The Big Sad: Barry McGee & Clare Rojas
Riverside Art Museum
Exhibition Dates: March 30 - May 17, 2008
Opening Reception: Sunday, March 30, 2008, 4-7pm
Barry McGee and Clare Rojas have long been associated with the "Mission School", a loose collection of artists inspired by the culture of the street, particularly in the Mission District of San Francisco. Their works are often shown clustered together, mixing handcrafted paintings with scraps scavenged from the street and with photographs and other artwork found at thrift stores.
Barry McGee is a giant in the graffiti world, an artist known as much for his technical skill as a "tagger" as for his inclusion of new material, technology and street culture in his installations. Although rooted in graffiti subculture, he references all forms of vernacular art, including comics, folk art, and hand painted signs. McGee's installations often involve images painted directly on the wall, loud animations, mechanical totems, drawings on paper, bright geometric patterns, and assemblage sculptures such as smashed cars and old signs. In addition to traditional paints, McGee uses pens, spray paint (including paint applied with pesticide sprayers) and screenprints on a variety of materials.
Clare Rojas' art simultaneously references hard edge geometric art and handmade folk styles, as well as traditional European fairytales and quilts. She works with gouache, acrylic and latex paint on paper, wood panels, and directly on gallery walls. Rojas depicts men, women, and animals in magical settings, and her narratives reverse sexual stereotypes. Men are portrayed nude in provocative poses. Cackling, old ladies with headscarves are shown wielding sharp objects. However, for all this menace and disruption, there is a delicate feel to the work, especially in Rojas' paintings of domestic life, animals in nature, or lonely individuals reinforced with a quiet power.