Bay Area Now 6 Visual Arts Exhibit July 9, 2011

July 8- September 25, 2011
The sixth edition of YBCA’s signature triennial exhibition, Bay Area Now, a roundup of exemplary talent showcases artists inspired by the region and beyond. Some are inspired by the local social and geographic environment from bucolic scenes of Golden Gate Park to African-American identity in Oakland. Many of the eighteen artists in BAN 6 also find inspiration from ideas and movements that gained currency in the 1960s and 1970s and their ongoing legacies. Chris Fraser’s light installations are reminiscent of the California light and space movement, Tammy Rae Carland’s photographs of female stand-up comedians are fueled by the energy of 1960s-era Feminism. Like the early Bay Area conceptualists, Brion Nuda Rosch and Chris Sollars embrace the potential of discarded or banal materials and objects. Sean McFarland blends concepts borrowed from the New Topographics photographers with the formalism of 19th century American landscape photography. Reaching further back in time, Allison Smith’s deconstructions of early Americana and Ben Venom’s fusion of quilting and heavy metal music, which had its rebirth in San Francisco, provide fresh views on familiar histories. A few artists also look to the future, including David Huffman, with his afro-futurist canvases and Ranu Mukherjee with her self-described neo-futurist hybrid video works. Whatever period of time these artists are influenced by, they provide a new vision to themes that resonate with what the Bay Area now offers in its cultural mélange of communities and micro-cultures.

Included is photography by Tammy Rae Carland and Sean McFarland; paintings by David Huffman and Robert Minervini; video works by Ranu Mukherjee and Richard T. Walker; sculptures by Mauricio Ancalmo, Suzanne Husky, Allison Smith, and Weston Teruya; conceptual work by Amy Balkin and Tony Labat; installations by Chris Fraser, Brion Nuda Rosch, Chris Sollars, and Rio Babe International; and textiles by Ben Venom.