2002 Bay Area Award Show
dal 26/6/2002 al 27/7/2002
Segnalato da
26/6/2002
2002 Bay Area Award Show
New Langton Arts, San Francisco
Part utopian, part escapist, and perpetually slipping away, the places and notions artists Midori Harima, Scott Hewicker, and John Slepian have developed are momentary glimpses into worlds far from our own. The three local artists offer vistas of fantastic new worlds through their works.
Midori Harima, Scott Hewicker, and John Slepian
Part utopian, part escapist, and
perpetually slipping away, the places
and notions artists Midori Harima,
Scott Hewicker, and John Slepian
have developed are momentary
glimpses into worlds far from our
own. The three local artists offer
vistas of fantastic new worlds through
their works, be they the paper
sculptures staged by Midori Harima,
the color-saturated landscapes of
Scott Hewicker, or the uncannily life-like digital creations
of John Slepian.
Midori Harima's paper sculptures of animals and humans
juxtapose delicate craft with solid design and images of
power with child-like fraility. At Langton the San Francisco
artist installs two lifesize paper tigers, situated before a 6
ft. self-portrait on a gossamer sheet hung from the ceiling.
The Award Show is Harima's first exhibition in the United
States.
The cosmic paintings and collages of Scott Hewicker
evoke a psychadelia both mundane and fantastic.
Hewicker's mountainous landscapes exist in a world
where day-glo mushrooms sprout from clouds and
technicolor sunsets abound. The San Francisco artist's
colorful style exudes a visionary and fervent attitude,
referencing do-it-yourself aesthetics, American folk art,
hippy culture, and self-consciously "bad art." At Langton,
he presents an installation of new large scale paintings,
giving visual life to the parts of consciousness that often
remain unexplored.
North Bay artist John Slepian creates quasi-organic
beings insprire an awareness of our fascination with and
imprisonment by the technological through their uncanny
resemblance to life-forms. Premiering at Langton, Pet is a
computer-generated "animal," lying in the dirt as if it had
been discarded on the side of the road. The unidentifiable
creature reacts as the viewer touches the screen, all at
once inspiring a mix of empathy, disgust, and fascination.
Midori Harima was born in Yokohama, Japan and has
exhibited in Tokyo at 300 days Gallery (2001), T.L.A.P.
(2001), and the Ginza Gallery Forest (2000). She received
her BA in oil painting and printmaking from the Woman's
University of Fine Art in Kanagawa, Japan, in 2000. She is
a sponsored member of Fuji-Xerox's "Art by Xerox"
program. Harima lives in San Francisco.
Scott Hewicker has had solo exhibitions at Jack Hanley
Gallery, San Francisco (2002), Rare Gallery, New York
(2001), and Four Walls, San Francisco (1999), among
other venues. He has shown in recent group exhibitions at
Adobe, San Francisco (2001), the Institute of
Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2001), and New Image
Arts, Los Angeles (2001). Hewicker received a 1999
ArtCouncil Grant and is in the permanent collection of the
University Art Museum, Berkeley. He received his BFA
from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1992. Hewicker
lives in San Francisco.
John Slepian has exhibited at the San Jose ICA (2002),
Refusalon, San Francisco (2001), New Langton Arts, San
Francisco (2001), Jernigan Wicker Fine Arts, San
Francisco (2000), and ProArts, Oakland (2000), among
other venues. He received a BFA from New York
Univeristy in 1988 and an MFA in New Genres from the
San Francisco Art Institute in 2002. He is currently a
Multimedia Instructor at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant
Hill, California. Slepian lives in San Rafael.
Now in its eighth year, The Award Show is Langton's
annual showcase for local musicians, visual and media
artists, performers, and writers. Langton's curatorial
committees, composed of working artists and curators,
selected the awardees from over 400 submissions from
artists in San Francisco and eight surrounding counties.
Artists were evaluated based on quality of past work,
innovation in the discipline, and their ability to present an
exhibition or event that reflects a significant development
in their artistic career. Past visual arts recipients include
Geoffrey Chadsey (1998), Leona Christie (2000),
Frederick Hayes (2000), Jason Jagel (1996), Saiman Li
(1998), Rachael Neubauer (1999), Phillip Ross (1996),
Kathryn Spence (1995), and Jon-Paul Villegas (2000).
The 2002 Bay Area Award Show receives special funding
from the Zellerbach Family Fund. Langton's theater
program receives special funding from The William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation. Langton receives major funding
from Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund.
The concert series is funded in part by Martha Dresher.
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 27, 6 - 8 pm
Image: Midori Harima, Untitled (2001), paper sculpture and pastel
drawings, installation view. Photo courtesy the artist.
New Langton Arts
1246 Folsom Street San Francisco, CA 94103
Phone: 415 626 5416 Fax: 415 255 1453