News

Park Life is proud to present Living Room, a group show curated by Joey Piziali and Vanessa Blaikie of Romer Young Gallery (formerly Ping Pong Gallery).

The exhibit opens Friday, April 8th, 2011. Opening reception 7-9pm

Artists:
Deric Carner
Amanda Curreri
Liam Everett
Pablo Guardiola
Cliff Hengst
Scott Hewicker
James Sterling Pitt
Susan O’Malley
Josh Pieper
Josh Podoll
Lucy Pullen
Gwenael Rattke
Erik Scollon
Chad Stayrook
Kirk Stoller
Dan Tierney
Alex Zecca

About the show;
Borrowing the words of Sarah Lehrer-Graiwer, who recently curated an exhibition at Romer Young Gallery, Living Room is an exhibition that stumbles into ‘broken lines of connectivity between two or more artworks. Arrives at a sense of group-show-ness that has no patience for the filler of themed-ness. Goes from one thing to the next—turning an idea over and over, flipping and tripping it through time until it forms a continuous, coded narrative without characters—just relations.”

Slowly collecting a piece from each exhibition at Romer Young Gallery, our living room has become a natural, private extension of the gallery. Our own private watering hole. The gallery is one watering hole, a social gathering place where friends and individuals come to experience the work, and commune in the company of others. These shows have a public performance to them. Work is thoughtfully installed, and the experience of the viewer carefully considered. The watering hole that is our home, is an organic, ever growing one. Work typically finds its place wherever there is space, in whatever available corner or pocket we can find…on the wall, on the bookshelf, between the plants, in the bathroom…Each space, a perfect place. There is no curation to how the work is installed. It comes together organically, growing slowly and steadily with us. Starting on the right, moving to the left, then vertically. Growing like ivy. Pieces that might not ordinarily be seen together, side by side, get to live together and there grow lines of wonderfully unexpected connectivity. A group show without theme. From one thing to the next. Interrupted by the plant. Commingling with the books.

It would be impossible to recreate the intimate nature of our home, beyond the walls of our home. So much of the magic that we feel in our living room has to do with the history of the works, and the way they have come into our lives. They are embedded with stories, deep attachment, and a great amount of generosity. We have been spoiled by these artists, and much of what we now have in our collection was gifted to us. Each piece acts as a transport, a reminder of the exhibition from the gallery, but also stands as a reminder of the personal connection to each artist and the relationship that we share with each.

So, rather than just transplant the work of our living room, to the space of the gallery, we’re transplanting the artists that we live with, to the space of the gallery. Many are works are by artists with whom we work with at the gallery; and some are pieces from artists that we have worked with elsewhere. We pulled works that parallel our collection, some from the artists most recent works and other from their early years, and installed everything together, without much deliberation as to why and where, much as we have in our living room.

Artist Bios:

DERIC CARNER an artist and publication designer interested in a spectral forms and speculative narratives. Carner has exhibited at Romer Young Gallery (2008, 2010), Centre Pompidou (2010), Artists Space (2009), Geisai Miami (2008), Witte de With Rotterdam (2006), CAC Vilnius (2005), and Kunstverein Malkasten Duesseldorf (2005). His work has been featured in publications by Revolver Books (Frankfurt, 2005-2006); ZYZZYVA (SF, Fall 2008); SUM Magazine (Copenhagen, Spring 2008); and is included in the KIOSK archive at the Kunstbibliothek Berlin (2009).

AMANDA CURRERI is an interdisciplinary artist working in San Francisco, CA. Recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation fellowship in 2009, her artwork has been reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle, ArtForum.com, FlashArt Online, The SF Weekly, and The Portland Phoenix, among others. She is the co-editor and co-founder of an (ir)regular artist publication, Color&Color, which aims to tactically connect artists with new audiences and expanded dialogue through the serial print medium of small books. Curreri holds an MFA from the California College of the Arts, a BFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a BA from Tufts University in Sociology and Peace & Justice Studies.

LIAM EVERETT currently lives and works in San Francisco. Everett spent the past 10 years based New York. He currently has a solo exhibition at the Paul Kasmin Gallery Project Space, New York. His work has also been featured at White Columns, 303 Gallery and Canada Gallery in NYC. He has exhibited internationally in Germany, France and the Netherlands. Also known for his performance based work Everett performed a piece at ArtBasel 2009, entitled “On The Wall”. Everett has participated as an artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center, USA, Ateliers de la Ville, L’Union, France, Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen, Germany and Astérides, Ateliers d’Artistes Friche Belle-de-Mai, Marseille, France. Upcoming projects include a solo exhibition at Romer Young Gallery in May 2011, as well as group shows at the Wattis Contemporary Art Center and White Columns.

PABLO GUARDIOLA lives and works in San Francisco. Guardiola’s work references the poetic language found in everyday objects and the power of context in the creation of meaning. Through photographic and sculptural metaphors, Guardiola gives new meaning to objects. Guardiola was born in Puerto Rico. He completed a B.A. in European History at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan and an MFA in photography at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. He has exhibited his work at New Langton Arts, Little Tree Gallery, Galeria de la Raza in San Francisco and at the San Juan Museum of Contemporary Art in Puerto Rico, among many others. He was most recently published in FRESCOS, 50 Artistas Puertoriqueños Menores De 35 (50 Puerto Rican Artists Under 35).

SUSAN O’MALLEY is a San Francisco based artist and curator. She uses simple and recognizable tools of engagement—offering a Pep Talk, distributing flyers in a neighborhood’s mailbox, hanging inspirational posters—to offer entry into an understood, and sometimes humorous, interaction of everyday life. O’Malley received her BA from Stanford University in 1999, and her MFA from California College of the Arts with a focus in Social Practice. She has participated in programs and exhibitions at Romer Young Gallery, Southern Exposure, Hardware Store Gallery, CCA, Mission 17, Curiosity Shoppe, The Lab, Headlands, and the SJICA.

San Francisco based artist JOSHUA PIEPER makes direct and often humorous statements through his multi-media works. Born in St. Paul, MN, Pieper received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin, and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. His work has been exhibited at Rosamund Felsen Gallery,Santa Monica, the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, New Langton, the San Francisco Arts Commission and Romer Young Gallery in San Francisco.

JAMES STERLING PITT, born in New York in December 1977, is a San Francisco based artist. Pitt received his BFA from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque in 2000 and his MFA from Mills College in 2003. Pitt’s work explores the representation of senses or feelings in the form of the objects that trigger them as a mode of archive and communication. Pitt utilizes his work to recall lost memories, and give permanence to new ones. Recent exhibitions include “The On and On,” a solo installation at the ATA Window Gallery; “Hyperspaces,” a group exhibition at Parklife, and “Front + Center: Weather Streams,” a group exhibition at the Headlands Center for the Arts. Upcoming exhibitions include “The See All Around Us,” a two-person exhibition with Sean McFarland at Sight School in March, and a solo exhibition with Romer Young Gallery in October 2010. James’ work has been exhibited nationally at The Lab, San Francisco, CA, Blankspace, Oakland, CA, The San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA, and Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM. James was a recipient of a 2000 Vera Noland Award, a 2002 Trefethen Merit Award, and a 2005 Djerassi Foundation Artist Residency. He also received a 2006 Fellowship Artist Award from the Djerassi Foundation.

JOSH PODOLL was born in Seattle, WA. He currently lives and works in San Francisco, CA. Podoll received his MFA from the University of Iowa in 2002, and his BFA from the Maharishi International University. Recent exhibitions include Bakers Dozen, at the Torrance Art Museum, Torrance CA; curated by Max Presneill, as well as solo exhibitions at Christopher Grimes Gallery, Los Angeles, and Feature Inc., New York.

LUCY PULLEN is a visual artist based in New York City and Victoria B.C., Canada. Her work has been exhibited at Murray Guy Gallery in NYC; Platform Gallery in Seattle, the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver, Luckman Gallery in Los Angeles, Art Metropole, Jessica Bradley Art & Projects and SL Simpson Gallery in Toronto, Optica in MontrÈal and the Eye Level Gallery in Halifax Nova Scotia. Pullen conducted independent projects as artist in residence at the Outpost for Contemporary Art in Los Angeles CA (2006); Bemis Center for the Arts in Omaha Nebraska (2001), Stramur Art Commune in Iceland (1998) and Struts in Sackville New Brunswick (1997). She received her MFA ’01 from Tyler School of Art, Temple University in Philadelphia, and a BFA ’93 from the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in Halifax. She is pursuing a PhD in Media and Communication with the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee Switzerland and is currently a tenured Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

French born artist and Berlin resident GWENAËL RATTKE works in collage, photography and xerox graphics. Rattke worked with collage for most of his teenage years producing DIY fanzines, flyers and graphics in the Berlin punk community. Rattke began his queer punk zine, Easily Grossed Out, in the early 1990’s. Issues were initially published from Rennes, France, and then later from the U.S.A. The zine featured interviews with bands such as Christ on a Crutch and Capitalist Casualties. Rattke’s collages works borrow from the visual codes of the 1960’s and 1970’s; the works are intricate, ornamental and excessive, and present “an imagined past fire with beauty and sexual freedom.” Rattke’s work has been exhibited at Galerie Knoth & Krueger, Exile PRojects and Arratia Beer, Berlin, Skol, Montreal (2002); YYZ Artists’ Outlet, Toronto, (2001), and Romer Young Gallery San Francisco. He Graduated in Communication Studies (Film) from Concordia University, Montreal, in 1997. Rattke lives in West Berlin.

ERIK SCOLLON is an artist and writer based in Oakland, California. In 2008 he was selected to participate in YBCA’s Bay Area Now 5, and his work has been seen in venues as diverse as art galleries, craft fairs, museum shows, design blogs and gay biker bars. He recived an MFA in ceramics and an MA in Visual and Critical Studies, both from California College of the Arts. Along with Amanda Curreri, he is the co-editor and co-founder of an (ir)regular artist publication, Color&Color, which aims to tactically connect artists with new audiences and expanded dialogue through the serial print medium of small books.

New York based artist CHAD STAYROOK received his B.F.A. in Sculpture from Ohio University and his M.F.A. in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute. Stayrook has exhibited extensively throughout the US in New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. and internationally in the UK, Netherlands, and South Korea. Stayrook has participated as an artist in residence at the Tin Shop Studio in Breckenridge CO, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning’s Studio LLC program in Queens, NY, and will soon embark on an expedition to the arctic circle with 17 other artists and scientists. Stayrook is also an independent curator and a founding member of the Bandwagon artist collective.

KIRK STOLLER was born in Oregon in 1960 and was raised on a small farm outside of Portland. He received his BA in French Language from Portland State in 1988 and his MFA from UC Berkeley in 2004. Connection and support are consistent themes throughout his work. Stoller builds relationships between the various incorporated items based on formal issues such as shape, color, and pattern, while also taking into account the evidence of past actions contained in many of the parts. He enjoys the small narratives that are created when things are placed on or near one another. Stoller’s work has been exhibited in various galleries around the United States, and was a studio resident at the Headlands Art Center from 2004 – 2007, as well as at the MacDowell Art Colony in 2008.

SCOTT HEWICKER
Scott’s work has been shown at Jack Hanley Gallery, Gallery 16, University Art Museum Berkeley, YBCA, ICA Philadelphia, Deitch Projects and Galleri Christina Wilson in Denmark. He plays guitar and keyboards for the bands Troll, The Alps, and Aero-Mic’d.

CLIFF HENGST
Cliff’s work has been shown at Ratio 3, New Langton Arts, YBCA, Gallery 16, Galleri Uta Pardun in Cologne. He is currently collaborating with curator Lawrence Rinder on an exhibition at Fluent-Collaborative in Austin, Texas, opening June 15. He plays drums and keyboards for the bands Troll and Aero-Mic’d.

ALEX ZECCA

DAN TIERNEY