Pipeline Exhibit - sampler plate

From July 16 to August 28, 2009, the gallery I'm interning at (SFMOMA Artists Gallery) is showing the exhibition Pipeline: Art, Surfing, and the Ocean Environment. It focuses on the influence of surf culture on Bay Area artists and features paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations, film, and mixed media works alongside custom surfboards by Jeff Clark, the chap who started Mavericks. The title of the exhibition takes its name from the Pipeline, a wave that breaks at Ehukai beach on the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii, the birth place of surfing. I've been doing a bit of writing for the show - press releases, wall labels, etc...- and am pretty excited about the material and the work. Everything opens up on Thurs night!

Here are some of my favorite pieces that are scheduled to be included in the show:

Peter Shepard Cole, Self Portrait as Captain Cook, 2008, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 in.© Peter Shepard Cole

Captain Cook discovered Hawaii and opened its land and culture up to the outside world. When he first arrived in the 1800s, the Hawaiians were already surfing on huge, heavy boards made of balsa wood. All of the bird species in this portrait are now extinct due to environmental changes on the island after Cooks' arrival. The artist - Peter Shepard Cole - is a white Hawaiian himself ( I believe) and here he reinterprets himself in the image of the man essentially responsible for the elimination of Hawaiian autonomy and native culture - an interesting move it I do say so myself!

Reuben Margolin, Spiral Wave, 2005, aluminum and monofilament, 72 x 168 in.© Reuben Margolin

Reuben Margolin is interested in the more nature-based side of surfing. He focuses on water, studying its movement and innate characteristics. His pieces are kinetic sculptures crafted from salvaged materials to mimic water.

Jeff Clark, Autumn, n.d., Four-Fin, Resin Stain Bottom & Rails, 8' x 6" x 2.75"© Jeff Clark Surfboards

This is a surfboard - one of many in the show - that has been shaped by Jeff Clark, the man credited with opening Mavericks up to the public. If I ever have money, this is the board I want. I know nothing about its performance in the water. I just know of its beauty.

Adrienne Pao, Beachfront Property at Diamond Head/Lei'ahi Kapa

Adrienne Pao's series of color photographs evoke travel posters that have attracted tourists to the Hawaiian Islands since the advent of jet travel. Beachfront Property at Diamond Head/Lei'ahi Kapa depicts the Waikiki shoreline of today, overrun with tourists and encroached upon by concrete high rises. The Hawaiian title, Lei'ahi Kapa, refers to the origins of the site and calls to mind a past that ain't coming back. Pao re-frames the visitor experience and calls into question the practice of exoticizing other cultures, the natural environment, and women.

Charles Valoroso, Urban Tiki/Ocean Beach, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 55 x 40 in© Charles Valoroso

I love this work because these viewfinders take on so much character. The machines are anthropomorphized in the midst of a natural environment - so much work going on with machine, nature and human perception. I also like the clean, pop art style.

Serena Mitnik-Miller, Tropical Punch, 2007, ink-jet print, 16 x 20 in.© Serena Mitnik-Miller

The color on this one is sublime. It exemplifies the power of the camera to me - how a split moment can be captured and preserved in a way that would prove impossible for the human eye. This scene can be easily viewed as either Rothko-esque abstraction or a breathtaking seascape.