In architectural parlance, a gatehouse is a structure affixed to the entrance of a castle to help protect the riches within. The notion is not lost on the Gatehouse Gallery at the di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, which has been a gateway to the Bay Area art scene for more than a decade.
The 2009 Gatehouse Gallery exhibitions continue this tradition, with new hours of operation and a surfeit of world-class work by emerging Bay Area artists as well as mid-career surveys by collection artists and special “Collection in Context” showcases.
The critically lauded “After the Age of Reason: New Work by Maria Porges,” which opened last November, remains in place until Feb. 7. The exhibition of recent drawings and sculpture represents a substantial departure from the body of work Porges was engaged in through most of the 1990s, but reprises some materials and ideas from her earlier work – namely, the idea of books as a material for sculpture. Besides books, the exhibition also includes sculpture cast in a variety of materials, including wax backed by plaster, bronze and cast lead crystal.
Following the Porges exhibit and running through June 13 is the ominously titled “(un)Natural,” which explores the relationship between what is natural and organic versus what has been altered, genetically or otherwise, and if one can tell the difference. “(un)Natural” looks at this phenomenon through the work of a small group of primarily emerging Bay Area artists, including Jessica Cadkin, Ross Campbell, Misako Inaoka, Kathryn Spence, Lucrecia Troncoso and Tara Tucker, among others.
It could be said that painter Mike Henderson lets his brush “riff” in his expressive, gestural abstract paintings, which he creates in the same improvisational style that defines his blues and jazz guitar creations. “Ultimately, I would like each painting to be a question rather than an answer – the inner space of the painting as the take-off point for a corresponding inner journey with the viewer,” explained Henderson, whose works hang from June 27 to Sept. 19 in an exhibit entitled “Mike Henderson: New Work 2009.”
Borrowing part of its title from a 1980s sci-fi flick starring William Hurt, “Altered States: The Collection in Context” focuses on spirituality by way of altered states of consciousness. Drawing upon items stowed deep in the Preserve’s collection, the exhibit presents works by Wallace Berman, who used letters from the Hebrew alphabet as a means to explore the ancient mystical sect of Kabbalah; Bruce Conner, whose iconic sculpture, “Crucifixion,” addresses issues like religious persecution and capital punishment; and James Barsness, who revisits the Last Supper in his mixed media work “Cartoon for Last Supper, 1992.” The exhibit can be viewed from Oct. 31 to Jan. 30, 2010.
The Gatehouse Gallery is open from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wednesday through Friday and on Saturdays with tour reservations. Guided tours are available Wednesday through Saturday. For reservations or information, call 707.226.5991 or visit www.dirosapreserve.org. The di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature is located at 5200 Carneros Highway 121, Napa.
