…fer K. Wofford. The exhibition spans media and generations, documenting the important projects that occupy space in the world, merging politics and social commentary with everyday life. Jenny Odell, ‘ITEM 048: bicentennial Seven-Up cans’ from ‘The Bureau of Suspended Objects.’ (Photo by Jenny Odell) Recology Artist in Residence Exhibitions: Jenny Odell, Chris Sollars and Roger Ourthiage Jr. Recology San Francisco Sept. 18, 19 and 22, 2015 (see…

…erson Collection at Stanford University. An exhibition of ceramics highlights artists who are reshaping ceramics in concept and craftsmanship. The exhibition – which features 11 works by Kathy Butterly, Kahlil Robert Irving, Simone Leigh and Brie Ruais – was postponed from spring 2020 and will be on view upon the museum’s reopening, hopefully in early 2021. A virtual tour of the show is available online now. “By sharing the work and voices of the…

…erman’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 community to situate the museum for ongoing success.” Mitchell and Brezinski discussed their new roles and goals in recent email interviews with this news organization. When asked if the Cantor…

…ntextualize Park’s practice and expands opportunities for research, teaching and exhibition of the artist’s work in conversation with his contemporaries.” Park gave the portrait to his sitter, Tom Jefferson, as recorded on the back of the canvas by Jefferson: “Berkeley, Calif. This painting was given to me in the spring of 1957 by the artist David Park. The model is me – I worked for Park as a model during 1956 & 1957. J. Thomas Jefferson.” T…

…simply a large pattern of burgundy, black and white. However, there was something very calming about looking at it. I used to 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…

…r first encounters two colorful, playful sculptures by California-based artists Charles Arnoldi (“Untitled I,” 1983) and Robert Hudson (“Plumb Bob” 1982). They are fun and lively, and perhaps lead the visitor to think that all the mystery about modern art is exaggerated. 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…

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:…

…ing postwar American artworks. Low: Bay Area Now 7, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ triennial survey show ended in a ditch YBCA dug by delegating regional nonprofits to make its selections, which sometimes consisted of yet other, smaller collectives. MVP: Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, the couple whose gifts of otherwise unobtainable art to Stanford signify a lifetime’s self-education in connoisseurship. Top 10 Yoga: The Art of Transformat…

…, Mary Margaret Anderson pays a visit to the museum on the Stanford campus that bears her last name. Moo, as she is better known, usually chats with the staff before declaring, “I’m off to see my friends.” Those friends are the more than 100 works of art, including paintings and sculptures, that she and her husband, Harry (“Hunk”), along with their daughter, Mary Patricia (“Putter”) Anderson Pence, gave to the university several years ago. In Sep…

…ht-provoking and challenging suits are constructed in ways that refuse to reveal gender, age or race. They offer complete anonymity. To imagine yourself in them is to turn the collective sharing of memories into a personal epiphany. The Anderson exhibit includes eight Soundsuits, three video works and a recently completed documentary about Nick Cave titled “Here.” There also is an interactive felt wall where visitors to the gallery ca…

…s, May 24-26, New York-based Hope Gangloff — the first Diekman Contemporary Commissions Program artist — will be intermittently painting large-scale portraits in the Cantor’s atrium. Gangloff’s completed works will be on view through April 2018. Across the street from the Cantor and Anderson is Andy Goldsworthy’s “Stone River.” The 320-foot sculpture is made of sandstone from university buildings that were casualties of the 1906 or 1989 earthquak…

…d earlier than paintings found upstairs in the permanent collection. “These works give visitors a sense of where the artist came from and help to contextualize (i.e,, Guston) or provide a deeper look (i.e., Diebenkorn). In the case of Guston, where else can you find a 30-year cross-section of amazing works to help contextualize the two permanent collection works (dated 1962 and 1977)?” When asked if he thought it was important for vie…

…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…

…nveiling on Monday, Oct. 28, along with her daughter Mary “Putter” Anderson Pence and granddaughter Devin Pence. Instead, it has now become an impromptu memorial to her. “Moo and Hunk believed these two works would provide more insight into the artists’ creative journeys,” said Putter Pence, “and given Moo’s love of learning, we can’t imagine a better way to honor her legacy.” Totem Lesson 1 (1944) by Jackson Pollock, one of his most significant…

…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 centre of the Earth and through the rotation of the Earth, it would form an invisible double strain of DNA. Her early sketches depict the alignment of our bodies and DNA with the celestial bodies and the relationship between the Earth and the sky, where humans are the conn…