January 18 — April 5, 2020

The viewer starts the journey by navigating through a hanging, ethereal, deck of cards, the suits themselves watermarks in hand-cast paper. There are 54 cards, to encounter by chance. Near the back of the deck, things start to change, turning from white to blue to brown, landing the observer in a salle d’attente with peculiar baroque costume elements backlit by tapestries of warm browns and azurian blues. One rough, yet ruffled, turns slowly in front of the other – stately and arrogant. Both are attended by curious courtiers. The spectator is invited to find the equation: the balance between the opposites, the message and the medium, hard versus soft, before returning back through the maze.  https://tinyurl.com/vcakhf5 read more

Point of Convergence was developed to celebrate the researchers at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. While the I. M. Pei building provides an immense, inspirational setting, with soaring skylights, moving shadows, and obtuse angles in every room, it pales in comparison to the importance of the research being done in its laboratories. In fact, the building could fall and the trees could move back in, but the work of the scientists would live on.

To see the installation, you can contact me and I will make arrangements through the Buck Institute.

THE EXHIBITION

 

September 5 through December 6, 2014

 

Water Paper Stone: A Walk-Through Book by Judy O’Shea opens at San Francisco Center for the Book on September 5. The installation celebrates the experiences Judy writes about in her memoir Water Paper Stone. Art from 18 of the French and American artists who participated in the artist-in-residence Judy and her husband hosted in Plaisance, France are featured:

 

Judy O’Shea :: Chantal Armagnac :: Carole Beadle :: Richard Berger :: Kay Bradner :: Bernard Cauhape :: Catherine Choron-Baix :: Michel Cubilie :: Sylvie Gravellard :: Mariana Goodheart :: Francois Grand-Clement :: Charles Hobson :: Michel Hulliard :: Carolyn Miller :: Mike O’Shea :: Dan Pillers :: Jean-Michel Pret :: Inge Roberts :: Alice Wingwall

 

THE BOOK

Judy O’Shea recently published a memoir of her experience running an artist-in-residence program in France for 17 years (see www.water-paper-stone.com (link is external)). The heart of Judy and her husband Mike’s residence program was the group of artists, American and French, who came together to work at La Pilande Basse, an 18th-century watermill in the Aveyron region of southern France that Judy and Mike restored as a base for art.

 

THE INSTALLATION

Judy came up with the idea to create an artists’ book version of her memoir as a full-scale exhibition at the San Francisco Center for the Book. The scale of the exhibition would allow the viewer to wander through an enormous book: 15-foot covers, a 20-foot spine, and pages hanging from the rafters. The primary structure of the book would be constructed with paper that Judy makes by hand at her Inverness, California studio. Judy invited 17 artists (10 American and 7 French) to contribute the “pages” for this special artists’ book. The pages are as varied as the artists, but are all originally conceived for the site, and have a special dialogue that comes from collective experiences.

 

FREE PUBLIC LECTURE

by Judy O’Shea

October 19, 2014

2:00 PM

Koret Auditorium

San Francisco Public Library, Main Library

We are days away from opening the installation of the walk-through book at the San Francisco Center for the Book. In advance of that, I’d like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the many talented artists who have contributed their work to this grandiose undertaking. I’m humbled to be entrusted with their work and privileged to have the opportunity to bring it together into this installation for all to see. Please come experience their work at Water Paper Stone: A Walk-Through Book at the San Francisco Center for the Book from Sept. 5 through Nov. 30, 2014.

 

Artists contributing to Water Paper Stone: A Walk-Through Book:

 

Bay Area Artists:

Carole Beadle, Professor, California College of the Arts

Richard Berger, Professor, San Francisco Art Institute

Kay Bradner, Book artist, Painter, Print maker

Marianna Goodheart, Professor, College of Marin

Charles Hobson, Professor Emeritus, San Francisco Art Institute

Carolyn Miller, Poet and Painter

Judy O’Shea, Installation artist, Writer

Mike O’Shea, Book artist, Painter, Photographer

Dan Pillers, Winner of San Francisco Art Institute Master’s Award

Inge Roberts, Ceramic Artist

Alice Wingwall, Photographer, Sculptor

 

French Artists:

Catherine Choron-Baix, Documentarist, Anthropologist specializing in art

Michel Julliard, Painter, Mail art

François Grand-Clément, Performance artist, Sculptor, Musician, Writer

Chantal Armagnac, Writer

Jean Michel Prêt, Painter, Ceramic sculptor

Slyvie Gravellard, Ceramic artist

Bernard Cauhapé, Artist, Screen writer

Michel Cubilié, Painter, Paper art