Reverberations
a pre-eminent Art + Poetry Exhibition
The Sebastopol Center for the Arts Reverberations exhibit is a display of work by world-renowned artists that is usually not available for public viewing. Most of the work is from private collections1, although I also saw the Museum of Sonoma County, Sonoma State and the Annex Galleries as sources for some some the pieces.
The Center's gallery area is in the auditorium area of the Veterans Memorial Building, and can be reconfigured depending on the exhibit. This exhibit was larger than others I've seen there, taking advantage of the entire space.
Each piece had a companion ekphrastic poem by a Sonoma County or Bay Area poet. The poets did not get to choose which piece they wrote about.
I enjoyed the concept or idea of the art and poetry pairing more than the actuality of it, or at least I didn't find any of the poems particularly moving or memorable. Many of them just seemed to be describing the work of art. (Which I know, that's the definition of ekphrasis. But somehow with the art right there in front of me to look at, I wasn't so interested in reading about it.)
I did really enjoy the companion "Living with <insert name of art work here>" commentary from the owner/collector that accompanied most of the pieces. One that really struck me was Dennis K. Calabi's reflections on Dorr Bothwell's Untitled from 1948. He recounts spending a great deal of time looking at it while convalescing. "I might have gone mad with boredom and frustration were it not for this incredible peaceful and intriguing piece, as well as others in my collection. It is a constant reminder that most great art does not reside in museums, and most great artists are not as well known as they should be, and that having art in one's home is perhaps just as essential as having furniture." (emPHAsis added)
Great fun to get a peek at some of what is usually behind closed doors! Worth checking out if you find yourself in Sebastopol today or tomorrow. There's also a catalog with the art and poems. Exhibit dates: June 21 - August 10, 2024
Artists (listed on exhibit website, poets were not): Saif Azzuz, Ruth Bernhard, Pamela Boden, Lee Bontecou, Dorr Bothwell, Colin Brant, Joan Brown, Ernesto Burgos, Vija Celmins, Enrique Chagoya, Warrington Colescott, Jose Luis Cuevas, Roy DeForest, Willem de Kooning, Maria de los Angeles, Sonia Delaunay, Richard Diebenkorn, Terry Fox, Lucian Freud, Wally Hedrick, Barbara Hepworth, Camille Holvoet, Edward Hopper, Mildred Howard, Robert Hudson, Sahar Khoury, Dorothea Lange, Fernand Leger, Alfred Leslie, Hung Liu, Alicia McCarthy, Nancy Mintz, Robert S. Neuman, Ramekon O’Arwisters, Elizabeth Peyton, Martin Puryear, Joseph Raffael, Gregory Rick, Monika Rosa, Georges Rouault, Ed Ruscha, Judith Shea, Lorna Simpson, Lorraine Shemesh, Matt Small, Ginny Stanford, Pat Steir, Rufino Tamayo, Masami Teraoka, Wayne Thiebaud, Claude Venard, Emilio Villalba, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Kara Walker, Edward Weston, William Wiley
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Some of the collectors chose to remain anonymous, others did not. Personally I wouldn't necessarily want "the public" to know I owned such expensive art. I suppose partly for the safety aspect - not that I'm suspicious that folks going to this sort of exhibit are going to stage a heist, but... you never know. And now that I'm writing this I think it's more the "don't be flashy with your money" thing that no one has ever expressly said (along with with so many other things that don’t get talked about) but somehow I seem to have picked up from my family. But I digress.
Some collectors/collections had contributed multiple pieces! So many questions - did the curator know about and ask for specific pieces, or did they just put out a general call and see what folks volunteered?
Regardless, credited or not, and how they go there, it is pretty cool that people were willing to share art that was important enough to them to buy it and have in their home!