Gray Loft Gallery: Inhabiting Space ~ Closing Artist Party

Closing Artist Party: 
Saturday, October 25, 5 – 8 pm

Join us for the closing artists' party on Saturday, October 25. This is your last chance to see this stellar exhibit. INHABITING SPACE was curated by Ruth Boerefijn,  and is an exhibit that explores how we occupy physical and psychological environments.  The five artists (who have been colleagues in art conversations for over forty years) filter the concept of inhabiting through diverse backgrounds and media, and respond to the gallery space itself with installations of light, photographs and sculpture.  The exhibition also examines the influence of such individuals in the long arc of creative life.  Exhibiting Artists: Ruth Boerefijn    Renée Carriere    Gail Gordon   Judith James    Patricia Lyons Stroud Show dates:  September 12 – October 25, 2014 Closing Artist Party: Saturday, October 25, 5 – 8 pm Gallery Hours: Saturday, 2:00 to 8:00 pm and by appointment

Detail of Renee Carriere's installation. Photographs by Judith James. Installation photo of Ruth Boerefijn and Patricia Stroud's work. Ruth Boerefijn  “Stream” is part of Inhabiting Space, a group show about how we occupy physical and mental environments. Fishing line cascades from the ceiling in waves, indicating a rectangular block of space without actually filling it. The viewer has to focus to see through to the wall, where a quote from Jeanette Winterson compares being shut in a coal hole to swimming in a stream. The installation recreates this metaphor by simultaneously evoking the feeling of enclosed space and deep, flowing water. Next to Winterson’s written words, the looping strands of fishing line are the “handwriting” of the artist, communicating in concrete terms her own experience of what it means to immerse yourself in the stream of experience.   Renée Carriere "Ebb Tide" "Recently I have been looking into how form begins to take its shape, how it manifests itself and how it might begin to dissolve or come apart."   Gail Gordon "Light Form With Volume" Light installation. I am fascinated with forming an invisible element such as light, and creating a focused and voluminous form that can be perceived in the viewer's mind.     Judith James "Underwater City" references the tension between habitation and habitat arising from  the pressure of urban expansion. Conceived as a response to the impending development  of San Francisco's last undeveloped area, this series imagines a proto-city submerged  beneath the waves. The approach was suggested by the underwater lots visible on the Gold-Rush-era plat maps of San Francisco lots that continue to exist today in the waters  of India Basin. Patricia Lyons Stroud Sometimes I feel as though I'm just asking questions.  If I'm lucky I get some answers, and if I'm really lucky  I get to be surprised. The best works for me are the ones that surprise - they seem to have made themselves. our next exhibit... There is a There There November 14 to December 12 2nd Friday Art Walk Reception: Friday, November 14, 6 to 9 pm Open during Jingletown’s Winter Art Walk Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 6 & 7, 11 to 6 pm 2nd Friday Art Walk Closing Reception: Friday, December 12, 6 to 9 pm  Inspired by Gertrude Stein’s philosophy of collecting and supporting art and artists, this group show will be celebrating that way of life by creating environments in the gallery with furniture, art, jewelry and textiles. More than 30 Bay Area artists – primarily from Oakland, and who have previously shown or are affiliated with the Gray Loft Gallery – will have their work displayed in salon-like arrangements in the gallery. There will  also be poetry readings and musical guests performing during weekend hours.  Curated by Jan Watten. Please join us for these events and support the local art scene and the Gray Loft Gallery - as the future in our present location is uncertain...

GRAY LOFT GALLERY
2889 Ford Street, third floor
Oakland, California 94601
510.499.3445
DIRECTIONS

Gallery Hours:  
Saturdays, 1:00 to 5:00 pm
Sundays by appointment