February 25 - April 8, 2023
Catalog design: Michael Yochum
Logo design: Priscilla Otani
Arc Gallery © 2023
48 Pillars was inspired by a chance encounter at Flax with a close-out sale of deep
vertical panels, 48” x 12” x 1 5/8”. 24 local Bay Area artists will produce two pieces each
on these identically-sized panels that will exactly ring the gallery – 48 works total.
This is the 7th Annual iteration of this exhibition at Arc Gallery. Along with our iconic
FourSquared exhibition, this is essentially an exercise in "structural constraint". In both
exhibitions, the artists are unconstrained in subject matter except to the extent that
works need to be a series; but they are constrained in format. One might expect that
constraining format would constrain creativity. Our experience has been the opposite -
creativity has been unleashed. The results have been visually stunning.
Michael Yochum, Curator
Exhibition Statement
OPENING RECEPTION:
Saturday, February 25th, 7-9pm
ARTIST TALK & LIGHT BRUNCH RECEPTION:
Saturday, April 1st, 12-3pm
Participating Artists
Carlo Abruzzese
Afatasi the Artist
Ali Blum
Richard Bolingbroke
Jessica Dunne
Annie Galvin
Daniel Galvez
Jordan Herren
Soad Kader
Hope Kroll
Jeff Long
Bao-Khang Luu
Stephen Namara
Linda Raynsford
Fernando Reyes
Wendy Robushi
Luz Marina Ruiz
Harumo Sato
Siana Smith
Anne Subercaseaux
Rachel Tirosh
Victoria Veedell
Hilary Williams
Holly Wong
48 Pillars
February 25 - April 8, 2023
Carlo Abruzzese
website: www.abruzzese.net
email:
carlo@abruzzese.net
Building on his varied interests in geography, culture,
colors & patterns, and the world of ‘data sets’, Carlo
Abruzzese creates paintings that combine the
disparate worlds of fine art and quantitative
information. The ‘maps’ he creates are not only of a
location, but of the human content: diversity, culture,
immigration, religion, poverty—topics that define our
modern world.
Using simple materials (pencils, acrylic paint and a
drafting table) he creates complex, information-rich art
that goes beyond computer-generated designs. The
artwork diligently portrays the data accurately, but also
brings a deeper understanding of the people populating each location.
For West Bay / East Bay, each panel is an abstracted map. The left panel is the western half, and the
right panel is the eastern half of the Bay Area. Together they represent the 9 counties that surround the
Bay. Census data regarding population size & ethnic diversity is compiled for each area. The colors
& abstracted graphics taken from city/county flags and government seals & websites become scaled
shapes to map the quantity of diverse populations in the counties and the largest cities within the region.
With deep blue as water, brown as adjacent land and white as the caucasian population, each of the
other colors/shapes is scaled to represent the amount of people of color in the different cities/counties.
(1 inch = 10,000 people)
acrylic & graphite on wood panels
48" x 12" each
SOLD
West Bay / East Bay
Afatasi The Artist
website: www.afatasi.org
email:
afatasitheartist@gmail.com
Afatasi The Artist is a worlds-building visual artist, futurist
and counterstory teller, investigating the nexus of being
a proud generational San Franciscan of Black-American
and Sāmoan descent. Her work is informed by her deep
concern of the continued population decline of Black-
Americans in her hometown over the course of her life
time. Navigational modalities include wearable art, fine
art textile/tapestry creation, and recycled metal sculpture
as vehicles of disruption, exploration, and pathways of
envisioning speculative futures for her marginalized
communities.
recycled steel
48" x 12" each
SOLD
The Gates of Io
Ali Blum
website: www.aliblumart.com/
email:
alexandrablum68@gmail.com
My interior world of memories of childhood, books,
songs, and stories steer my work. In this exhibit I
continue with my Nature Makes a Comeback series
with volcano and ocean spirits. The environment and
natural world are increasingly central to my work.
Folktales and myths have always been integral to
my understanding of the world. Overtime, hybrid
creatures and genetic engineering have blended with
the spiritual world of my childhood and have resulted
in these elemental guardian figures. I work in oil paint,
gouache, printmaking, and mixed media.
I received my BFA from Cornell University in Painting
and my MFA in Printmaking from Washington
University in St Louis. I have had residencies at
Curtiduria print studio in Oaxaca, Mexico, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. I actively
exhibit, including shows at the de Young Museum, Cornell University Hartell Gallery, San Francisco
Public Library, Museo de la Filatelia de Oaxaca, Mission Cultural Center, and San Francisco
Jewish Library. I enjoy teaching which informs and inspires my artmaking. Select workshops and
live art demonstrations include SFMOMA, de Young Museum, The California Academy of Sciences,
and The Contemporary Jewish Museum. My work is in public and private collections.
mixed media on wood panels, finished with resin
48" x 12" each
SOLD
Guardians: Water and Fire
Richard Bolingbroke
website: rbolingbroke.com
email:
richardbolingbroke@gmail.com
In my observations of the physical world, both man-made
and natural, I find myself fascinated with the patterns,
rhythms and structures I see all around me. From beach
sand rivulets to the ridged metal siding of a building, these
surfaces, shapes and textures contain a rich and detailed
narrative that is the essence of life. Their beauty is in their
simplicity, and their power is in their ability to create a cos
mos. The smallest part, the fragment, the microcosm, con
tains many stories about the incomprehensible vastness in
which we live.
All these images are based on photographs of building sur
faces. They are laser-etched onto wood panel and colored
with pastel, charcoal and white chalk. The surfaces are
fixed and protected with several different archival UV var
nishes.
mixed media on wood panels
48" x 12" each
SOLD
Surfaces # 27 & # 28
Jessica Dunne
website: www.jessicadunne.com
email:
info@jessicadunne.com
I spent the last three years staring at The Great Highway from
my window. When we first moved here 35 years ago, I was
reluctant. I thought this was the gloomiest place. After years of
looking and painting, I learned to see it.
The Great Highway is impractical as a street. It is built on sand
dunes and borders Ocean Beach. The sand wants to reclaim its terri
tory. The city transit folks are forever clearing the pavement to make
way for cars, especially in the spring when the offshore winds blow.
In the lockdown of March, 2020, they threw up their hands and
let the sand stay and the cars go elsewhere so people could
be outside and safe. The highway became a temporary park
for joggers, bicyclists, strollers, strollers with strollers, dogs, and
people skating backwards. The sight of revelers comforted me.
Some people hated the impromptu park and wanted cars back
on the highway. More people loved it. Nonetheless, the city eventually reopened the highway to cars on
weekdays—sand permitting--and to bipeds and their four-legged besties on weekends.
When I decided to paint these two overviews of the Great Highway, one with cars and one with pedestrians,
the neighbors rallied. Jeff Daniel introduced me to surfer Alex Fang who dispatched his drone up to take
source photos. Lots of photos. I’m grateful to them both.
oil on wood panels
48" x 12" each
$2,800 each; $4,000 diptych
The Great Highway
The Highway
Annie Galvin
website: www.3fishstudios.com
email:
hello@3fishstudios.com
This pair of paintings depict a dreamy and fictional
San Francisco you can get lost in. I emigrated here
from Ireland more than half my life ago and the
patterned hills and ever-changing panoramas of the
City never fail to make me swoon.
After 30 years in San Francisco, my husband and
I moved to Sierra Nevada foothills in 2020, so
revisiting my favorite subject armed with a tiny
paintbrush and a rainbow of acrylic paints was a joy.
Painting like this is a meditative exercise for me; I
listen to audiobooks as I paint, these two endeavors
using different parts of my brain. (I listened to almost the entirety of Barbara Kingsolver’s wonderful
novel Demon Copperhead as I completed my pillars.) I love to create illustrative worlds that reward
close looking - nothing made me happier when I was a child than poring over intricate storybook
illustrations and finding new details each time; it allowed me to create my own stories - and tell my
own tales.
acrylic on wood panels
48" x 12" each
SOLD
City of Hills
Daniel Galvez
instagram: info@danielgalvezart
email:
galvezart@comcast.net
I began my career as a muralist in the 1970’s during the
contemporary mural movement, which pioneered the
process of collaborative public art. My work spans a diverse
exploration of content, materials and theme, but the over
arching goal in many of my commissions is a celebration
of the spirit of individuals and the strength of community. I
weave together elements of landscape, culture, and most
importantly, individuals into a cohesive visual narrative.
My work is in neighborhoods, schools, colleges, libraries,
justice centers, museums and other civic institutions through
out the U.S. In 2014 along with my original team of artists I
restored my iconic Carnaval Mural (1983) above the House
of Brakes on 24th and South Van Ness in the Mission.
I have completed two projects that resulted from winning national design competitions. The first, com
missioned by the City of New York, was for a mural honoring the life of Malcolm X which is installed in
the Audubon Ballroom where he was assassinated. The second was for a pair of interpretive murals at
the headquarters of the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington DC on the 150th anniversary of
the founding of the Department.
Currently I am working in my studio on a mural for the Washington State Arts Commission to be
installed at the high school in Shelton, WA on the Olympic Peninsula. For 48 Pillars I have painted
a detail of the central section of the mural showing two students as the Controllers of their Destiny.
The mural is a reimagining of Diego Rivera’s Man at the Crossroads (1934) to focus on contemporary
students and the 21st century challenges they face as they prepare for their futures in the world that
awaits them.
acrylic on wood panels
48" x 12" each
$3,600 diptych
Controllers of Their Destiny II
Jordan Herren
website: www.jordanherren.com
email:
jherren1@gmail.com
Growing up in San Francisco, I was always inspired by the city
skyline. Tall buildings and iconic structures symbolized
opportunity. As an artist painting for the past 11 years, the city
remains an inspiration. As my practice has evolved over the
years, so has the skyline.
This is my latest rendition of the city, and my first time creating a
diptych of this dimension. I wanted to make a versatile painting,
so both panels can be displayed on either side of each other or
separated, offering a different perspective with each view. Using
a full-spectrum palette of acrylic and spray paint, my intention is
to highlight the diversity and energy of the city. One panel
contains the modern skyline with newer skyscrapers while the
other panel contains the classic skyline—hence the title,
SF Now & Then. Above the city is a gradient of a sunrise or sunset,
depending on one’s interpretation. Further above the skies
are the cosmos.
Jordan Herren is a mixed-media artist and muralist born and raised in San Francisco. He obtained his
Marketing degree at SF State. It was during college when he discovered a passion for painting, which he
continues to pursue today. His work is featured in galleries and murals around the city. His latest mural
can be seen inside San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building.
acrylic and spray paint on wood panels
48" x 12" each
SOLD
SF Now & Then