Artists: Andrea Bowers, Luke Butler, Judy Chicago, Conrad Egyir, John Houck, Dashiell Manley, Eamon Ore-Giron, Woody De Othello, Lam Tung Pang, Hayal Pozanti, Clare Rojas, Lara Schnitger, Davina Semo, WangShui, Rose B. Simpson
Exhibition title: Conversational Spirits I
Venue: Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, US
Date: Online, 2020
Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Jessica Silverman is pleased to present “Conversational Spirits,” a two-part summer group show, featuring work that explores “animism,” the belief that animals, plants, places and objects are imbued with spirits. These entities have strong characters. They are enlivened by social awareness and a yearning to communicate. Some command power; others are driven by a mission.
Animism, as a traditional belief system, is a global phenomenon, common to indigenous peoples around the world. It survives in vestigial ways in large scale religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Judeo-Christian ritual. Often associated with the worship of nature, animism is a theme broadly relevant to this moment in which equal rights, environmentalism and the neuroscience of our mammalian brains are of concern to many.
Animism is a relevant analogy for the agency, intensity and energy embodied by great art. When the trees are whispering, when abstraction breathes, when a painted portrait questions your sense of self, spirits are not far away.
Conrad Egyir, Grand Whisperer, 2020, Oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas and wood, 78 x 60 inches / 198 x 152 cm
Conrad Egyir, Grand Gravitas, 2020, Oil, acrylic, and mixed media on canvas and wood, 78 x 60 inches / 198 x 152 cm
Luke Butler, Harbinger, 2020, Acrylic on canvas, 24 x 30 inches / 61 x 76 cm
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Andrea Bowers, May the Last Tree Take Me Down, Last Line of ‘A Greater Silence’ by Deena Metzger from Her Book of Poems Burden of Light, 2019 (Ecofeminist Sycamore Branch Series) , 2020, Acrylic marker on cardboard, 38 x 25 1/2 x 3 inches / 97 x 65 x 8 cm
Andrea Bowers, If We Do Not Do the Impossible We Shall Be Faced With the Unthinkable, Quote by Petra Kelly from Her Closing Speech at the International Green Congress, Stockholm, Sweden, August 30, 1987 (Ecofeminist Sycamore Branch Series), 2020, Acrylic marker on cardboard, 42 x 31 1/2 x 3 inches / 107 x 80 x 8 cm
Davina Semo, Muse, 2019, Patinated cast bronze, powder-coated chain, hardware, Trunk: 81 x 18.9 x 14.2 inches / 206 x 48 x 36 cm, Installation dimensions variable
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Davina Semo, Siren, 2019, Polished and patinated cast bronze bell, whipped nylon line, wooden clapper, powder-coated chain, hardware, Bell: 32 x 13 inches / 81 x 33 cm, Installation dimensions variable
Hayal Pozanti, Each the Other’s World Entire – 85 (Latabgu Kamyu Nu), 2020, Oil and oil stick on linen, 56 x 99 inches / 142 x 252 cm
Hayal Pozanti, Blue Romance That Haloed – 89 (Nuyufo Kunnano), 2020, Oil and oil stick on linen, 74 x 58 inches / 188 x 147 cm
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Hayal Pozanti, Life Breath – 31 (Nako), 2020, Oil and oil stick on linen, 30 x 24 inches / 76 x 61 cm
Hayal Pozanti, The Sun Within Ourselves – 21 (Kunfo), 2020, Oil and oil stick on linen, 40 x 30 inches / 102 x 76 cm
Rose B. Simpson, Conjure, 2020, Ceramic, reed, steel, leather, and wax thread, 38 x 15 x 11 inches / 97 x 38 x 28 cm
Rose B. Simpson, A Ways (Bones), 2020, Ceramic, glaze, leather, linen, concrete, 48 x 10 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches / 122 x 27 x 24 cm
Rose B. Simpson, Grown I, 2020, Ceramic, terra sigillata, glaze, leather, 19 1/2 x 7 x 5 inches / 50 x 18 x 13 cm
Rose B. Simpson, Grown II, 2020, Ceramic, terra sigillata, leather, glass beads, 18 x 7 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches / 46 x 19 x 11 cm
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Lara Schnitger, B’sst, 2020, Fabric collage, 40 x 30 inches / 102 x 76 cm
Lara Schnitger, New Women, 2020, Fabric collage , 60 x 48 inches / 152 x 122 cm
Clare Rojas, Bird II, 2020, Oil on linen , 50 x 40 inches / 127 x 101 cm
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
John Houck, Accumulator #34.6, 2 Color Gradient #FFD531, #DD9D5F, 2020, 2020, Creased archival pigment print (unique), 33 x 27 inches / 83 x 68 cm (framed)
John Houck, Diagram Diary, 2020, Archival pigment print, 40 x 30 inches / 102 x 76 cm
Lam Tung Pang, Untitled-2020-22, 2020, Acrylics and uv-print on plywood , 31 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 3 3/8 inches / 80 x 50 x 9 cm
Lam Tung Pang, Potted Landscape no.3, 2018, Acrylic, charcoal and scale-models on plywood, 19 3/4 x 16 inches / 50 x 41 cm
Eamon Ore-Giron, Styx, 2012, Flashe on linen, 12 x 12 inches / 31 x 31 cm
Eamon Ore-Giron, Dawn, 2012, Flashe on linen, 16 x 16 inches / 41 x 41 cm
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Woody De Othello, First Day Embrace, 2020, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and crayon on paper, 24 x 18 inches / 61 x 46 cm
Woody De Othello, Still Life (Spring Growth), 2020, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and crayon on paper, 24 x 18 inches / 61 x 46 cm
Woody De Othello, Spring (Solo Dance Parties), 2020, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and crayon on paper, 24 x 18 inches / 61 x 46 cm
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Woody De Othello, Reoccurring Themes, 2020, Acrylic, gouache, watercolor and crayon on paper, 18 x 24 inches / 46 x 61 cm
WangShui, Sliver, 2019, Two-channel video, flexible LED mesh, and mineral dust, Installation dimensions variable, Duration: 2 minutes
Dashiell Manley, Those Seeing Flowers, We Cannot See, 2020, Oil on linen, 60 x 84 inches / 152 x 213 cm
Conversational Spirits I, 2020, exhibition view, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco
Judy Chicago, Hopelessly Entwined, 1996, Mixed media on Magnani paper, 30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cm
Judy Chicago, Dancing Trees, 1995, Mixed media on Magnani paper, 22 x 30 inches / 56 x 76 cm
Judy Chicago, Severed Trees, 1996, Mixed media on Magnani paper, 30 x 22 inches / 76 x 56 cm