| cheryl coon | |
 |
|
| exhibitions | |
 |
|
| paintings | |
 |
|
| sculpture | |
 |
|
| artist residencies | |
 |
|
| curatorial projects | |
 |
|
| statement | |
| resume | |
| press | |
| contact | |
|
copyright © 2007 cheryl coon ralphie coon |
|
| artinsight.org |
Bay Guardian
Monday, Sept. 8, 2003
Umbrella optional It might seem kind of strange to have an outdoor sculpture exhibit planned for the months of September through December. But the folks at the University of San Francisco obviously aren't weather shy; come rain, rain, or rain, they're presenting Give and Take: Sculpture/USF/2003, their fourth annual outdoor sculpture exhibition. The works include Gail Caulfield's ceramic Adam and Eve statues (rendered actual size); Peter Eller's concrete Suitcases; Distance, a conceptual piece by Bill Ivey that incorporates a redwood tree; and variously nature-influenced works by Deborah Childress, Ann Weber, and Cheryl Coon (whose Organism floats in the library's fountain). The exhibit goes up today (stop by the main USF gate to pick up a map and information), plus there'll be an opening reception with the artists and a guided tour later this month. Through Dec. 21 (reception Sept. 26, noon-2 p.m.). University of San Francisco, 2130 Fulton, S.F. Free. (415) 422-5762, www.usfca.edu/library/thacher.
September 8 to December 23, 2003
Reception and Tour with Artists
Friday, September 26, 2003, 12 Noon
2130 Fulton Street (at Cole)
“Give and Take: USF/SCULPTURE/2003” presents 6 Bay Area artists whose works explore the give and take of images as they collide, puncture, and move apart, engaging things darkly beautiful. In selecting artists for the 4th annual outdoor sculpture show, I veered away from the traditional outdoor sculptor to find artists whose works are not always sculptural or solely intended for the outdoors. In fact, one of the pieces is located inside the library while several others hover near buildings, using the buildings’ architecture as framework. Instead, I was drawn to the introspective nature of these artists’ studies and the ways in which they spoke about their pieces as examples of friction, broken surfaces, isolation and longing. The title and theme of the exhibition comes from this repeated look at interiors and exteriors, collisions and separations, that suggest humanity’s lost connections with each other and the earth and our yearning—sometimes quiet, sometimes violent—to reconnect.
By Glori Simmons
Artist Biographies
Gail
Caulfield
“Rhea and the Heart of the World”
Ceramic with Steel Base, 1990
“Millenium Man”
Ceramic with Steel Base, 1990
Gail Caulfield started her career as a potter in 1974 and has shown her work in galleries throughout northern California. She received a MA in ceramics from San Francisco State University in 1980. In the 1990s, she went on to become an art psychotherapist. She states about her work, “A recurrent theme centers on the contemporary human relationship to the earth; the effects of our presence, our interdependent vulnerability and our perceptions of mortality.”
Deborah
Childress
“Plate VI”
Cast gypsum cement, 2003
Recent sculptures by Deborah Childress are begun by creating a mold out of clay and working the mold rather than sculpting the positive. She states, “working in the negative has long been an interesting process for me…. [The works] are done fairly rapidly and the result is usually something of a surprise with imperfection and the lack of control an achievement.” Childress studied at the University of Santa Cruz and has received numerous grants and awards.
Cheryl Coon
“Organism”
Net, fish line, weights, 2003
Since receiving her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1992, Cheryl Coon has shown her work widely on the west coast and has received fellowships from Djerassi, the Vermont Studio Center, and Villa Montalvo. Coon often works with found texts and materials she collects from nature. Inspired by trips to Baja, “Organism” brings viewers to the water’s edge to reflect on our relationship with nature and science, and the many things—human-made and natural—that the waves bring in and take away.
Peter Eller
“Suitcases”
Polished cast concrete
2003
Originally from Bulgaria, Peter Eller began showing his mixed media paintings in Munich, Germany in the 1980s and 90s. He later moved to San Francisco to earn a BA and MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, receiving his MFA in 2003. His work has been awarded several prizes and has been shown widely in Northern California and abroad. Eller explains that his work engages materials in order to examine “the everyday object, seized upon and metaphorically transformed.”
Bill Ivey
“Distance”
Cement, Redwood Tree, Scale Model Figurine, Scope
2003
Returning to Texas this fall, Bill Ivey has lived in San Francisco since 1996 and received a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2000. His works—paintings, photography, and installations—have shown in exhibitions in Spain, Portugal, and Canada as well as in Texas and California. Currently his work examines “two converging notions: that of an architecture serving as host to changing and transient functions; and the peculiar idea of humans intending to host nature.”
Ann Weber
“Slow Life”
Cardboard, staples, polyurethane, 1999
Ann Weber began making pottery while on the East Coast and went on to earn a MFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts. She began working with cardboard in 1991 as a way to create large forms without the weight and “cumbersome process of clay.” She explains “Slow Life” as “a reference to relationships and how they collide, puncture, come together and become more powerful as two forms rather than separate entities.”