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Artist Statement for Dictionary pages

 

From a normal, respectful viewing distance, imagery that’s compelling on an archetypal level is already apparent in the dictionary pages of Lauren Ari. The subconscious mind recognizes the round indentations on the page edges and the justified columnar text as a dictionary even before the conscious mind grasps the realization. You are likely to be attracted first by the brightness and variation of colors from piece to piece, and second by the strange scenes depicted in the confident lines of the artist.

It also becomes clear that the dictionary is very old — a ninety-year-old Funk and Wagnell’s,— and that the bible-paper pages are placed together in fours. Lauren Ari paints a field of color over the pages, but allows specific words and images to jump to the foreground. These are interwoven with overpainting to create whimsical, strange, engrossing studies of language, learning, and the definitions of this reality. An interesting aspect of the work is that its mode of being contemporary includes in a concrete way the beginning of the twentieth century in its reflections on the beginning of the twenty-first.

   

Resumé

   

Education
M.F.A. University of California, Davis, Fine Arts Program, Davis, CA
B.F.A. California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA, with High Distinction.
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
Institute of the Arts, San Miquel, Mexico
D.B.D.: Rachel Rosenthal Performance Workshop, Los Angeles, CA

Representation
San Francisco Museum of Art, Rental Gallery
Jay Jay Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Sandy Besser, Santa Fe, NM

Awards and Scholarship
Bedford Gallery, "Local Voice" Walnut Creek, CA. Juror's Award and Lecturer Vermont Studio Center: Fellowship Award (deferred)
Nelson Gallery Art Friends: Art Friends Grant, Davis, CA
Vermont Studio Center: Full fellowship Award
U.C. Davis, Scholarship
Fairfield Annual Juried Art Show, Fairfield, CA: Awarded "Best in Show"
Penland School of Crafts, Assistant Ceramic Technician, Penland, NC
Pilchuck Glass School, Scholarship, Stanwood, WA
The Artery, Davis CA, "California Clay Competition" Juror’s Award by Jon Toki
Pro Arts Juried Annual, Juror’s Award, Oakland, CA
Jury: Squeak Carnwath, Mildred Howard, and Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie

Solo Exhibitions
Cold Cuts Gallery, "Ladders, Dancers and DNA", Berkeley.CA
Big Art, Sacramento, CA: "Breathing Room" solo show mixed-media installation
Lung Association, Sacramento: "Ceramic Lung Vases," solo show for Clean Air Day
Big Art, Sacramento: Solo Ceramic and Drawing Exhibition
Courtyard Galley, Alameda, CA: Solo Exhibition, "The Purse Project"

Isabella Percy West Gallery, Oakland

Exhibitions
California College of Arts, "The Family of Clay," Oakland, CA
Turner Caroll Gallery, "Tomorrow's Drawing Today," Santa Fe, NM
Kirkland Arts Center, "Clay," Kirkland, WA
Gerald Peters Gallery, (Four Person Show), Santa Fe, NM
Kellogg University, "Clay and Ink 3," Pomona, CA
Di Rosa Invitational Art Auction, Napa, CA
Bedford Gallery, "Local Voice," Juror?s Award, Walnut Creek, CA
David Lusk Gallery, "The Price is Right," Memphis, TN
Link Gallery, "Correspondance," San Francisco
Arts Change, " Art, Health and Humor," Richmond, CA
Klaudia Marr Gallery, "The Dictionary," (two-person show) Santa Fe, NM
Davis MU Gallery, "The Eve Aesthestic: Contemporary
Ceramic Sculpture by Artist from TB-9", Davis, CA
Falkirk Cultural Center, "Art of the Narrative", San Rafael, CA
Richmond Art Center, " Turf", Richmond, CA
Sam Francis Gallery, Exhibition of Crossroads Alumni, Santa Monica, CA SOMAR Cultural Arts Center, "Vehicular Motion", SF, CA
Masters of Fine Arts Exhibiton Nelson Gallery, UC Davis, CA
JayJay Gallery, Sacramento, CA. "Commers and" group invitation show
Pence Gallery "Artists’ Tiles:Beyond Tradition" UC Davis, CA
Kellogg University Art Gallery, Pomona, CA: "Ink and Clay" juried show
Fairfield Annual Juried art show, Fairfield, CA. Awarded best in show
Bergelli Gallery, Larkspur, CA: "New Voices-New Visions"
Memorial Union Art Gallery, Davis: "Minds Eye"
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art: Art Rental Gallery
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, England: "Blind Date" group show
Nelson Gallery, UC Davis, Artist’s Valentine Invitational Auction
(1999-2001)
California Clay Competition, Davis
Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco: Butoh Festival Art Auction, "Traces of Light"
We Agree, book release and performance
Third Annual San Francisco Street Theater Festival
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento: Invitational Art Auction (1996-2001)
"In The Street" Theater Festival, San Francisco: Performance of the Purse Project
MOCHA, Oakland: Teachers' art show and auction
Pro Arts, Oakland: Regional Canvas: Survey of painting and mixed-media
Works Gallery, Sonoma, CA: "Landscape and Garden" Group Exhibition
Invitational Rita Roberts and Ted Cohen
Visual Aid, San Francisco: Annual Artist Invitational Auction
Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA: Annual Artist Invitational Auction
Collision Gallery, San Francisco: "Art in the Street "
Old Bank Building, Point Reyes Station, CA: Group Exhibition
Bolinas Art Museum, Bolinas, CA: "Fired Clay," Group Exhibition Juried by Ruth Braunstein
Falkirk, San Rafael, CA: "All Saints All Souls," Group Exhibition Juried by Cameron Cartiere
Big Art, Sacramento: "Erotic Art," Group Exhibition, Invitational
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento: Annual Artist Invitational Auction
Stephen Wertz Gallery, San Francisco: Hospitality House, Annual Artist Invitational Auction
Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco: "Third Annual Luggage Show" Juried By Renny Pritkin and Laurie Lazer
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento: "Paint a Plate," Invitational Auction
Shooting Gallery, San Francisco: AIDS Invitational Auction
Virginia Bryer Gallery, San Francisco
Victoria Room, San Francisco: Self-portrait Exhibition
South Bay Contemporary Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA: "Heart Attack"
Bedford Biennial 11, Walnut Creek, CA: "The Art of Craft," Juried Exhibition
Carrera's Gallery Cafe, Emeryville, CA: Textile Paintings
California Crafts Museum, San Francisco: "Discovery Show"
Museum of Children's Art, Oakland: Student and Teacher Group Exhibition
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI: Group Exhibition
Group Exhibition Lace Gallery, Los Angeles: "Five Minute Performance Olympics"

Publications
Toya-Ceramic Art Monthly Korea. "Featured Artist". April 2000
Sacramento News and Review: "Featured Artist": October 19, 1995
Town and Country Villager, "Featured Artist": October, 1994
ZYZZYVA: Fall 1994, vol.; no.3
Surface Design Journal: "Featured Artist": Winter 1993

Collections
Century Group Designs: Los Angeles
Rick and Barbara Tell: Los Angeles
UCLA Medical Group: Los Angeles
Margaret and David Hoosen: Point Reyes, CA
Paul Daver: Sacrmento, CA
Dr. Allen and Dora Harnish: Berkeley, CA
Nelson Art Gallery: U.C Davis, CA

 
         

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Copyright © 2006
Lauren Ari All Rights Reserved