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Many Streams New work by Martin Webb at The Compound Gallery Sadly, due to unfortunate and unforeseeable circumstances, Barbara Holmes is no longer able to do the upcoming two person show with me at The Compound Gallery. The show will now be a solo show consisting of a much larger selection of my recent work. I’m really excited about this new group of paintings and accompanying installation piece. I let the paintings themselves take the lead and they went to some new places that were quite a surprise to me, and may be to you too.  Opening reception June 6th, 6-9pm
Closing reception and artist talk, July 12, 3-6pm (talk at 4) 1145 65th st. Oakland, CA 94608 Gallery Hours: Wed-Sun 12-7pm Join the facebook event here “We live in a time not of mainstream but of many streams, or even, if you insist upon a river of time, then we have come to delta, maybe even beyond delta to an ocean which is going back to the skies.” John Cage, KPFA Radio, 1992 “Since I am often a figurative painter, this group of work might be defined by its conspicuous absence of people. Last year, I’d started taking photographs late at night in my neighborhood and became intrigued by the way that familiar scenes are transformed by darkness and stark artificial light. I noticed how the urban landscape makes sense when human activity is present, but takes on other qualities when the people are absent. This led to some initial paintings experimenting with these images, but they lacked a solid direction until a recent trip through the Eastern Sierras where I went out of my way to seek out the old abandoned gold-mining towns and settlers’ cabins. Again, the absence of people struck me. The cabins remain as a record of people having been there and passed onward. The natural landscape has shown the people their folly, thrown them out, and is now reclaiming the flimsy buildings back into its self. I’m always fascinated by people’s relationship with the land and time, and in particular the way that things we regard as solid and permanent are actually temporary, in flux, and part of a continuum much larger than ourselves.”
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I'm really looking forward to this show - I've been a fan of Barbara's work for some time, and I think we're both coming up with work that's surprising us with it's new directions. I'm posting a few in-progress images below as tasters, but please come to the show to see where it all ends up. FB event page here. “We live in a time not of mainstream but of many streams, or even, if you insist upon a river of time, Then we have come to delta, maybe even beyond delta to an ocean which is going back to the skies.” John Cage KPFA Radio, 1992 Barbara Holmes and Martin Webb are both gatherers and gleaners who collect images, materials, and thoughts, as they wander near and far from home. In her West Oakland neighborhood and nearby Shoreline Park, Holmes monitors and collects discarded objects, and watches the slow transformation of a landscape in rehabilitation while being tucked within one of the nations largest ports. Martin Webb captures images on night walks in his neighborhood and on road trips, looking for the common and the contrasting vernacular of both wild and urban landscapes. Whether on foot or on the road, Holmes and Webb seek out new ways of seeing their everyday/familiar environments and absorbing new or novel places. In their studios, both artists work with this garnered source material in an open-ended, intuitive way to produce paintings, prints, and objects that are simple in form yet speak to complex relationships of materials and decay, culture and nature. Many Streams: Barbara Holmes and Martin Webb (June 6th-July 12th, 2015) Opening Reception: Saturday, June 6th 6-9pm Artist Talk and Closing Tea with Barbara and Martin: Sunday, July 12th 3-6pm (talk starts at 4pm) |
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