2020 has been an unprecedented year. Along with a worldwide pandemic there is continued injustice, polarization and antagonism within communities around the globe, such that despite our technological interconnectedness through email, twitter, social and mass media, we often seem unable to truly listen, relate, empathize and solve problems together as human beings.
In response to this discord and division there are appeals for civility. What is civility? The word civility comes from the Latin word civilitas, from civilis meaning relating to citizens. In its early use the term denoted the state of being a citizen and consequently meant good citizenship. An association with politeness arose in the mid-sixteenth century as the meaning of the term broadened and books on comportment flourished. Today, ideas and discourse about the modern meaning and relevance of civility are controversial and unsettled. Much more than etiquette, civility ideally encompasses empathetic and respectful behavior amongst diverse groups; an essential aspect of civility is to listen – to hear, and likewise, to be heard.
In this momentous year, we truly need to hear and be heard. From voting in our upcoming elections to tackling the complex problems of social injustice, the pandemic and the environment, this is a time to re-think and redefine what it means to be civil, to be a citizen, to listen and be heard with our voices, actions and the visual expression and problem solving that art uniquely provides.
Through the art of seventeen artists working in diverse media including ceramics, painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, installation, textiles and collage, To Hear and Be Heard considers civility, our life in community, what divides us and what unites us. With visual language, the work in the exhibition invites questions, prompts action, builds connections, and encourages understanding of others and ourselves. Exhibiting artists include: Alice Beasley, Sandow Birk, Sheila Pree Bright, Marie Cameron, Squeak Carnwath, Enrique Chagoya, Brian Dettmer, Julie Heffernan, Phillip Hua, Sherry Karver, Lisa Kokin, Roberto Lugo, Amalia Mesa-Bains, Nazanin Hedayat Munroe, Priscilla Otani, Maria Porges and Chelsea Ryoko Wong.
Marianne McGrath, Curator
Special thanks to Mitch Grieb, Sandy Boyer, Pancho Jiménez, Sandra Jamaleddine, Brian Beams and Santa Clara University’s Department of Art and Art History for their support and for hosting this exhibition.
Florine Stettheimer“Heat”, 1919 Oil on Canvas 50” x 36” Brooklyn Museum
Florine Stettheimer’sHeat is an apt vision of what we are feeling here in Northern California. It is dry, hot and the air is filled with smoke; our sky is not the usual clear blue. A heat wave has again sparked wildfires across our beautiful state.
I can imagine myself at an outdoor “distanced” birthday gathering in Stettheimer’s painting. Though the elegant figures have comfortable seats six feet apart and a lovely table set with what seems to be a birthday cake, this palette of orange, yellow and murky green, along with the limp tree branches and wilting human limbs, convey the stifling heat and oppressive inertia of a very hot day.
31 Women catalog cover and logo designed by Rozanne Hermelyn Di Silvestro, Arc and Line Communication and Design; catalogue production by Karen Gutfreund, catalogue authored and curated by Marianne McGrath, and for sale on the Whitney Modern Gallery website.
It has been quite a month and then some! I hope that everyone is healthy and safe during this time of uncertainty with the pandemic.
31 Women opened on March 1st and was well received by the community. The reception at Whitney Modern, Los Gatos on March 8th was a huge success and we had festive attendance all day long. It was a wonderful “last hurrah” before we had to retreat into social distancing. The planned virtual exhibit was a fortunate coincidence for 31 Women – it has kept the exhibit alive and brought art to people everywhere isolated at home.
31 Women has been extended until April 30th at Whitney Modern, Los Gatos and a few works are still available. This will give people more time to see the exhibit online and keep our momentum going in showcasing the artists. Women’s History Month may have come to a close, but it is still a powerful year for women as it is also the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote in the United States – and this is an election year! PLUS now more than ever we NEED the power of art to inspire and uplift us during this difficult time.
Highlighted individually throughout the exhibition are each artist’s process and inspiration, as well as her sense of connection to women in history and art history, distilled from dozens of interviews, correspondence and conversations that began last year. Along with the physical exhibition at Whitney Modern, the artists from 31 Women were featured daily on social media, blogs, websites and in the gallery — one woman a day throughout the month of March. With extending the show, posts continued periodically in April with new features and sources of inspiration. This aspect of the show is intended to be a virtual exhibition available to those outside the area, and beyond the timeframe of the exhibit, to provide an individual focus on a particular artist, emphasizing her unique practice and contributions to the art community.
31 Women affirms that knowing one another empowers us. Connections past and present celebrate, support and strengthen the collective creativity of all women. Sharing our stories of women that influence us honors our past, while showcasing the work of women today crystallizes our appreciation of the present. Through such shared perspectives, we can inspire future generations of women.
I want to again express my deep appreciation to the artists for their participation and enthusiastic support. My gratitude goes to Karen Gutfreund for publishing the catalog, for her support on this project and her encouragement as a fellow independent curator. Thank you to Rozanne Hermelyn Di Silvestro for the catalogue and logo design. And finally, a special thank you to Suzanne Smedt, owner of Whitney Modern, Los Gatos for welcoming 31 Women to her gallery and for being a champion of artists, curators and our art community.
I will be looking forward to celebrating Women’s History Month 2021 by curating a new exhibit dedicated to women artists. Until then I have several projects in the works. Check back soon for new artist interviews and projects, plus details about my next exhibit: To Hear and Be Heard, which opens October 16th, 2020!
Jennifer Pochinski La Vie en Rose, 2019 Oil on canvas
Jennifer Pochinski
Jennifer Pochinski is a Northern California based figurative artist. Raised in Hawaii, she earned a BFA from the University of Hawaii and spent much of her young adulthood traveling to the UK and Europe, finally settling near Athens Greece in 2003. In late 2010, she and her two children relocated to California.
Men, women and groups of people captured in moments from everyday life are the subject matter of Pochinski’s paintings. In a chorus of colors, lines and shapes, her paintings are unrestrained and energized, but reflect the discipline of a productive daily practice. She tells us “My studio practice is considered a ‘space to fail’. I have no specific method for painting. As with most ‘expressive’ painting it is never a linear process.”
Pochinski’s paintings are intuitive and honest, balancing energetic, gestural brushstrokes with human narrative. For many years Pochinski has collected photographic imagery – figures, environments and historical paintings to provide information that she cannot get in life, leading her to discover her subjects as she paints. Her improvisation and freedom in using the brush to grab color to define and describe, make overriding marks to correct or emphasize, reveals “being in the moment”. With this spontaneity and authenticity she creates the characters within her paintings like an author, each day “writing” something that feels true to her, at the end putting it together to make a story.
The stories of other women artists inspire Pochinski. While reading Ninth Street Women, she was reminded of her love for the work of Lee Krasner, which in person always “stops her in her tracks.” In particular she recalls a story about Krasner being so fed up with her work, she ripped up the canvases and shed them on the floor. A few days later Krasner came back to her studio and found them together looking like collages and it set her on a new, powerful path. In dealing with the emotion that comes when something doesn’t work, it heartens Pochinski to be reminded that “some good can happen when you get to the brink!”
Jennifer Pochinski is represented by Dolby Chadwick, San Francisco; b. sakata garo, Sacramento; Tregony Gallery, UK; and Baker Schorr Fine Art, Midland, Texas.
Rozanne Hermelyn Unrepeated, 2020 Monoprint, oil on paper
“They say identical, but we are not. They say interchangeable, but we are individual.”
Unrepeated honors human diversity and expresses the tension and duality between what is universal and what is unique. As with every human life, no one-paint stroke is exactly the same. We may all share a common form, but we differ in race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, skills, and many other attributes. Collectives have flourished because of the innovative alchemy that occurs when diverse people and ideas merge to collaborate and create. However, in many diverse cultures the history of intolerance is long and callous. To heal intolerance, it is critical to develop prosocial skills like empathy and forgiveness, to cultivate relationships across differences, and to value individuality. Diverse communities thrive when they appreciate and protect what is universal and unique. – RH
Rozanne Hermelyn is a San Francisco Bay Area artist working in printmaking and mixed media. Since she can remember, she has painted, drawn and followed her passion for the arts. Hermelyn tells us “I’ve been creative every day most of my life. It’s like breathing – not a want, but a need.”
Growing up in Los Angeles, Hermelyn attended UCLA and Art Center College of Design, receiving a BA in design and BFA in graphic and package design, with distinction. She moved to San Francisco to begin her career and within five years became owner of Arc & Line Communications.
After twenty years in her successful design business, Hermelyn has now transitioned to focus full-time on fine art. She has been awarded Best of Show and 1st place in numerous exhibitions, her work is shown nationally and abroad, and can be found in the permanent collections of the Harvard Art Museums and the Library of Congress. Rozanne at the Boston Printmakers 2019 North American Biennial. The Boston Printmakers 2019 North American Print Biennial presents the best in contemporary and traditional printmaking, and has long been recognized as one of the most prestigious events in printmaking. Her piece, “Facts Are Stubborn Things“, was selected to be the featured work to promote the event. “Facts Are Stubborn Things” was acquired into the permanent collection of the Harvard Art Museums.
31 Women – Artist Interview with Rozanne Hermelyn
MKM: Tell me about your childhood, where did you grow up?
RH: I was born in an English colony called British Guyana in South America. My mother is Portuguese and my father is Dutch and Chinese. My parents moved our family to Los Angeles for education opportunities when I was one. You could say my life was that of a stereotypical “California Girl”; school and beach on the weekdays, and beach and work on the weekends. For my college years, I lived in Westwood, studied at UCLA and explored the Hollywood scene. Two years after graduation, I went back to art school at Art Center College of Design. Both were very exciting and explorative times in my life.
MKM: Were you always creative?
RH: My mother was an amazing and talented fashion designer and seamstress, so I was surrounded by creative energy my entire life. I remember drawing a lot when I was young and making my own clothes with her through middle school. Around 12 years old, I dragged my entire family to the Getty Museum to see the Queen’s edition drawings by Leonardo Di Vinci. Soon after, I begged my mom to let me take the life drawing class at the adult education center where she took a painting class next door. I recall being the only youth in the class and I would sit in the front row without any thought, just like a pro. I laugh now because it would not be allowed today.
MKM:Why did you pursue art?
RH: After a very successful career in design, I felt it was time to speak with my own voice.
MKM: Where did you study?
RH: I enrolled in UCLA as a math major to appease my father, but a year and half later, I secretly applied to the Design department. I ended up graduating in design without him even realizing it. Actually to this day, I have never even told him about that. After graduating, I worked for a few LA design agencies. I soon learned the fastest way to get where I wanted was to go back to art school because, of course, I wanted to be a top creative director. I was so motivated that I again secretly applied to Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Believe it or not, Art Center would not allow me to enter a Masters program because they did not accept the BA design degree I received from UCLA. I was required to enter the undergraduate program again to earn a BFA. At the time, I didn’t care what I had to do. Fortunately, they allowed me to enter as a sophomore, which was never heard of at the time, with a full scholarship.
MKM: When you’re creating what’s your daily routine? Rituals, patterns?
RH: There is no routine in my creative process, especially in the conceptual initial phase. Sometimes an idea will come from experiences or contemplating the daily news. Sometimes it’s during a run, or in the state when I’m half awake, or in the shower. Sometimes it develops in an instant, or in a few days, or at times over years. I need to visualize the image first in my head, and it often develops right away, or sometimes over time like slow motion viewing. With every project it seems there are times I just hate the piece so I have learned to walk away, to absorb, stew, stew some more, and then jump back in. I can’t say how or when but my work always seems to need time to percolate and just become.
MKM: How has your practice changed over time?
RH: I have learned to accept and trust the images in my head and also the surprises that happen along the way. It’s all about following my gut that always leads.
MKM: Do you focus on a specific medium or combination of mediums?
RH: I wasn’t trained as a “fine artist” in art school, but I have always studied life drawing and much later, oil painting. At some point, I came upon a book about Russian-American painter Sergei Bongart whose work just spoke to me. I would study the small red book I found with his recorded lessons. I remember his words “There are two kinds of artists, the emotional painter and academician…The academician always creates something acceptable, boring, but acceptable. The emotional artist often misses, but when he/she hits, it is breathtakingly beautiful…touched by the gods!” It all made sense to me, that a great painting should express an emotional message, and that the emotional connection was equally important as color relationships and values, painting passages, and modeling light. This drew me toward the monoprint printmaking technique that I love. Every stroke and mark made is recorded and the process is full of unknown surprises.
Rozanne in her studio
What is your most important tool? Is there something you can’t live without in your studio?
That’s easy, my hands and eyes, but it would be difficult to live without my etching press.
MKM: Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
RH: Today, I am most proud of my “Facts are Stubborn Things”. It might be because it’s my newest piece. The image speaks of my worst frustration of today’s struggle between facts and truths. Rather than factual evidence, today unwelcome truths have become the narrative of reality. Facts have become overwhelmed by false information so it’s difficult to believe that the truth will overcome. Trust has been lost to fear.
What has been a seminal experience?
My mother’s death was a seminal experience. It marks the first time I entered a series of monoprint paintings into a juried show that won the Best of Show award for the exhibition. The images portrayed moments of the experience and suffering that comes with terminal cancer. They were my tribute and my final goodbye to my mother.
What inspires you? Other artists, other women from history, your process, a theme?
Sadness, fear, anger, happiness and joy inspire me. The emotional connection when making, seeing and experiencing art is universal. It is what makes art, art.
Do you have a sense of connection to a particular woman artist from art history? Is there a specific work from this artist that you find interesting?
I feel most connected to the pop art movement, maybe because of my design background. I appreciate the hidden messages, graphic contemporary style, use of typography and simplicity of image. Idelle Weber, an American pop artist, who later switched to photorealism, is known for her figurative silhouette paintings with bright colors (think Mad Men) and later her photorealist trash and litter work. She also went through phases of monotype works and collage. I really appreciate how she reinvented herself/work from one extreme to the other. Corita Kent also did some interesting things. She was a LA pop art screen print artist in the 50s and 60s, she juxtaposed ads, street signs, billboards with poetry, scripture and song lyrics, transforming them to hopeful messages and call for action. I love anything type.
Who are your female role models from history or present day?
I respect Angelina Jolie because she’s owned her bad-girl reputation while growing into an amazing humanitarian, aiding those in need and traveling to visit those suffering in places like Pakistan, Kosovo and Syria. She confronted her risk for cancer publically and then became a poster woman for breast cancer-related issues. Did I mention, I was the ‘bad girl’ of our family, following in my older brother’s foot-steps. My two sisters were rule followers while I was forging my own path.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Don’t waste your time and energy convincing yourself you can’t do something, instead spend that energy doing it. Believe you can and it will happen.
Opening March 1st and on view through April 12th, 2020, Whitney Modern Gallery is pleased to present 31 Women, an exhibition curated by Marianne McGrath with Karen Gutfreund and Suzanne Whitney-Smedt. 31 Women celebrates the work of 31 female artists in honor of Women’s History Month. Women’s History Month annually commemorates women’s contributions to history, culture and society throughout the United States. 2020 is an especially exciting and powerful year for women as it is also the 100th anniversary of the 19thAmendment, which granted the right to vote to women in the United States.
Highlighted individually throughout the exhibition are each artist’s process and inspiration, as well as her sense of connection to women in history and art history. Along with the show at Whitney Modern, artists will be featured on social media, blogs, websites and in the gallery – one woman each day for the month of March. This aspect of the show is intended to be a virtual exhibition that will be available to those out of the area, and it provides an opportunity to focus on a particular woman artist, emphasizing her unique practice and contributions to the art community.
Exhibiting artists from the Bay Area and beyond include: Shannon Amidon, Elizabeth Barlow, Marie Cameron, Linda Christensen, Jennifer Cole, Sara V. Cole, Kim Frohsin, Karen Gallagher-Iverson, Carla Goldberg, Michelle Greggor, Laura Gurton, Christine Hayman, Ellen Heck, Rozanne Hermelyn, Kelsey Irvin, Ivy Jacobsen, Julia Jensen, Pantea Karimi, Sherry Karver, Michelle Mansour, Brigitte McReynolds, Lisa Noonis, Sandy Ostrau, Stephanie Peek, Jennifer Pochinski, Astrid Preston, Carole Rafferty, Sawyer Rose, Jeanne Vadeboncoeur, Josette Urso, and Elena Zolotnisky.
The opening event for 31 Women will take place at Whitney Modern on Sunday, March 8th, International Women’s Day, from 12:00noon – 4:00pm. For more event information please contact Suzanne Whitney-Smedt at Whitney Modern Gallery (408) 402-5922.
Marianne McGrath is an art historian, independent curator and consultant. After a successful decade with New Museum Los Gatos and The Museums of Los Gatos curating exhibits and presenting art and education programs, Marianne founded MKM Art Consulting, which offers curatorial projects and consulting services to art institutions, galleries and artists. Marianne holds a BA degree in Art, MA degree in Art History and her professional affiliations include ArtTable, College Art Association and the Women’s Caucus for Art. mkmARTconsulting.com
Suzanne Smedt is director/owner of Whitney Modern Gallery. Since opening more than two years ago, Whitney Modern has become Silicon Valley’s Contemporary Fine Art Gallery, fulfilling the need for high quality fine art in the South Bay. Whitney Modern is committed to engaging the community through the creative experience by showcasing thought provoking, collectible works of art from internationally recognized, mid-career and emerging contemporary fine artists.
Karen Gutfreund is a curator, exhibition director and art consultant, as well as an artist. Her focus is “art as activism” to create dialog and social change; a strong focus is promoting women in the arts through national exhibitions. Karen has worked in the Painting & Sculpture Department for MoMA, the Andre Emmerick Gallery, The Knoll Group, the John Berggruen Gallery, Arc Gallery and the Pacific Art League. Karen is a member of ArtTable, CAA, the Women’s Caucus for Art and The Feminism Art Project (TFAP).
