Spread April 8, 2011

Artists Reception, Friday April 8, 2011, 7 - 9 pm

It is frequently said that "as goes California, so goes the nation" though this adage is often at odds with the current image of San Francisco as artistically provincial or insular. Our exhibition "Spread" contradicts this unflattering image by highlighting the distinct history and continuing impact of Bay Area artists and educators on the tenor and trajectory of conceptual and new media art.

"Spread" OFF Space's upcoming exhibition at SOMArts Gallery, features the work of seminal, emerging and mid-career conceptual and new media artists. The exhibition, panel discussion and a curator-led exhibition tour highlight the history and continuing contributions of Bay Area artists to the conceptual and new media arts around the world. Participating artists include Paul Kos, Tony Labat, George Legrady, Laetitia Sonami, Julien Berthier, Guy Overfelt, Angus Forbes and Jaqueline Gordon.

From the establishment of the Museum of Conceptual Art and The Farm in the 1970's to the ongoing influence of public and private arts education programs San Francisco has been home to innovators, rule breakers and unsung heroes. Practices as diverse as conceptual art, relational aesthetics, web, sound and interactive art would be but pale shadows of themselves without the rigorous, energetic contributions of pioneering artists like Paul Kos, Tony Labat, George Legrady and Laetitia Sonami. Along with their far ranging personal visions, these individuals have mentored and guided generations of young artists from around the world; Julien Berthier, Guy Overfelt, Angus Forbes and Jaqueline Gordon, all emerging or mid-career artists of formidable talent, represent a select handful who have spent time under the tutelage of those vanguard artists with telling effect.

OFF Space is honored to present Spread and indebted to SOMArts for their generosity in awarding the Curatorial Commons grant that has made this show possible.

Official Website: http://www.SOMArts.org