The “Front Office Gallery” at sfclayworks is pleased to announce our new show:
A Waiting Room for Sensation, Light, and Permission: Recent work by Francisco Gomez.
The show will open on January 26, 2019, and will be in the gallery until February 23, 2019. Please stop in for one of the events and meet the artist!
Opening Reception 1/26, 4-6pm
Closing Reception 2/23, 4-6pm
Besides the Opening and Closing dates, if you would like to see the show you can stop into sfclayworks during regular studio hours. Please ring the bell as we keep the front door locked at all times.
Monday-closed
Tuesday 5-9
Wednesday-Friday 5-9
Saturday-Sunday 12-5
Though sfclayworks primary artistic medium is clay, from time to time, we love to bring in artists whose work offers the opportunity to expand the horizons of the public and of our clay community members. Like everything in life, each new experience is an opportunity to change and shape our creative perspective.
In addition to the artist statement, we have added a bit of history of below.
Artist Statement:
My work is self-referential and tends toward the autobiographical. I utilize aspects of memory and nostalgia to look at things around me in relation to the past. The elements are not necessarily fixed or preconceived. The pictures are caption-like…imagistic, expressing some content, but more like signifiers, which allude to a place beyond themselves; a snippet of passing existence, dispersed, but persisting in memory.
In this context, I refer you to a quote by Luis Buñuel, the Spanish filmmaker, from his autobiography, My Last Sigh. He recalls a visit with his aged mother who no longer recognizes him. He ruminates about memory “…You have to begin to lose your memory, if only in bits and pieces, to realize that memory is what makes our lives. Life without memory is no life at all, just as intelligence without the possibility of expression is not really intelligence. Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling even our action. Without it we are nothing.”
In making the work, I source raw imagistic material, which I process with drawing, paint, and collage. My selections usually have some connection to my family or me, but not exclusively. I use collage and paper as a medium because it allows for improvisation and chance. I usually begin with an image or object, be it copier generated, photographed, printed or drawn and react to it with paint, pencil and glue. I then rework: cut, glue, more paint, re-photograph, re-collage, scan, print and rework. I peel, sandwich and erase to create image. My pictures have aspects or elements that are more prominent while others recede, which as I work, may constantly change and shift.
Francisco Gomez
January 8, 2019
More about the artist:
Francisco J. Gomez
San Francisco, CA
Francisco Gomez is a native San Franciscan, but who lived for two years with maternal grandparents in Guadalajara, Jalisco Mexico (age 3-5). He attended catholic grammar school and high school in San Francisco. He graduated with a bachelor’s in arts, in Fine and Studio Arts from San Francisco State University.
In 1989 Mr. Gomez began showing in Dia de los Muretos exhibition curated by René Yañez, a well-regarded assemblage artist, performance artist, curator and community activist. The work focused on remembrances of friends and family members who have died to help support their spiritual journey. This activity has generally informed his other work.
Professionally, Mr. Gomez worked supporting various commissions, committees and boards at the State Bar of California, ultimately as The Director, Executive Office Programs (DEOP), serving under the direction of the Executive Director/CEO/Secretary or designee.
Mr. Gomez has served on the Board of Directors of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) since 2011, as Chair since 2013.
Mr. Gomez has two daughters, Luz and Luna.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts (Painting), San Francisco State University, 1984
EXHIBITIONS
Miráme: 21st century portraits for Latino/a America, La Galeria Posada, Sacramento, CA, May 2011, curated by Ella Diaz
Rooms for the Dead, SomArts, San Francisco, CA, November 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009, curated by René Yañez
25 years of Heart and Struggle – Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, 25th Anniversary Exhibition, October 2003, curated by René Yañez
Day of the Dead, Yerba Buena Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, November 1998, curated by René Yañez
Labyrinth for the Dead, Mission Cultural Center and New College, San Francisco, CA, November 1997, curated by René Yañez
Rooms for the Dead, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, November 1996, curated by René Yañez
The Luggage Store Gallery Annual Juried Show, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA, December 1995, juried by Carlos Villa & René Yañez
Rooms for the Dead, New College, San Francisco, CA, November 1995, curated by René Yañez,
The Book Show, Space 743, San Francisco, CA, August 1995
The Luggage Store Gallery Annual Juried Show, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA, December 1994, juried by Renie Pritikin & Laurie Lazer
Rooms for the Dead, Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA, November 1994, curated by René Yañez & Renie Pritikin
The Book Show, The Clay Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA, August 1994
Storing Up Forget, Funded through a grant from The San Francisco Foundation (retail space window installation), San Francisco, CA, April 1994
Corazon del Barrio, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, February 1994
Rooms for the Dead, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, November 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, curated by René Yañez
Portals for the Dead, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, November 1989, curated by René Yañez
Dia de los Muertos, Mission Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA, November 1988, curated by René Yañez
LECTURES/PUBLICATIONS
Guest Lecturer, Dominican College, April 1996
Guest Lecturer, Dominican College, April 1995
Revista Parallax, March 1994
GRANTS/AWARDS
San Francisco Foundation Start-up Grant, March 1994
A couple more examples of Francisco’s work:
We look forward to seeing you in the studio!
