Dave Lane, of Sacramento, uses found and modified agricultural and industrial steel relics of the 20th century to embody his personal cosmology.

Image: Dave Lane
Heart of Gold
(image courtesy of the Condos Gallery, Sacramento City College)

Dave Lane, frequent winner of the California State Fair art competition, will create an installation of his sculptures, drawings and paintings in a museum context for only the second time ever, at the Nelson for the Winter 2009 quarter. Lane uses found industrial and agricultural machinery from the 19th and 20th century; he transforms these large-scale, heavy steel objects into artworks that embody Lane’s vision of how the universe is organized.

“Lane is a visionary artist who sees the flow of the cosmos as part of a vast system of celestial machinery, which harkens back to such seminal artists as the 19th century’s William Blake in England,” says Nelson Director Renny Pritikin. Like renowned artist Richard Serra, originally from San Francisco, Lane works with heavy steel objects that can be daunting when first encountered, but which he infuses with a kind of baroque grace.

Lane’s work is particularly accessible to a wide range of viewers, from children who respond to its scale and scariness, to backyard mechanics who admire his resourcefulness. Art audiences and artists respond to his imagination and originality while those approaching the arts for the first time are reassured that contemporary art can be fun.

A catalogue with images of the work, and essays by Pritikin, Bay Area art journalist Tessa De Carlo, and writing by Lane will be published in January. For further information and images please contact Katrina Wong at kliwong@ucdavis.edu or 530 752 8500.

Trimpin, a MacArthur Fellowship recipient, is a sound sculptor, composer, inventor, and one of the most thought-provoking one-man forces in art today.

Images from Sheng High Installation

The Nelson will show a small selection from the collection of works by the late San Francisco artist Conner, who died this year. Arguably the most important visual artist of the San Francisco Beat movement of the 50s, Conner made films, collages and assemblages. The collages are notable for their mystical suggestions and classical sources, and the assemblages for their use of recycled, often homely, found materials. The show will include prints that haven't been exhibited by the Nelson in 16 years, plus a never-before-seen assemblage.

Image: Bruce Conner
Untitled

Frank Van Sloun was an American Realist painter associated with the Ash Can School of New York in the early years of the last century. He was born in 1879 in St. Paul, MN and died in San Francisco in 1938. He briefly dropped out of art school to be a professional baseball player in St. Paul, but moved to NY to be an artist in 1900. He achieved his greatest renown during the 30s; he was on the faculty of UC Berkeley starting in 1926, after moving to the Bay Area in 1911.

Image: Frank Van Sloun
Not a Self Portrait

Laura Breitman Artist Demonstration
November 4, 2008, 4:30 pm • Contact the gallery to sign up in advance. Limited space.

Laura Breitman
New York
Piece by Piece
collage drawings

Camille Utterback
San Francisco
External Measures
interactive video artist

Lauren Davies
San Francisco
Dog Models

Image: Laura Breitman (top)
Aspen
Camille Utterback (middle)
From the External Measures series: Untitled 5 (2004)
interactive installation
screen view
Lauren Davies (bottom)
Australian Shepherd and Maltese

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“What I love about all three of these projects is their sense of humor and how they play with our need for art to represent reality. We want to believe our eyes but at this point in history we know better than to trust that anything will be exactly what it seems to be,” says Renny Pritikin, director of the Nelson Gallery and curator of the three exhibitions.

Laura Breitman creates large, photo-realistic renderings of landscapes and cityscapes that, upon close examination, reveal themselves to be not drawings or watercolors, but collages of fabric. This eye-tricking work is the result of unusual techniques Breitman has devised over a lifetime. Lauren Davies creates 20% scale dogs—sheepdogs, terriers, et al—out of the fur she gathers from her own pets and from grooming salons and internet-solicited gifts. The resulting models simultaneously capture the charm and personality of the original animals while also embodying a creepy fetishism. Camille Utterback creates video systems that, within a defined square floor space, document a visitor’s path via abstract video projection. Routes through space are marked and then computer programs visually elaborate on those movements. The result is a complex color drawing that succeeds as both a layered video painting and a history of one’s travel through space.

Breitman will present a one-hour demonstration on Election Day, November 4th, in the gallery at 4:30pm; signing up in advance is recommended. Call 530-752-8500 for information.

Also On View:

In the entryway gallery are new large color photo collages by UC Davis alumnus Jimmy Jalapeeno, who graduated from the MFA program 35 years ago and now lives in Austin, Texas. At the Buehler Alumni Center satellite gallery are photographs by campus architect Allen Lowry in celebration of the new Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Sciences opening in September. Lowery’s photographs document the behind-the-scenes construction of the building.

The Nelson Gallery is located in room 124 of the art building on campus, and is open Monday through Friday from 11am to 5pm, and on Sunday from 2 to 5pm. For photographs and further information, contact Katrina Wong at kliwong@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-8500.

If you have any questions or would like to order a copy from the gallery, please contact Katrina Wong. Phone: 530-752-8500 or e-mail: nelsongallery@ucdavis.edu

In coordination with the opening of the new Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Sciences this fall, the Nelson presents at its satellite gallery in the Buehler Alumni Center an exhibition of photographs by Senior Project Manager, Architects and Engineers, Allen Lowry. Lowry has documented the construction project, with special emphasis on the architectural details that become hidden forever as the building's walls are erected.

Image: Allen Lowry
Vault 2007

In the entryway gallery are new large color photo collages by UC Davis alumnus Jimmy Jalapeeno, MFA 1973. He has lived in Austin, Texas since leaving California.

Image: Jimmy Jalapeeno
Breakfast in Heaven
temporal pastiche images
2007

This will be the second regional biennial curated by Renny Pritikin. This exhibit includes twenty selected artists from the Davis/Winters/Woodland/Sacramento region.

Image: Cheselyn Amato
Flower Garden (2008)

Peter Stegall
Straight, No Mixes

Jeff Musser
Adam

Gioia Fonda
She Wears Perfume for Luck when She Plays Bingo

James Aarons
Part Way

“I chose to not include any artists who participated in the first go round,” says Renny Pritikin, Nelson director, and curator of both versions of Flatlanders. “That way I was forced to keep discovering new talents, recent arrivals, recent graduates, and people I’d just missed.” Pritikin was struck by the depth of commitment and talent he found. “I’ve already got a head start on Flatlanders 3.”

There will be a reception for the artists from 6 to 8pm at the Nelson on Thursday July 10th. A color catalogue with short essays and a color plate for each artist will be available for purchase as well. The complete roster of included artists is: James Aarons, (Mokelumne Hill) ceramics; Cheslyn Amato, (Davis) sculpture; Julia Couzens, (Clarksburg), drawings; Gioia Fonda, (Sacramento), drawings; Judith Gefter, (Davis), photography; Linda S. Fitz Gibbon, (Davis), ceramics; Mike Henderson, (Davis faculty), painting; David Hollowell, (Woodland), painting; Uwe Jahnke, (Sacramento), painting; Ken Kirsch, (Davis) painting; Brenda Louie, (Sacramento), painting; Liv Moe, (Sacramento), sculpture; Jeff Musser, (Sacramento), painting; Laura J. Reyes, (Davis), embroidery; David Robertson, (Davis), photography; Sita Seng, (Davis), painting;
Peter Stegall, (Sacramento), painting; Joshua Stern, (Winters), photography; Youngsuk Suh, (Davis), photography; Stacy Vetter, (Davis), painting.

For images and further information, contact Katrina Wong at (530) 752-8500 or kliwong@ucdavis.edu.

Image: David Fukuyama
Untitled (from the Truck Drivers Series)
silver gelatin print
10.5" x 13.25"
1970

Irman Arcibal
Caroline Cloak
Chau Thuy Huynh
Mary Alison Lucas
Nickolas Mohanna
LissaIvy Tiegel

Image: Mary Alison Lucas
Stubble
2008
clay, finish nails, low fire slip, low fire glazes
13” h x 14”w x 12”d
Photo Credit: Lee Fatherree