Visionaries: Contemporary Art from Santa Barbara’s Private Collections

Opening: SAT. MAY. 22, 7-9 PM
On View: MAY. 22 – JUL. 18, 2010

SAT. MAY 22, 6-7 PM
Art à La Carte: Meet the Curator and Artists
Join us before the opening of Visionaries: Contemporary Art from Santa Barbara’s Private Collections and Bloom Projects: Adrian Esparza Paño-rama for a VIP tour of the exhibitions. FREE for above Level Members/$5 General Admission, includes one complimentary beverage.

The Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum celebrates Santa Barbara’s world-class, contemporary art collections, specifically highlighting some of today’s most cutting-edge artists. Widely recognized as a center of arts and culture, leisure, and natural beauty, Santa Barbara also boasts a population of savvy art aficionados who travel, collect, and support the most compelling art of our time. Miki Garcia, Executive Director and Valerie Velazquez, Assistant Curator, culled through over 20 collections including those of John and Jill Bishop, Jacquelyn Klein-Brown; Jill and Barry Kitnick; Tim Walsh and Mike Healy; Cyndee Howard; Barry and Jo Berkus; and many more, organizing a public exhibition of privately held and rarely seen treasures in our midst. This exhibition offers a glimpse of paintings, prints, drawings, photography, and sculpture by leading figures in the contemporary art world including Louise Bourgeois, Martin Eder, Sam Francis, Arturo Herrera, Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman, Hiroshi Sugimoto, and Rob Fisher as well as recognized local artists Richard Aber and Hank Voss.

Artists: Richard Aber, Brian Alfred, El Anatsui, Cory Arcangel, Louise Bourgeois, Joan Brown, James Casebere, Paul Chan, Rineke Dijkstra, Martin Eder, Rob Fisher, Tim Hawkinson, Arturo Herrera, Brad Howe, Zak Kitnick, Lead Pencil Studio, Richard Misrach, Robert A. Pruitt, Richard Ross, Iona Rozeal Brown, Ed Ruscha, Alison Saar, Cindy Sherman, Amy Sillman, Joseph Stashkevetch, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Hank Voss, Matthew Weinstein, and Lebbeus Woods

CAF would like to acknowledge the support of Candyce Eoff, Montecito, CA; Carole Lieff, Montecito, CA; Bill Spencer, Santa Barbara, CA; Wayne McCall & Associates, Santa Barbara, CA; and all the Lenders of this exhibition.

Iona Rozeal Brown, Commonalities, 2006,
Acrylic and ink on paper, 50 x 38 in.
Collection of Tim Walsh and Mike Healy, Santa Barbara, CA.

Arturo Herrera, Behind the House 1, 1999 (Detail)
Color felt, 2 units, 10 1/2 ft. x 7 3/8 ft. each
Collection of Jacquelyn Klein-Brown, Montecito, CA

Bloom Projects: Adrian Esparza, Paño-rama

El Paso-based artist Adrian Esparza garners much of his source material and artistic inspiration from his borderland experience. Riffing on the Spanish word for cloth (paño), the artist will create a site-specific installation consisting of multiple, painted handkerchiefs quilted together to form large fabric panels. The collaged images on the handkerchiefs are gathered from a range of sources including the internet, personal imagery, and text. This newly commissioned work is directly inspired by CAF's geographic location, considering the California prison system, Santa Barbara (Patron Saint of prisoners), outsider art (drawings on handkerchiefs made by prisoners are referred to as “paños”), the concept of panopticon (circular prisons with cells distributed around a central surveillance station), and French philosopher, Michel Foucault's writings. Paño-rama considers notions of power and freedom of expression in contemporary West Coast society.

Special thanks to Brush & Associates, Santa Barbara, CA; Bill Spencer, Santa Barbara, CA; and Wayne McCall and Associates, Santa Barbara, CA

Adrian Esparza, Rebote/Handball (Santa Barbara), 2010
Fabric paint on handkerchiefs, 78 x 78 in.