Sueños y Sentimientos

Sueños at Back to the Picture/SoMa Gallery - 83 10th Street betw. Market & Mission Sts.

Now showing at BttP and BttP/SoMa, through September 30, 2013 

- sueño (SWEH-nyo) -n., Sp.  A dream, a fantasy 
- sentimiento (sen-tee-MYEN-toe) -n., Sp.  A feeling, an emotion

Our Summer, 2013 exhibition occupies both our gallery spaces.  An exhibition of fine art works in Back to the Picture's Private Collection, we've divided the work into two categories:  surrealist and dreamy subject matter at Back to the Picture/SoMa, and emotional/sentimental subject matter at Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery.

Since 1985, our love of art has led us to collect artwork by 20th Century Masters, as well as works by Contemporary Artists from the Bay Area and beyond.  Sueños y Sentimientos is the first exhibition of our Private Collection in over a year, and your opportunity to see fine art by major artists at your local Back to the Picture!  A few of the available works are displayed here.  Learn a little about our collection, then embark on a quest to see the works in person at both of our conveniently located galleries.

Sentimientos 

Part of Sueños y Sentimientos, our Summer 2013 exhibition

Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery 

934 Valencia St. @ 20th St., San Francisco, 94110

(415) 826-2321

Some of the works on exhibition include:

Innocence, from the Pleni Luna suite

 Wilfredo Lam, 12/8/1902 - 9/11/1982
Cuban Surrealist

Wilfredo Lam was born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, to Yam Lam, a Chinese immigrant, and Ana Serafina Castilla, daughter of a former Congolese slave and an African-Cuban.  Surrounded by many people of African decent, he practiced Catholicism alongside many of the African spiritual practices and celebrations.  These influences played heavily into his artistic expression.

Belle Epine (Beatiful Spine), from the Pleni Luna suite, 1974

In 1923, after leaving law studies in Havana, Lam traveled to Madrid to further his studies in the arts.  He studied under Zaragoza, the curator of the Museo del Prado, and teacher of Salvador Dalí, and remained in Europe until his return to Cuba in 1941.

Early influences and supporters included Matisse, Picasso, Leget, Braque, and Miró.  Through his experience losing his wife and young son to tuburculosis, coupled with his travels across the Spanish countryside where he developed empathy for the Spanish peasantry, whose plight reminded him of the Cuban slaves, his work took on a dark nature, expressed surrealistically and abstractly.

On exhibition are two color lithographs printed in 1974:  Innocence and Belle Epine.  Both impressions in BttP's collection are printed on Arches paper in editions of 274, and are signed and numbered in pencil by the artist, and are beautifully preservation-framed.

Mujer con Brazos Altos en Rojo, Rufino Tamayo

Rufino Tamayo, 8/26/1899 - 6/24/1991
Mexican Surrealist

Tamayo's best-known legacy to the art world was his mastery of the traditional printmaking techniques, and his development of the technique know as Mixografía, a process of combining printmaking techniques and creating a three-dimensional texture.  Additionally, he is known for two major museums in México, both named for him:  The Tamayo Museum in México City, México's National Museum of Contemporary Art, and The Tamayo Museum in Oaxaca, a museum of items of items of national and cultural heritage.  Both museums were founded on Tamayo's collections of these objects, bequeathed to the nation upon his and his wife Olga's deaths.

On exhibition in Sentimientos is this beautiful color lithograph, signed and numbered by the artist and beautifully preservation-framed.  Mujer con Brazos Altos en Rojo (Woman with Upraised Arms on Red) is one of Tamayo's beloved figure studies of the female form.  This rare print would make an excellent addition to any collection, and is sure to demand attention in any space.

Other artists in the Sentimientos portion of Sueños y Sentimientos include:
Raul Anguiano, David Alfaro Siqueiros, Schanke, Christo, Jose Luis Cuevas, and more.  Visit the gallery today for a viewing!

Sueños

Part of Sueños y Sentimientos, our Summer 2013 Exhibition

Back to the Picture/SoMa Gallery 

83 10th St., betw. Market & Mission Sts., San Francisco  94103

(415) 558-9901

Some of the works on exhibition include:

Ileria, Leonor Fini, 1972

Leonor Fini, 8/30/1907 - 1/18/1996
Argentinian-born Italian Surrealist

In 1931 or 1932, Leonor Fini moved from Milan, Italy to Paris.  Her contemporaries included Max Ernst, Georges Bataille, Picasso, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Salvador Dalí.  Married only briefly, Fini once said, "Marriage never appealed to me, I've never lived with one person. Since I was 18, I've always preferred to live in a sort of community - A big house with my atelier and cats and friends, one with a man who was rather a lover and another who was rather a friend. And it has always worked."  Fini painted women, many times resembling herself, characterized by strength and beauty, portrayed in ceremonial or provocative situations.  When men are included in the images, they tend to be painted as wispy figures under the protection of her strongly-depicted females.  Sphinxes and cats were also heavily respresented in her work, as in the example at Back to the Picture/SoMa, Ileria.  This image was used in the early 1970's as the cover of a novel by the same name, and features the classic Fini themes of the strong female form rendered as a Sphinx.  Our color lithograph is signed and numbered by the artist in pencil, and is beautifully preservation-framed.


Alexander Calder, The Sun and the Water - color lithograph, signed by the artist in pencil

The Sun and the Water, Alexander Calder

The Juggler, Rufino Tamayo, after

Rufino Tamayo, after - The Juggler   This posthumous impression is an authorized Mixograph, embossed with Tamayo's logo in the lower left corner of the print.

Also in Sueños, find works by the following fine artists:
Salvador Dalí, Alfonso Ximenez, Otto Aguilar, Robert Gatewood, and more.  Visit the gallery for a viewing today!

Visit our website to learn more.

Sueños y Sentimientos is on exhibition through September 30, 2013, and is curated by Randy Figures (Sentimientos, BttP/LAG) and Derek Hargrove (Sueños, BttP/SoMa).  Please click on a curator's name to make an inquiry.

We look forward to seeing you!

Meet the Artists, Volume 1

Tisha Kenny - Conjuring Nature, Coming to BttP/LAG

March 1 - 31, 2013

Tisha Kenny, February, 2013

I've said it before, but it bears repeating:  there's no more rewarding experience than to be invited into the studio - and thus, the mind - of an artist with whom you are working.  As I'm preparing to launch the exhibition Conjuring Nature, I've set aside time to meet with the exhibiting artists to select work, as well as to learn a little more about their process and the things that inspire them.  The first of the three artists is Tisha Kenny, who graciously invited me into her home studio in preparation for the exhibition.

Fairy Moss Tree, by Tisha Kenny - courtesy of the artist

Painting

Tisha practices many disciplines of creativity.  She is, of course, a painter, who will be featured in Conjuring Nature at Back to the Picture in March.  She paints in a home studio off her kitchen in her Dolores Park apartment.  Her west-facing window allows in a wonderful afternoon sun which washes her painting table with warm light.  A small space, Tisha is comfortable working in this room which has seen the creation of many a work of art with landscape, botanical, and natural subject matter.  In both an impressionist style and a Sumi style, Tisha represents the plants, flowers, and natural settings that inspire her.  She eschews canvas in favor of fine delicate papers.  Being a pen and ink artist myself, I can appreciate Tisha's love of the tactile nature of paper.  In her impressionist paintings, she will often lay a second sheet of rice paper underneath the paper onto which she paints a saturated wash of color and paint.  Much of the wash soaks through to the second layer, creating a ghost image of what was painted on the cover piece.  At this point, she decides with which to proceed, if not both.

There's a wonderfully evocative element of exploration in this method of painting; an understanding that the paint is going to follow its own course, and no one else's, as it soaks through the top sheet.  The artist accepts and celebrates this uncertainty in her process.  The results, as seen in the Fairy Moss Tree above, are wonderfully colorful and unexpected, with nuanced colors and layers of detail over shadow. 

Tisha Kenny and Ikebana Flower Arranging

Ikebana Flower Arranging

Another of Tisha's passions is the Japanese tradition of flower arrangement known as Ikebana.  A spare hand is used when creating an arrangement in this age-old style, with the object being to appreciate each individual element within the arrangement and the interplay of the balance of the elements, creating an aesthetic that is dynamic as it is simple.

As with many disciplines, indeed practically everything in life, the best results are based on simplicity.  Form is given the utmost importance in Ikebana arrangements, with negative space equally as important as the physical elements of the arrangement.  While we met, Tisha created the above arrangement and explained that the elements used in a Japanese flower arrangement are based on a triangle, defined by three main points utilizing twigs and branches, symbolizing the universal elements of the heavens, the earth, and the spirit.

Flowers, branches, and leaves to be used in arrangement

Tisha Kenny creating an Ikebana arrangement

Tisha began by selecting the vessel:  in this case, a long, graceful copper-colored vase.  She inserted a disc with many points, called a kensan, which would hold the elements of the arrangement, then filled the vase with water.

With much care and consideration, she selected each element of the arrangement and prepared it for placement.  One piece at a time, she inserted the elements and strove to achieve a graceful balance of line and form.

Not only flowers are used in Ikebana; branches, leaves, and even a cabbage blossom were used to create this lovely arrangement.  It's easy to see how this wonderful Japanese tradition worked its way into Tisha's psyche, after having known her and her visual artwork for over 10 years.  I can only believe that the Ikebana improves Tisha's relationship with her paintings, and vice versa.

 

Tisha Kenny's Ikebana arrangement, created right before my very eyes!  Thank you, Tisha.

Greeting Cards by Tisha Kenny

Tisha captures the images of her paintings and creates her unique line of greeting cards.  Each are blank inside, with the art image on the front of the card.  As in all she does, the cards are made entirely by hand in her home studio.

The production begins with capturing the image from the original work of art.  Once the images are digitized and residing on her computer, Tisha manipulates the image to achieve the most pleasing result, true to the original work of art as she can make it.  Proprietary text and image credits are formatted and print on the back of the card.

True to form, Tisha prints the cards on lovely linen-textured or parchment papers.  She utilizes a paper cutter to trim the card out, then carefully folds and burnishes the crease.

She then couples the card with its corresponding envelope and sleeves them in self-adhesive polybags.  Sleeving the cards keeps them from becoming soiled while awaiting sale, and provides a pristine presentation of a painstaking process.

Tisha's cards are featured in our card rack at Back to the Picture.  Please ask to see them the next time you're in our store!

Tisha's Inspirations

Glance around an artist's studio, and you'll find sources of inspiration.  Seeing these books on the shelf next to Tisha's computer was no surprise.

Among others, titles such as Jane Evans's Chinese Brush Painting, Derek Fell's The Impressionist Garden, and a copy of Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, and Beyond are stacked, ready for reading.

Would you like to see more of Tisha's work, and to learn more about her?  Visit her website here.

Join us!

Conjuring Nature:  Imagined Portraits, Landscapes, & Botanicals runs at Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery from March 1 through March 31, 2013.  The Opening Reception is on Saturday, March 9, 2013.  The event is on Facebook; RSVP here, and please pass the word along to any friends who may be interested in attending!

Showing with Tisha in Conjuring Nature are Christine Cariati and Joel Peirano.  Stay tuned to this blog for the next installment of Meet the Artists, when I count my experience meeting with Christine Cariati in her home studio.

Ciao for now!  We'll see you at the opening!

-Randy Figures, Curator
Conjuring Nature:  Imagined Portraits, Landscapes, & Botanicals

www.backtothepicture.com

Harmonices Mondi at BTTP/SOMA

Coming In March to BTTP/SOMA

Harmonices Mondi

United Ties That Bind Us

Featuring works by:

Doug Lawler

Tim Burns

Marc Dixon

Elliott Nathan

Danny Mendoza

Creta Pullen

March 4, 2013 – April 6, 2013

Opening Reception- Friday, March 8, 2013

6-8 p.m.

Back To The Picture SOMA Gallery

83 10^th. St.

San Francisco, CA 94110

(415)-558-9901

John Muir once said, “Take a course in good water and air; and in the eternal youth of Nature you may renew your own. Go quietly, alone; no harm will befall you.”  Today, the world of each modern human is not a single tribe but rather a system of interlocking existences. The Greeks called it harmonia, the way we “fit together.” We live in an increasing awareness of each other.

 

Enjoy the different aspects and interpretations of life…the earth, the sea, and us.

https://www.facebook.com/events/490052437699206/

2013 Exhibitions

It's a new year...and we're eager to see you at Back to the Picture!

Both locations are beginning 2013's exhibition season in March.

Conjuring Nature:  Imagined Portraits, Landscapes, & Botanicals
At BttP on Valencia Street, we're featuring a three-artist show of painters Christine Cariati, Tisha Kenny, and Joël Peirano.  The exhibition runs March 1 through March 31, 2013, and features botanical and portraiture subject matter.  Opening Night is Saturday, March 9, 2013.  Join us!

Christine Cariati

Adagio #1, Christine Cariati, Gouache on paper
Courtesy of the Artist

Christine Cariati paints with gouache, an opaque watercolor medium, on heavy Arches paper.  Her subjects are birds & insects interacting in intricately painted garden and foliage scenes, as well as operatic subject matter, where the scene depicted is essentially the set of an imaginary opera, and the actors are hybrid between birds and humans.  Both subjects (the gardens and the operas) are representative of the cycles of life and death, and the roles we play in these cycles.  Christine's paintings are small and can be held and studied like a book.  Many of the intricate garden paintings are akin to fine fabric patterns.  Both of these qualities harken to Christine's past careers:  a bibliographer of rare books, and a textile designer.

Whispers of Silent Birds, Christine Cariati, Gouache on paper
Courtesy of the Artist

 See more of Christine's work on her website:  xcariati.echovar.com.

Tisha Kenny

Yellow Leaves and Lotus, Tisha Kenny, Mixed Media
Courtesy of the Artist

Tisha Kenny practices multiple disciplines of watercolor.  She is inspired by the impressionist movement, and one of her styles is reminiscent of this aesthetic, with her own personal flare added in the form of painting with watercolor on rice paper, sometimes placing an additional piece of rice paper under a still wet painting in process to create multiple impressions of a similar image, developing each one separately with various effects of abstract to realistic interpretations. This process results in a multi-layered, highly-textural image of botanical and natural subject matter, rendered in a neo-impressionist style of mixed-media watercolor.  Tisha developed the neo-impressionist mixed-media style herself over many years.

She is also fascinated and drawn to the watercolor and ink-wash technique known as Sumi-e, and one-stroke Chinese style of rendering botanical subjects utilizing single strokes for each element of the painting. She has studied the Sumi-e /Chinese Brush Painting for 20 years. A number of her paintings represent the integration of Asian Brush Painting and Impressionism. She is also an Ikenobo Ikebana Flower Arranger, studying this discipline for 25 years.

Peach Blossoms and Vine, Tisha Kenny, Watercolor and India Ink on paper
Courtesy of the Artist

To see more of Tisha Kenny's work, please visit http://www.rookridgedesignstudio.com/tisha/tisha_kenny.html.

Joël Peirano

Thinking of You, Joël Peirano, Mixed Media on paper
Courtesy of the Artist

Joel Peirano paints portraits of women with mixed-media acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and varnishes on paper, creating multiple-layered images defined by their affinities and resistences.  Peirano paints portraiture busts (rendering of the head and shoulders).  His subjects are not painted representationally, but rather in a style similar to impressionism, with a free hand for use of color.  Peirano uses unexpected colors, layers of matte and gloss finishes, and both oil and water-based media to represent the emotions of the subjects, and to convey feeling and mood.  His subjects are contemplative and emanate with a glow that captivates the viewer.  Layers of paint and varnish are utilized, which captures light and makes the subjects seem to glow from within.

To learn more about Joël Peirano, visit his website at http://www.joelpeirano.com.

Conjuring Nature:  Imagined Portraits, Landscapes, & Botanicals, opens March 9, 7-9 pm, at Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery at 934 Valencia St. at 20th Street in San Francisco's vibrant and historic Mission District.  All are welcome!  Join us as we share what we love with the world.