PRESS RELEASES for immediate release:
Contact Lisa Foote at lisa@galleryrouteone.org or 510.730.0594
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PLEASE NOTE: GALLERY ROUTE ONE FOLLOWS CURRENTLY RECOMMENDED COVID-19 SAFETY PROTOCOLS. Masks are encouraged.
GALLERY ROUTE ONE EXHIBITIONS:
1) Bruce Mitchell: One Times Three
2) Nimisha Doongarwal: Identity
3) Charles Anselmo: Ephemera; A Photographic Installation
On exhibit Saturday, March 25 to Sunday, April 30
In-Person Opening Reception: Saturday, March 25, 3-5 P.M.
Artist talks begin at 3:30 P.M.
Virtual Exhibition Walk-Through will be available at www.galleryrouteone.org
The gallery is open to visitors Thursday to Monday, 11 – 5
The exhibition will soon be viewable online: www.galleryrouteone.org
SUMMARY:
Gallery Route One is pleased to present three exhibits: One Times Three—a presentation of wood sculptures, paintings, and wood sculptures by Bruce Mitchell; Identity—a series of mixed media artworks by visiting artist, Nimisha Doongarwal, with a focus on the human face; and Ephemera—a photographic installation by Charles Anselmo which reflects upon the decline of our peripheral urban spaces and the subjectivity of remembrance.
Center Gallery
Bruce Mitchell: One Times Three
Gallery Route One presents One Times Three by member artist, Bruce Mitchell. The title expands on the three mediums included in this exhibit—wood carvings, paintings, and works on paper.
Mitchell describes the works in the exhibit as dreamscapes, visualizing in three dimensions and explaining, He further elaborates that his process is a direct result of responding to whatever ideas come to him, coming from the place of dreamworlds and archetypes, analogous to several cultures around the world. He adds, “My greatest desire is for viewers discover something of their own…that they will have their own experience but also encounter the same joy I had in the creation of the piece. I want viewers to see the range of what is possible…not just for me but for them as well.”
Expanding upon the carving techniques he learned from his mentor J.B. Blunk, Mitchell’s work reveals pure abstract forms ranging in scale from tabletop to monumental. Among Bruce’s latest works is a series of wall mounted wood kimonos that represent his homage to that iconic art form. “I don’t set any limits on myself, and I believe that is what has kept my curiosity going. If I have an idea that seems tempting enough, I am going to pursue it.”
Mitchell has been working with wood for over four decades and is widely known for his lathe turned vessels, sculptural tables, benches, and abstract forms. In addition to books and catalogs, his work can be found in numerous museums and private collections throughout the United States including the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution, the Oakland Museum of Art, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA, and several other museums.
Project Space
Nimisha Doongarwal: Identity
Gallery Route One’s Visiting Artist Program presents Identity, a series of mixed media images by Nimisha Doongarwal.
Doongarwal’s mixed media artworks focus on the human face, which each containing an inventory of fragments: paintings, photographs, fabrics, and digital prints. The work explores the varying relationships between past and popular culture and references social issues including racism, gender inequality, immigration. Every image tells a unique story through visual links to history and current reality.
The artist presents familiar visual signs and oral histories arranged into layered collages. Each artwork starts with a curated collection of photographs, fabric, and other materials. The final work results from the repetitive process of tearing and layering prints, collaging, painting, stamping, and adding fabric.
Doongarwal derives her imagery from pop media because she believes that social media and pop culture have the power to ignite social change by connecting with people’s emotions, creating an environment where a cultural shift in opinions can occur. Artwork of this nature can speak for policy change.
The conceptual portraits Doongarwal creates emphasize ethnic similarities over differences, irrespective of the varied physical differences. Through her works, the artist seeks to encourage people to embrace cultural diversity and fight for equality for all, without regard for gender, color, race, religion. Her goal is to give a voice to social issues women and people of color face around the world, through her art and advocate awareness. Nimisha has been featured in publications and magazines such as Forbes, Maake magazine, Artmarket magazine and has exhibited in museums and galleries including the De Young Museum, San Francisco International Airport, Museum of Northern California, and Brown University.
Nimisha Doongarwal was born in India and currently lives in San Francisco.
Annex
Charles Anselmo: Ephemera; A Photographic Installation
Exploring the narratives that exist at the intersection of place, memory and social context, Charles Anselmo presents Ephemera, a photographic installation which reflects upon the decline of our peripheral urban spaces and the subjectivity of remembrance.
“Overall, my creative process involves a kind of visual seduction in the sense that the vibrancy and color of deconstructed surfaces will hopefully draw the viewer closer to a visual interplay of enticingly abstracted forms, which a moment later yield the realities of the narrative, the story.”
This new exhibition expands upon Anselmo’s photographic practice—capturing textured, deconstructed landscapes, resulting in images which intersect place, memory, and social context, as well as exploring how human memory shifts our perception of the past. For this exhibit, Anselmo has built a physical space to actual scale in Japanese Asuka paper, covering the walls, ceiling, and floor to represent an immersive experience in tactile terms. At the same time, his choice of paper medium also references the impermanence of buildings and cities. As far as future exhibitions are concerned, Anselmo adds, “I’m very excited to continue working these themes toward installation-based exhibitions, rather than presenting my photographs in a conventional form.”
A veteran of seventy-one photographic trips to Cuba since 2000, Anselmo has widely exhibited his Havana portfolios while visually capturing the city’s unique historical/architectural narrative. He actively exhibits his photographs internationally, curates United States exhibits of work by established Cuban film photographers, and operates a fine art digital printing studio. In addition to conducting many photography field workshops to Cuba, he has also been Visiting Lecturer at two Cuban schools: the Havana School of Creative Photography, and the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Art, Cuba’s oldest art school.
Anselmo has presented numerous exhibits on social themes, exhibiting at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Fototeca Nacional de Cuba, the University of Havana and numerous other venues and museums. He lectures and write critical essays, while continuing his exploration of sites which demonstrate the nascent beauty of forgotten places.
About Gallery Route One:
A regional landmark since 1983, Gallery Route One is a nonprofit arts organization located in the town of Point Reyes Station, adjacent to the entry for Marin County’s Point Reyes National Seashore. Besides offering rotating exhibits by member artists, GRO also maintains its outreach programs: the Latino Photography Project, the Artists in the Schools Program, the Artist Fellowship Program, as well as Visiting Artist Program exhibitions in the Project Space addressing environmental, immigration and social justice issues.