The Bay Area has been an exciting cultural hub for many decades, bringing new voices and movements to the fore of the art world. We covered some of its leading creative representatives in the past, but as is the case with everything, the scene constantly evolves and changes, offering new and groundbreaking ideas in visual arts.
Hashimoto Contemporary is staging an exhibition featuring 20 artists and illustrators, spotlighting some of their favorite artists in the Bay Area. Titled Friends and Family, the show focuses on bringing different voices together and showing the diversity of the gallery's roster.
The Second Annual Exhibition
Friends and Family brings together a diverse group of artists who reflect the shared ties between the members of the Bay Area's excellent art community. Now in its second edition, the exhibition contains small pieces, including collages, sculptures, paintings, and ceramics. An exciting range of geometric variations, sceneries, figurative pieces, and still lives of ordinary moments are created using a variety of colors and mediums.
Contemporary Themes and Forms
Curated by Vanessa Indies, Friends and Family is an interesting overview of topics and forms that preoccupy the Bay Area artists. Matthew Craven looks at the history of art and grand historical narratives in America to focus his practice on the combination of figural and abstract forms in surreal compositions that question modern mythologies.
Fernanda Martinez sets her gaze on the ordinary, drawing our attention to the beauty that hides in plain sight all around us. Her expressive and colorful compositions combine familiar forms with abstract blocks of color. Carolynn Haydu creates inspired by the 1980s, while Rebecca Kaufman finds her inspiration in Op Art and offers a re-evaluation of perception.
Lindsay Stripling is an illustrator and painter who creates visual narratives in watercolor and oil. She creates fantastical, nature-infused, whimsical worlds filled with bold color. Ben Venom finds inspiration in combining quilting traditions with the visual markers of the counterculture, including gangs, punk/rock music, and the occult. Soft materials and harsh, aggressive visuals create a tension between the known and accepted, observed and imagined.
Jeff Canham works as an artist, designer, amateur woodworker, and sign painter who mixes old and new techniques in his practice. James Eddy combines a variety of sources in his art, coming from narrative traditions of the Americas. Through clever narratives and engaging visuals, he explores the rich storytelling traditions and personal history rendered in soft colors.
Friends and Family at Hashimoto Contemporary
The exhibition Friends and Family at Hashimoto Contemporary in San Francisco will be on view from June 4th until June 25th, 2022. The opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, June 4th, from 4 pm to 7 pm, with artists in attendance.