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Connecting Forms:
work by Jose Maro Alvarado, Aida Gamez & Francisco “Pancho” Jiménez
Exhibition: July 8- August 27, 2005
Connecting Forms examines the work of three Bay Area-based artists whose artistic practice centers on their use of materials and how those materials are pushed to the limits to gain new formal artistic ground. The thematic connections among their work are subtle in nature – that of primordial experiences and forms, the dream world, universal signs and symbols that connect past to present, the role of labor and the rhythm of working in repetition.
About the Artists:
Jose Maro Alvarado, is originally from Texas and comes from a migrant farmworker background. The gripping work included in Connecting Forms is a series of paintings done in gum arabic on aluminum sheets that are later covered with ink. Figurative in nature, much of the imagery in his work is based upon his dreams or inspired by the writing of authors such as Herman Hesse and Jane Roberts. He lives in Sonoma County and works in San Francisco at the UCSF AIDS Health Project, an experience that has influenced his artwork. Jose has been making artwork for the last 30 years and holds a BFA degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Aida Gamez, was born and raised in downtown Los Angeles and currently resides in Berkeley. Her mixed media work attempts to reconcile the differences between her Mexican and American sensibilities. Her choice of materials – cornhusks - is a reference to the laborious process of tamale making and her use of sewing nods to “women’s work” along with her working class background. What results are stunning and elegant pieces imprinted with her labor and love of material. She holds a MFA from UC Berkeley and a BFA from California College of the Arts in Oakland.
Francisco “Pancho” Jiménez, was born in New York City and raised in Santa Clara, Calfornia. Working in clay, his compelling sculptures range from intimate pieces to those of an architectural scale. Driven by the desire to explore clay to the utmost possibility, organic forms meet geometric in his fluid visual language of sculpture. Intrigued by ancient and pre-Colombian art forms, Pancho creates sculptures that transmit the past to the present in a manner that is both timeless and contemporary. Pancho holds a MFA from San Francisco State University and BA inboth Studio Art & History from Santa Clara University. He also studied at the University Autónoma de Mexico, Mexico City.
Artists’ Talk:
Wednesday, August 3, 6:00pm
Join the artists featured in Connecting Forms for a gallery walk through and a conversation about their work.
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 12:00- 7:00pm
Friday & Saturday, 12:00- 5:00pm
& by special appointment.
Free Admission
IMAGE CREDITS:
Emergence, Jose Maro Alvarado, gum painting on aluminum, 2001
Avoid the Void, Aida Gamez, cornhusks & acrylic paint, 2000
Niches (detail), Francisco "Pancho" Jiménez, ceramic, 2002
