Sanchez Art Center Presents: Thomas Campbell — Citizen Joy: Views of Democracy — Ode to Joy
In the Main Gallery:
Thomas Campbell’s work is imbued with the improvisational bebop-esque language of repeated patterns, riffs, and licks. Written in a script that is more than a scribble, less than a hieroglyphic, Campbell is always playing with language and form. No matter how many times his work shape-shifts, its common denominator is found in the vastness and depth of his creativity. His DIY sensibility flourishes in the rarified air between the spaces of thought and meaning, between doing and done, and between seeing and feeling. But make no mistake, as unpremeditated as his art may seem, he has learned the formal rules of artmaking—using them when appropriate and tossing them aside when he finds them irrelevant to his composition or message.
Campbell’s art practice and way of life substantiate the claim that all art is autobiographical. He finds his way everywhere he wants to go and be. He is a loving father and generous friend. He is a noted filmmaker who started a publishing company, co-founded a record label, and has been one of the main subjects in a widely circulated art documentary. He is a self-taught sculptor, ceramist, painter, collagist, and photographer whose “street cred” was earned by being part of the graffiti outsider art world and the surf and skate cultures. His lively multimodality manifests itself in a curiosity about the ancient world, and his appreciation of all art forms has led him to visit many museums and galleries on several continents.
Thomas Campbell was born in Orange County, lives in Santa Cruz County, and has traveled extensively and attentively. He has had numerous exhibitions, countless film screenings, and has released scores of albums. In between making artwork, he skates and surfs and thinks and ponders and dances. He has not strategically or purposefully tried to attract attention to his work; nonetheless, it is known nationally and internationally and is critically admired.
In the East Gallery:
The East Gallery presents Citizen Joy: Views of Democracy, Gratitude & Aspiration. The exhibition culminates nearly a year of work to identify and develop community engagement projects and events that celebrate and interpret democracy. Barbara Kibbe, Citizen Joy Leadership Team member, exhibition conceptualizer and catalog curator, notes that while developed during an election year — regardless of the outcome — the country needs an informed and engaged citizenry. She states, “Our hope was to make a small contribution to our collection commitment to learn about and participate in our democratic system, shining a light on what we have to be grateful for. In a way, we are making the argument for staying involved, for making what is good better.”
Citizen Joy Founder and exhibition juror Jeff Raz notes how art can turn politics into a living, breathing, embodied force. In selecting works for the show, he was looking for two things — pieces that thrilled him, that gave him joy, and art that had a strong point of view about democracy. The selected works provide visitors with an exciting variety of sizes, shapes, colors, textures and ideas Raz also selected a wide range of media and technique, from video to sculpture and from painting to photography to textile art and mixed media. Some of the works are representational, others are fantastical, some are abstract, others narrative.
In the West Gallery:
Ode to Joy, a celebration for the New Year is a group show by members of the Art Guild of Pacifica. The Guild’s themed exhibitions are open to any artwork or interpretation on the theme, providing the opportunity for artists to share their own perspective, and for viewers to reflect on how they themselves experience it.
The Art Guild holds four themed exhibitions a year, plus an annual members’ show. Small giftable works and cards are available to take away as purchased (cash and checks) from the AGP Shop when their members are exhibiting. During the current exhibitions the shop features an array of small paintings by Sheila Finch, ceramics by Susan Miller and jewelry by Jan Michaels.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/2832844-0
