SKULLPHONE HISTORY MUSEUM at RAM
June 3 - July 26, 2008 - Alcoves, Stairway Closet and Front Lawn
Reception: Saturday, June 7, 2008 from 5-9 pm
"Skullphone" is an artist who works anonymously in city streets and deserted highways, incorporating his artwork into the detritus of the urban environment. While ten foot tall posters loom high above building walls, small supporting incarnations of his image blend into utilitarian spaces. In these environments, Skullphone's image immediately cuts through the typically mundane worlds of gas stations, public bathrooms, parking meters, roll-up gates, and trash dumpsters, the unique platforms and non-blank canvases from which Skullphone "speaks". For Skullphone's installation at RAM, the artist has recreated his past street-level environments within Anytown, USA while referencing new frontiers in outdoor digital media. Using the museum's alcoves as a starting point, Skullphone History Museum creates an environment reminiscent of a natural history museum's dioramas. Replacing nature with entirely man-made objects, this unnatural exhibit monumentalizes the quotidian objects of our world (our bathrooms, our hallways) built around and serving as the starting point...
WORKS ON LOAN FROM THE 21ST CENTURY
1st and 2nd year UCR/MFA Exhibition
May 27 - June 21, 2008 - Members Gallery
Reception: Friday, June 6, 2008 from 6-9 pm
Contemporary art practice is filled with warnings against and samplings of our presumptuous, dangerous relationship with nature. Works on Loan from the 21st Century opens to the public Tuesday, May 27 through June 21, 2008 at the Riverside Art Museum with a reception on Friday, June 6, 2008 from 6 – 9 pm. The exhibition features a blend of photographic, sculptural and installation works by seven 1st and 2nd year MFA students from University of California, Riverside. Gideon Barnett, Alia Malley and Evans Wittenberg create photographs referencing the origin of the world by expressing an impermanent relationship between man versus nature with visuals depicting terror of the sublime or structural collapse by natural disaster. Christine Frerichs and Courtney Oquist craft paintings focusing on the experience of nostalgia and an investigation into man’s relationship to the complex environment. Kate McPeak and Alison Walker create installation art that is...
Photopourri
Recent Images from the RAM Photo Artist Network
May 27 - July 5, 2008 - Mezzanine/Lobby
Reception: Saturday, June 7, 2008 from 5-9 pm
Photopourri features the work of 27 member artists.Featuring a variety of photography, from traditional film to digital work, candids and posed, simple to complex, the work represents the diverse range of styles and approaches within the Photo Artist Network (PAN) a RAM affiliate group and within photography today. To display the variety of images, the curatorial team chose to hang the images in a chockablock "salon style" with photos flush-mounted flat and unframed. Turning the exhibit into a contemporary art installation, the placement of works are meant to forge connections between different works. Some works hang alone, while others are clustered together to display a series by a single or multiple artists. In some cases, the same work shot by different photographers allows the viewer to see the exchange and feedback between fellow artists who have met in the PAN group. Seen together, the patchwork of images shows the...
An Inner Dialog:
The Artistic Vision of
Margarette Lawson (1921-2005)
May 31 - July 5, 2008 - Bobbie Powell & De Vean Galleries
Reception: Saturday, June 7, 2008 from 5-9pm
A retrospective survey of the figurative and abstract work of the late Southern California painter and sculptor. An amateur artist in her youth, Lawson returned to art school in the 1960s as a wife and mother. She had the good fortune to attend the University of California Davis at a time when that school was a hotbed of radical experimentation and profound pedagogy. Lawson's experience in the Sacramento Valley awakened the independent-minded artist in her and provided her the technical expertise to realize her inner vision. This small survey of Lawson’s art looks at her incorporation of various modes of abstraction and representation....
Kristi Lippire
July 22 - August 30, 2008 - Bobbie Powell Gallery
Public Reception: Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 6-9pm
JMS Reception: Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 5-6pm
One of the region's fast rising contemporary artists, Lippire will be suspending more than a dozen goose-like stainless steel vegetable basket sculptures in an installation throughout the Bobbie Powell Gallery. Lippire is an MFA graduate from the Claremont Graduate University in 2002 and currently is an Adjunct Professor at Riverside Community College. She is currently represented by d.e.n. contemporary in Culver City and she is preparing for a solo exhibition this fall. ...
2008 Annual Members Show
May 27 - July 3, 2008 - Art Alliance Gallery
Opening June 7, 2008 from 5-9pm
Curatorial Review and Awards:
Thursday, June 26, 2008 from 6-8pm
This exhibition has developed into one of the year's most important regional exhibitions, featuring about 150 of the Museum's outstanding artist members. The 2008 exhibition awards will be juried by Daniel Foster, Joanna Mersereau, Connie Ransom, Sandra Rowe, and Shane Shukis. The Annual Awards program for the exhibition will be on Thursday, June 26 at 6:30 pm. This year's Best in Show winner will receive a solo exhibition at RAM within the next year....
PAINTING'S EDGE 2008
July 22 - August 16, 2008 - Art Alliance Gallery
Public Reception: Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 6-9pm
JMS Reception: Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 5-6pm
Every year a two-week workshop in painting - painting techniques, painting subjects, painting ideas - takes place "up the hill" in Idyllwild, as part of the Idyllwild Summer Arts Institute. Conducted from its inception by Roland Reiss, who began the workshop after retiring as head of the art department at Claremont Graduate University, "Painting's Edge" brings visiting artists and critics from the Los Angeles area and other parts of the country together with enrollees whose own ideas and ambitions as painters keep the dialogue lively, collegial, and productive. For the past several years the Riverside Art Museum has hosted a show sampling work from "Painting's Edge" participants, visiting folks and enrollees alike, providing us a taste of the workshop's vital exchange of concepts and methods. Closer to sea level, the energy does not diminish a bit....
SEA NO EVIL
June 28 - July 12, 2008 - Members Gallery
Auction & Reception: Saturday, July 12, 2008 6-9pm
The SEA No Evil exhibition features a variety of contemporary artists in a multitude of mediums. Many of these artists are famous for creating work at the nexus of an art movement that combines influences as diverse as traditional surrealism, pop art, contemporary design, street art influence and figurative painting. The central issue that ties the pieces together are the artists' passion for creating artwork to support social change. The exhibit culminates in a one-night auction on July 12, 2008 with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and featured speaker Paul Watson. Select artists include Shepherd Fairey, Lola, Jason Mernick, Matthew and Janice Endsley. SEA No Evil is a collaboration with Erin and Derric Swinfard. In addition, RVCA clothing will be sponsoring and curating the exhibition through their Artist Network Program. For more information visit www.seashepherdartshow.com...
Katrin Weise: Eine Kleine Psychodrama
July 22 - August 30, 2008 - De Vean Gallery
Public Reception: Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 6-9pm
JMS Reception: Saturday, July 26, 2008 from 5-6pm
Katrin Wiese has long been considered one of the region's most talented and inventive contemporary artists. Her canvases are packed full with quirky characters and loaded symbolism that takes time to engage and fully interpret. “I have a great time inventing characters for my paintings. Clearly, it is my predilection to paint characters engaged in sometimes surreal narratives that really need to be deciphered by the viewer,” states Wiese. Originally from Schonberg, Germany, Wiese received her education from California State University, San Bernardino and has displayed her art at many important galleries and spaces throughout the Southern California region. She is currently represented by the Hamilton Galleries in Santa Monica. Last year, Wiese was selected Best in Show in RAM's Annual Members Show which involved over 150 artists from the region. As a result of this award, she received this solo exhibition at the Riverside Art Museum...
Canstruction
Exhibition Dates: May 9 - May 17, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 8, 2008
Last spring the Art Alliance hosted Canstruction®, a one-of-a-kind show that created giant sculptures from cans of food. Five teams and the public donated over 17,000 pounds of food to the Second Harvest Food Bank and over $28,000 was generated by the community. Over 400 people attended the Opening Night "Can Opening" event! The 2007 event used over 9,000 cans of tuna, 1,500 cans of baked beans and 450 cans of tomato sauce, to mention just a few, and over 1,000 visitors viewed the sculptures while on display at RAM. This year the Art Alliance hopes to double every aspect of the event. Both galleries will be used for 10 new sculptures that can measure as tall as 8 feet high. This will create double the number of cans of food that will go to feed the hungry through the Second Harvest Food Bank. Two special events have been planned...
It's About Time! and space: Jon Roach and Dan Nguyen
Exhibition Dates: March 30 - May 17, 2008
Opening Reception: Sunday, March 30, 2008, 4-7pm
Jon Roach is a Riverside native and member of a new generation of artists that are equally inspired by fine art and design. At home in both the worlds of printmaking and drawing, as well as clothing design, Roach's work is marked by detailed black line work combining a pastiche of post-psychedelic imagery, wraith-like characters, and abstracted landscapes. Birds, wolves and silent people frequently inhabit his drawings, with many reminiscent of early 20th century comix characters. For this exhibit, Roach has collaborated with Dan Duy Nguyen of Demonslayer to create site-specific installations in the museum's display cases. Where Roach often uses thin hard lines and a monochromatic palette, Demonslayer's work features bright colors, a freestyle collection of cartoonish characters, and soft sculpture. Each artist has designed an installation for a bank of three display cases that flank the entrance to the Art Alliance Gallery of the museum....
The Big Sad: Barry McGee & Clare Rojas
Exhibition Dates: March 30 - May 17, 2008
Opening Reception: Sunday, March 30, 2008, 4-7pm
Barry McGee and Clare Rojas have long been associated with the "Mission School", a loose collection of artists inspired by the culture of the street, particularly in the Mission District of San Francisco. Their works are often shown clustered together, mixing handcrafted paintings with scraps scavenged from the street and with photographs and other artwork found at thrift stores. Barry McGee is a giant in the graffiti world, an artist known as much for his technical skill as a "tagger" as for his inclusion of new material, technology and street culture in his installations. Although rooted in graffiti subculture, he references all forms of vernacular art, including comics, folk art, and hand painted signs. McGee's installations often involve images painted directly on the wall, loud animations, mechanical totems, drawings on paper, bright geometric patterns, and assemblage sculptures such as smashed cars and old signs. In addition to traditional paints,...
Raymond Pettibon: Thank You for Staying
Exhibition Dates: March 30 - May 17, 2008
Opening Reception: Sunday, March 30, 2008, 4-7pm
Artist Raymond Pettibon is a cult favorite among underground music fans for his early work associated with the Los Angeles punk rock scene such as Black Flag, and his album cover for New York avant-rockers Sonic Youth. Pettibon has acquired an international reputation as a top contemporary American artist adept at combining serious literature with popular culture references. This exhibition is a selection of paintings made during the Earwax performance in conjunction with bassist Mike Watt from legendary LA band The Minutemen performing live at the museum in January. The works themselves reference Mike Watt's bass, lyrics and titles from his songs, the southern California landscape, and even Watt's legendary Ford Econoline. These paintings are part of the permanent collection of the Riverside Art museum. The title of the exhibit references the last painting Pettibon created at EARWAX, a painting of Nikita Kruschev with the line "Thank You For...
Selections from the Denenberg Donation
Exhibition Dates: April 2 - May 24, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 3, 6 - 9pm
The Riverside Art Museum was recently the fortunate recipient of a generous gift from Stuart and Beverly Denenberg. In recognition of the Museum’s commitment to collecting work on paper, the Denenbergs donated over 60 prints and drawings, ranging from early Renaissance broadsheets to contemporary American serigraphs. Notable as art dealers in California since the 1980s, Stuart and Beverly Denenberg moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles eight years ago, and have been prominent ever since in the southern California art world, serving on the boards of the Fine Art Dealers Association, the West Hollywood Art Commission, and other organizations. Beverly Denenberg is a native Los Angelena. Her husband grew up on the East Coast and began his career as a print publisher and dealer in Boston in the 1960s. Several of the works in the Denenberg gift were acquired back then from artists that Stuart Denenberg had worked and socialized...
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