An expansive, 40-year survey of painting and collage by Bay Area artist Frances McCormack will be on view to June 29 at the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art.
The exhibition – Frances McCormack: Rooted in Wonder – will be featured in di Rosa’s light-filled Gallery 1.
McCormack is a Boston native who lives in Sonoma and has exhibited her work in more than 100 museum and gallery exhibitions since 1984. She completed her fine arts education at San Francisco State University and at UC Berkeley.
Her abstract compositions, featuring tube or tendril like forms, fields and bands of color, and painterly layering and effects, quickly earned her praise, with art critic Kenneth Baker writing, “Her paintings strive for a kind of material poetic statement possible only in painting.”
In her paintings, McCormack explores personal themes with the garden as a guiding metaphor. Utilizing the concept of the garden as an enclosure, she populates the field of the painting with botanical references and images in earthly and vegetative hues that describe the nature of growth, energy, and even human struggle.
“I have always admired McCormack’s ability to create visual interpretations of flora and fauna that are energetic, compelling and introspective,” says Kate Eilertsen, Executive Director and Chief Curator at di Rosa. “Her painterly style and use of color reflect her engagement with Northern California’s natural and artistic ecosystems.”
A 160-page book incorporating samples of her work has been published to accompany the exhibition. In it, McCormack writes, “My experience in the studio goes something like this: I am looking for something. What I want to see is part idea, part feeling and part visual construct. This desire or search is emotionally specific in a way that words are not. For the sake of simplicity, let’s call this thing ‘a wolf’ and the process ‘a hunt.’
And in an essay included in the book – “Frances McCormack – Rooted in Wonder: Paintings, 1984 – 2024,” she writes, “Time and reality are transformed by attention and condensation. This is the experience I want for the viewer. Wonder and curiosity. The arts — painting, music, film, performance — can serve as artifacts of reflection. They also inspire us to renegotiate our often-harsh contract with life and open ourselves to the unexpected.”
A respected San Francisco Bay Area teacher, McCormack taught studio art at San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University and California College of the Arts. At the former San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) she was a tenured professor for 28 years. Upon retirement, she was designated Professor Emerita. Among other numerous honors, she was the first affiliated SFAI Faculty Residency Fellow at the American Academy in Rome in July 2000.
Frances McCormack: Rooted in Wonder is on view to June 29. The exhibition can be viewed Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The full-color exhibition catalog, Frances McCormack – Rooted in Wonder: Paintings, 1984 – 2024, published by Fine Arts Press, is available from the publisher and di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art.
di Rosa is a non-profit art center and nature preserve specializing in the art of Northern California. Located at 5200 Sonoma Highway, on 217 acres in the Carneros region of Napa, di Rosa includes two large art galleries, a beautiful lake, abundant birding, walking trails with vineyard views, outdoor sculptures, and picnic grounds.
di Rosa offers an array of public programs and events for all ages to inspire creativity and curiosity. di Rosa is open to the public without reservations Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and by appointment Tuesday through Wednesday. Visitors are encouraged to bring picnics. For more information visit www.dirosaart.org.
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