Wonder: A Conversation with Wimmin
Exhibition Dates: Jun 7, 2017 to Jun 24, 2017 3rd Thursday Artist Panel, hosted by Nicole Georges
Location: Root Division, San Francisco CA
EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Alexis Amann
Craig Calderwood
Robin Birdd
Kat Geng
Veronica Graham
Yuki Maruyama
Lee Marrs
Sofia Niazi
Allie Phillips
Kate Rhoades
Trina Robbins
Thorina Rose
Mary Wings
ABOUT
Root Division is proud to present Wonder: A Conversation with Wimmin, guest curated by Craig Campbell, this June in our gallery. Celebrating women’s effort in the underground comic movement, this exhibition features original contributing artists to Wimmin’s Comix, (1972 to 1992) alongside contemporary female artists whose work aesthetically and conceptually reflects the unabashed styles of Wimmin’s Comix.
Less than a year after the summer of love, comics found a voice in the Bay Area that reflected a new generation of social unrest and sharply contrasted mainstream comic publishers like DC and Marvel. These comics became a voice for the voiceless, providing an accessible and affordable platform for artists and readers to engage with contemporary issues. In 1970, Trina Robbins captured a voice representing the realities of being a woman in America, by spearheading It Ain’t Me, Babe, the first all-female comics anthology. Using advertising aesthetics and comic book tropes to parody the absurd American ideals and fantasies projected onto women, Robbins would continue to create visibility and social commentary with what would become the prolific twenty year series, Wimmen’s Comix (later renamed Wimmin’s Comix).
The influence of Wimmin’s Comix extends beyond medium, beyond industry and beyond gender, contributing an aesthetic language that continues to permeate contemporary comics, fine art, and visual culture. As the voices of women continue to rise in the face of increased political pressure, this timely exhibition celebrates female artists and the power of independent publishing to raise important social issues.
ReClaimation
Exhibition Dates: 2016 January 24th
Location: La Peña Cultural Center, Berkeley CA
EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
SofÍa Córdova
Dave Yoas
Joshua Solis
ABOUT
Time is just another border and ReClaimation looks at the meaning of ownership and appropriation in a world where the physical landscapes are in constant flux. When an island is destroys and a river divides a forest, what culture inherits the narrative?
Colored Warnings
Exhibition Date: 2015 August 27
Location: Cesar Chavez Gallery, San Francisco CA
EXHIBITING ARTISTS:
Philip Gann
Lewis Klahr
Mike Rothfeld
ABOUT
After World War II (1939-45) there was a sudden change in the way Americans saw themselves in relation to where the nation was headed. Science fiction was the narrative genre that best captured this shift, from an aesthetic of hope and progress, to that of fear and paranoia. There was a sudden awareness of ‘us’ and ‘them’ as divide. ‘Them’ were depicted as aliens or monsters, foreigners, government agents and neighbors. Alienation of the individual from power was foreseen in George Orwell's 1984 (1949). Xenophobia replaced hope in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Post war attitudes directed new expectations for daily life and redefined the idea of evil.
Since the beginning of Operation Desert Shield (1990) America has found itself in perpetual war, from Bosnia to Afghanistan. As we move forward in time, we begin to experience a world where drones have replaced humans on the battlefield and robot prosthesis is becoming more culturally visible. Revisiting ideas of colonization, technological change and human progression, COLORED WARNINGS captures an imagined future, which reflects on the war-torn landscape of the present.
The work collected by these three artists are inspired by the past, indicative of the present and representative of the future.
