Exhibition

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2 x 2 Solos: Rhonda Holberton

Curated by FICTILIS

August 19 - September 19, 2014

Artist's Reception: First Friday, September 5, 6-8pm

Artist's Talk: Saturday, September 13, 2pm

2 x 2 Solos is a series of solo exhibitions featuring new work commissioned from four accomplished emerging artists based in the Oakland/Bay Area.

The works in Holberton’s 2 x 2 Solos installation represent visual iterations of her research dealing with the integration of military technologies into the intimacies of civilian life. Figurative sculptures depict the melding of human form in hand-to-hand combat, identity is camouflaged via scents distilled from multiple bodies, while a computer reads randomized texts culled from military training manuals and self-guided improvement programs. These works navigate complex phenomenological systems through a hybrid of scientific and metaphysical practices.

About the Artist: Working in sculpture, installation and photography, Rhonda Holberton reveals a magic and symbolic reading of empirical canons of belief. Rhonda has recently had solo exhibitions at MESA San Francisco and Aimee Frieberg Exhibitions. Her work has recently been included in exhibitions at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art and the San Francisco Arts Commission. In 2012 she received a Project Grant from the San Francisco Arts Commission and a SECA Grant Nomination. Holberton received her B.F.A. from the California College of Arts and Crafts, and her M.F.A from Stanford University.

About the Curators: FICTILIS is the collaborative practice of Andrea Steves and Timothy Furstnau, taking the forms of exhibition, performance, installation, and other multimedia and social practice projects. FICTILIS operated a studio/gallery storefront in downtown Seattle before recently moving to the Bay Area, where they continue to share work that is aesthetically, conceptually, socially, and technologically engaging, and to promote art as an ethical and sustainable practice.

Download pdf 2 x 2 Solos Catalogue

Download Press Release PDF

Image: All the Actors Have Withdrawn (detail), 2014. Courtesy of the Artist

2 x 2 Solos:

2 x 2 Solos serves as a significant platform for the production of, and engagement with, art in Oakland. Supported, in part, by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and East Bay Community Foundation, the program establishes important professional opportunities, networks and critical visibility for emerging artists, while supporting artists who assume risk and pose challenges through their work. Participation in the program is based on nomination by the top art professionals in the region. From over 100 nominations, four artists are selected based on reviews by a curatorial panel and studio visits with independent curators.

2014 Artists: Ben Bigelow, Rhonda Holberton, Ehren Tool, Cate White

2013 Artists: Jacqueline Kiyomi Gordon, Ernest Jolly, Ali Naschke-Messing, Rosa M. Valdez

2012 Artists: Amy M. Ho, Cybele Lyle, Lordy Rodriguez, Wafaa Yasin

2011 Artists: Michelle Blade, Chris Fraser, Taro Hattori, Weston Teruya

Visual Arts Funding provided in part by: