High points and long views: Art
Area's best shows reveal depth of vision and talent

By Victoria Dalkey - Bee Art Correspondent
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, December 30, 2007

"The more things change, the more they stay the same," is an old saw that just doesn't apply to 2007. Instead, a major change took place this year when ground was broken in July to make way for the Crocker Art Museum's long-awaited and much-needed expansion.

Viewers can look forward to increased exhibition space for the museum's collections and larger traveling exhibitions, an education center, auditorium and meeting rooms, and (at last!) a cafe with indoor and outdoor seating in an expanded courtyard.

But even positive changes come with drawbacks, in this case, reduced parking and exhibition space during the building phase. To compensate, the Crocker is offering validated parking for members in three nearby city garages and newly created diagonal parking spaces on O Street for nonmembers.

Sacramento suffered some sad losses this year, including the closing of its most intriguingly named gallery, Exploding Head, whose co-owners Linda Welch and Jodie de Vries brought integrity and innovation to the Sacramento gallery scene.

It also said goodbye to Harry Fonseca and Roy DeForest, a pair of prominent and much-loved artists who brought national prominence to the Sacramento area. The loss of Allan Stone, Wayne Thiebaud's long-time dealer and a major collector of modern and contemporary art, was also keenly felt in Northern California, where he maintained a home.

On a happier note, Jay Jay and Julie Baker Fine Art took part in Miami Flow last month, bringing the work of Northern California artists to the vibrant Miami art fair scene; a group of East Coast painters (including Joan Snyder, who won a coveted MacArthur "genius" grant this year) was featured at the Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento; and the eminent Bay Area artist Nathan Oliveira was in residence at the Art Foundry Gallery this summer making a series of bronze sculptures.

THE 10 MOST MEMORABLE SHOWS OF 2007

1 James McNeill Whistler Lithographs, Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis: A show of works by the late 19th century expatriate American artist from the collection of Davis alum Jeffrey Ruesch was both beautiful and educational.

2 "Betye Saar: Extending the Frozen Moment," Crocker Art Museum: A blend of mysticism, ritual, racial imagery and nostalgia infused the works of one of the most distinguished African American artists of our time in her first full-scale retrospective, which made its only West Coast appearance at the Crocker.

3 "Michael Sarich: Paintings, Ceramics, and Works on Paper," Jay Jay: Mingling pop imagery (Mickey Mouse and Smiley Face) with personal symbolism (fish, beach balls and propellers), Sarich's enigmatic narratives confronted viewers with provocative visual, intellectual and spiritual conundrums.

4 "Artful Jesters," Pence Gallery: Ranging from social satire to sheer silliness, this compendium of 40 works by regional artists from Robert Arneson to Mick Sheldon encapsulated the spirit of the Sacramento Valley's love affair with humorous art.

5 Roy DeForest/Gerald Walburg, Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento: DeForest's untimely and unexpected death during the run of this show gave a poignant edge to what started out as a celebratory exhibition coinciding with a 40-year retrospective of Walburg's sculpture at San Jose State University and honoring his relationship with DeForest, which dated to the 1960s.

6 "Echoes of the Earth: Ceramics by Toshiko Takaezu," Crocker Art Museum: Ranging from utilitarian pieces to closed, spherical "moon" vessels with molten glazes, Takaezu's ravishing ceramics were concrete extensions of the simplicity, integrity and quietude of her life and the spirit of Zen.

7 "Rick Bartow: Pastels, Paintings, and Sculpture," b. sakata garo: Sources as diverse as Maori woodcarving, African nail fetishes and the surreal fantasies of Hieronymus Bosch came together in the graphically bold and emotionally complex works of a nationally prominent artist of Northern California Indian heritage.

8 "Tar, Dust, and Canvas: Jack Ogden," Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento: One of Sacramento's most respected painters and influential teachers took us on a romp through art history in this large exhibition of works layered with linguistic and visual ambiguities that gave them depth, complexity and a sense of mortality.

9 "Claudia Bernardi: Silence Was Hostile and Almost Perfect," 40 Acres: Intertwining art and social justice, Bernardi's work transformed the horrors of war in El Salvador into strikingly rich images of great beauty that celebrated the endurance of the human spirit in the darkest of times.

10 "DAD: A Daughter's Art Dedication," Solomon Dubnick Gallery: Moving from the wry whimsy of Peter VandenBerge's bust of Claude Monet to the fanciful female figures of Camille VandenBerge (a.k.a. The Moth Fairy), this show of ceramics by a father and daughter mingled humor and poetry to good effect.