of their 1905 Craftsman are decorated with contemporary works from the likes of John Chiara, Gabriel Orozco, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra and Hiroshi Sugimoto. “We started buying a…

…rotect the fragile art on paper) sets a quiet mood and the small selection allows the visitor to linger and take in each work individually. Sometimes the connections are easily made. For example, Franz Kline’s “Untitled (Dancer at Islip)” uses the same bold, black, gestural strokes that can be seen in his paintings. Richard Diebenkorn’s carefully composed use of geometry and muted, cool colors relates directly to the evoca…

…y themselves as plain folk to befit their shared nickname “Hunk and Moo,” but they were sophisticated and timely in their collecting of artworks that were often abstract and beyond comprehension. They were also generous in both loaning and donating pieces to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Five years ago, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University opened next to Cantor Arts Center, the main…

…” from 2000 to 2001 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. “These are two of the most coveted works by these influential artists still in private hands,” said Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection. “They were really the leaders of the Abstract Expressionists in New York.” The announcement comes less than a week after the death of Mary Margaret “Moo” Anderson, who has been the main benefactor of the collection since the death of…

…The idea itself emerged from her personal writings on stellar observations. Lita was thinking about the project in global terms, the “sculptures in space”; her early drawings depicted the body chakra system in relation to the North and South Pole connection. The idea was of star light entering from the North Pole through the Earth axis exiting at the South Pole. By creating an invisible shaft of light that would poetically come through the centr…