mind the gap
I’m back! Again!
The highlight of the past month was easily our spring break trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico, a sort of dream art trip that finally came true. The highlight of the trip was visiting Georgia O’Keeffe’s home and studio in nearby Abiquiu. I wrote on Instagram about feeling a hard-to-explain connection to O’Keeffe ever since I explored her work as an undergrad art student (specifically a 2D art class I took while finishing up my community/junior college studies at DVC before transferring to Cal). Visiting the physical site where she lived and work for the last 30+ years of her life, preserved so well as it is (the house plants there now are the same house plants she tended to when she lived there!), did not disappoint.
We also visited SITE Santa Fe, a museum I’d learned about in grad school but failed to make the connection when initially planning this trip, so focused on O’Keeffe as I was. So this was a really nice surprise/bonus and one of the few things open on Monday when we visited, having already made plans for most of the rest of the week. We saw the work of Carmen Herrera, Arturo Herrera (no relation), and Erin Shirreff. I was truly blown away by the work of Arturo Herrera - really smart, playful work that encourages/demands a lot of looking - and Shirreff. I loved her sort of sculptural 2D pieces in the large shadow box frames.
Also at SITE Santa Fe was the above piece by Jeffrey Gibson, representing the U.S. at this year's Venice Bienale. You can read more about why this is a big deal here.
Later in the week we visited the original Meow Wolf, also on my art bucket list for years now.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, worried it might be underwhelming in a Color Factory sort of way, but I was pleasantly surprised by how rich the experience was and enjoyed by all, including the 11yo. We opted to wander the various spaces somewhat organically, but we overheard folks who were clearly their on their 2nd or 3rd visits, attempting to solve the mystery/story elements woven throughout. So it’s a bit of an immersive art experience meets escape room. I did need a break after about 90 minutes and it did get a bit crowded the longer we were there, but definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area, especially if you’re looking for something indoors (whether it’s cold in the winter or hot in the summer!).
Hard to return to the farm, so to speak, after a week like that. Speaking of work, I really enjoyed reading about the recent staff show at CCA, where I worked between 2015 to 2017, where the idea for the Artists in Offices podcast was born. Such a talented group of folks to work with, then and now.
Right before our trip, the 11yo and I checked out the Bedford Gallery clay show on its penultimate day. See pics of my faves here. I even snagged one of the last remaining cups by Ehren Tool, which I hope to pick up this weekend when we check out the current exhibition. By the way, if you’re a collage artist, it’s not too late to submit your work for their upcoming show; see here.
The Indigo Girls documentary It’s Only Life After All is out! NYTimes reviewed it a couple of days ago: “Indigo Girls have been going strong for over 40 years now, and maybe the key to their resilience is that they never were cool.” Yes, that Least Complicated reference made me smile.
Remember the felt pet portraits I made last fall into early this year? Friends of Oakland Animal Services wrote a lovely recap here. This year’s fundraiser raised over $65K for OAS!
Early every year I go through all the photos I took the previous year and pick out a collection of 35-40 or so for a look book of sorts for creative inspiration for the new year. 2023 is the 5th year I’ve done this and I continue to treasure and utilize the books from past years. In a world of digital imagery, it’s nice to have some analog options laying around.
Do you subscribe to Jocelyn K. Glei’s newsletter? You should. In a recent edition, she mentioned Ira Glass’s “the gap,” a snippet of a 2010 interview in which he describes the discrepancy—the gap—between a creative person’s ambitions, especially when just starting out but lasting sometimes for years, and actual output, and why it’s so important to keep at it, and to make a lot of work over a long period of time, until what you create lives up to your taste. I also love how creative folks have gotten with the message itself. If you’re looking for a Friday afternoon rabbit hole, may I suggest you go down this one, starting here.
On request of the 11yo (not sure how she heard about it but I suspect it may have happened during women’s history month?) we rewatched The Post, which was equally enjoyable the second time around. This viewing, I was particularly intrigued by Ben Bradlee’s wife in the film, Tony Bradlee, played by Sarah Paulson. Yes, she makes sandwiches for all the reporters without being asked (or thanked) but she also spends her evenings in her art studio!
P.S. RIP Richard Serra (pictured here is the now 15yo caught in the near act of touching Serra’s Sequence at SFMOMA in 2017).