Winter/Spring 2018 Exhibition Season

Click here to see a review of three of our the season's exhibitions by San Francisco Art Critic DeWitt Cheng

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The work of Bay Area artist David Tomb reflects his lifelong interest in birds and also his significant commitment to the conservation of species and habitats.

The images he creates are huge in scale. They are collage and mixed-media works on paper installations. Tomb says of his work, "Making artwork of birds is a way to connect and personalize my experience of seeing birds. The ultimate goal is to have people think: That animal is incredible... we need to save them!"

Curator: Michele Ellis Pracy, FAM Executive Director & Chief Curator

Exhibition support: Daniel R. Martin Family Foundation

Read more about this and our other exhibitions on The Munro Review: click here.

Images: David Tomb, Aplomado Falcon Bat Hunting detail, Watercolor and gouache on paper, 29.5" x 83" and Great Philippine Eagle, 2012, Mixed media and collage, 128" x 210"


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This exhibition features Fresno-based artist Marcos Dorado and will include 20 to 25 recent portraits of immigrants with short biographies for each. The artist's objective: "My goal is to convey their struggle, which is my own. I want to put the spotlight on the positive contributions of immigrants that are here." 

Marcos studied drawing at The Art Students League of New York and The Grand Central Academy of Art, both in New York City. Now, Marcos is part of the movement that is bringing the figure back into the forefront of art.

The realism and superb craftsmanship in his drawing express the beauty of the people around him. His work explores social issues that matter to him.

Curator: Michele Ellis Pracy, FAM Executive Director & Chief Curator


Video from The Munro Review, 2.1.18 (interview with Marcos Dorado starts at approximately 4:22.) Click here to watch full-screen version.

Images: Marcos Dorado, Extranjero (Portrait of Fabio Pertile), 2017, Charcoal, pastel, and ink on canvas, 36" x 24" and Angélica Diaz Livesay, 2017, Conté and graphite on paper, 24" x 24"


 

 

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In recognition of the legacy of local photographer Hanna S. Barsam, the Fresno Art Museum is proud to host a biennial photography exhibition with the generous support of the Hanna S. Barsam Estate Funds of the Central Valley Community Foundation.

Guest curated by Jay Belloli, former director of the gallery programs at the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, the theme of the 2018 Hanna S. Barsam Photography Invitational is California Nature. Each photographer selected by Mr. Belloli explores the natural California environment as captured through a lens. Just as Mr. Barsam was known for his innovative and often avant-garde approach to photography, this invitational showcases photographers that push the envelope with regards to technique and subject matter.

Statement by Guest Curator, Jay Belloli:

Since California photographer Carlton Watkins began photographing Yosemite in the 1860s, the natural environment of California has been an important theme for photographers living in our state. The California Nature exhibition presents the work of ten living California photographers who have been exploring the natural areas of the Golden State during this new century. The photographers represented in the exhibition are Mitch Dobrowner, Rose-Lynn Fisher, Thom Halls, Robert Glenn Ketchum, Sant Khalsa, David Maisel, the Optics Division of the Metabolic Studio, Brendan Pattengale, Ian Ruhter, and Robert Weingarten. Using both black and white and color photography they have captured very different elements of the beautiful nature of California—mountains, deserts, lakes, rivers, agricultural lands and the Pacific Shoreline. Two of the photographers, Fisher and Maisel, have examined California beauty from above. 

Many of the photographers used digital cameras and printing techniques; several—especially Ketchum and Pattengale—utilized computer imaging to create their color images. Only one photographer used a traditional camera and film. Ruhter used the 19th-century collodion wet plate process to create full-size images. The Metabolic Studio created its own photographic medium with natural materials found on site.

The California Nature photography exhibition celebrates the natural beauty of California, and the creativity of the photographers of our state as they explore the Golden State’s unique and awe-inspiring landscapes.

Exhibition sponsor:  Hanna S. Barsam Estate Funds of the Central Valley Community Foundation

Images: Robert Weingarten, 6:30, #104, October 26, 2003 and Thom Halls, Kings River Series: Reedley—Still waters near the Reedley Narrows make for wonderful recreation areas, 2010, Archival digital print, 20" x 24"


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Bay Area artist, Holly Lane, is a painter and sculptor who creates works that the New York Times has labeled “inspirational parables.” The exhibition showcases 16 of the artist’s unique works. Lane is most well-known for her elaborately framed paintings, inspired by architecture and often tied to Greek mythology and philosophy. Rather than mere housings for her paintings, Lane’s frames are elaborate, hand-carved pieces of art themselves that provide allegorical context for the two-dimensional paintings they surround. Also included are some of her purely sculptural works, gilded creations that range in size from monumental to pocket-sized. The sculptures, with their intricate relationship between form and shape, are physical manifestations of philosophical musings. Lane’s work explores themes of nature, mysticism, interspecies compassion, and feminism. The exhibition’s title, Indwelling Nature, speaks to the idea that humanity and nature inhabit the same space, each providing the framework for how the other is perceived.

Curator: Sarah Vargas, FAM Associate Curator

Images: Holly Lane, Four Consolations, 2015, Acrylic paint, carved wood, and paper quilling, 27¼" x 22½" x 6", and Unfoldment, 2015, Acrylic on panel, graphite on Mylar, carved wood, 28" x 33 1/8" x 6", both Courtesy of the Artist and Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA


 

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MAY 20, 2017 through JUNE 10, 2018

Tell Me a Story is an exhibition organized to directly relate to the storybooks read by third graders throughout the Fresno Unified School DistrictIt includes the original artwork of six illustrators selected for their unique and appealing visual interpretations of stories based on legends, folk tales, and social issues. The artists included are Michael Allen Austin (Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale), Pascal Biet (Wolf!), Colin Bootman (Finding Lincoln), Perky Edgerton (Bravo Tavo!), G. Brian Karas (Clever Jack Takes the Cake), and Boris Kulikov (The Castle on Hester Street). Combined, the represented stories illustrate many character-building qualities: courage, determination, perseverance, resourcefulness, truth, the value of friendship, supporting tolerance and literacy, and overcoming impossible odds or misfortune with positivity.

Organized to coordinate with the Kennedy Center's Any Given Child Education Program

Curator: Susan Yost Filgate, FAM Education Director

Underwritten annually in part by the Bonner Family Foundation

Image:  Boris Kulikov, The Button Man, from The Castle on Hester Street written by Linda Heller, 18" x 10½", mixed media on paper, and Michael Allen Austin, Martina and Perez, from the book, Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale, retold by Carmen Agra Deedy, 24" x 30", acrylic, colored pencil, and pastel on illustration board 

Learn more about the artists and get a peek at the exhibition by clicking here.

Read the great article on Tell Me a Story from The Fresno Bee's Central Valley Magazine.


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What is in a name? One of the first things that museum visitors do is look for the title of an artwork they like in order to provide context. What happens when the artist deliberately chooses not to give their art a title? UNTITLED presents a selection of works from the permanent collection that ask the viewer to create their own story. From the figural to the abstract, each untitled work is open to interpretation. What does the image mean? That is for you to decide.

Curator: Sarah Vargas, FAM Associate Curator

Images: Robert Natkin, Untitled, 1974, Lithograph, 36" x 26", Collection of the Fresno Art Museum, Gift of Adam Mekler, FAM85.3.2 and Johnny Friedlaender, Untitled, n.d., Lithograph, 10" x 8", Collection of the Fresno Art Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert Lippert, FAM92.20


 

Winter/Spring 2018 Season Exhibition Sponsors:  Anonymous, CCIS Insurance Services, Eaton and Gibson Family Fund of the Central Valley Community Foundation, Elaine Lynn, and Women's Auxiliary of the Fresno Art Museum

General Exhibition Support: David & MaryAnne Esajian

Media Partner: 

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