Opening: Ancient Wisdom Exhibition Comes to di Rosa SF with New Date (Jan 22) & New Works
Ken's and my Getty PST ART exhibition "Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time & Technology," that opened in LA last fall, comes to di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art SF with new works
The opening date of Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time & Technology at di Rosa SF has moved to Thursday, Jan 22 to coincide with a new art fair, Atrium, hosted by Minnesota Street Project. Exciting news related to that soon.
RSVP for the opening here. Thursday, Jan 22, 6 to 8pm.
This exhibition has been such a journey, starting in 2022, when Ken and I were approached by the curator Selma Holo to submit a proposal for the Getty PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative for the Skirball in LA. While we had co-written films and done several art installations together, this was our first comprehensive museum show. It was co-curated by Selma Holo & Vicki Phung Smith and opened last fall. It was an exhilarating experience.
In this expanded version of the exhibition from LA, there will be new works, and Twyla Ruby, Curator of Exhibitions and Programs at di Rosa has been selecting artworks from each of Ken’s and my individual body of work, as well as pieces from the di Rosa collection in conversation with our show, for an adjacent exhibition called The Fullness of Time. We are honored to be working with di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, which has the foremost collection of Northern California art—and we are loving working with Twyla and Kate Eilertsen, Executive Director & Chief Curator of di Rosa.
Below, we’re finishing our Abstract Expression sculpture, our take on the history of science.
Many of the ideas in Ancient Wisdom for a Future Ecology: Trees, Time & Technology are inspired by the Bay Area: from the ancient technology of reading time through the trees on the timeline I saw growing up near Muir Woods, to Ken’s work in art and technology. To collaborate on each piece was like turning one long conversation we’ve had for nearly 30 years in our marriage into physical artworks. To now have it open at di Rosa’s new location in San Francisco with new works during SF Art Week feels like a wonderful homecoming.
In addition to the opening reception on Thursday, Jan 22, 6 to 8pm, RSVP here we’ll be giving an artist talk and tour of the work sharing our creative process and then we will be in conversation with Twyla Ruby on Saturday, Jan 24 at 11am PT. RSVP here.
Big gratitude to the whole team at di Rosa and exhibition sponsors Piraye Yurttas Beim, PhD of Eve’s Ark, & Dr. Nancy O’Reilly of Women Connect4Good, the Skirball Cultural Center and the Getty Museum.
Art Review Highlights - Ancient Wisdom
“A mind-bending installation...” —David S. Rubin
“...This exhibition delivered insight, knowledge, new ways of seeing, experiencing, and enhancing the health of our cities.... its works and the ideas animating it are deep, large and expansive.” —Tom Teicholz
“This exhibition is a rare combination of exquisite craftsmanship and dedicated scholarship…” —Lita Barrie
“..The artists harness the beauty and power of trees.” —Jessica Gelt and Carren Jao
“The artists transform centuries of tree rings into a stunning exploration of humanity’s evolving relationship with nature and technology.” —Vittoria Benzine
Two Events in December
While I’m back in the studio preparing for the exhibition, I’m doing two events this week that were planned a while back. This Wednesday night Dec 3 at 7 pm, at the Berkeley City Club, I’ll give a talk on my journey from studying trees, filmmaking and science at UC Berkeley to how it all led me to what I am doing today.
Then this Saturday Dec 6 it’s the 20th anniversary screening of Ken’s and my Sundance film The Tribe at Manny’s in SF co-presented by Reboot and Value Culture. Vanessa Hidary will be flying from NYC to perform and Rabbi Sydney Mintz will moderate the discussion. Will be a great Jewy night. Get tix. Co-writing The Tribe was Ken’s and my first collaboration in 2005.
Much further away, but I know there are readers here who are in India, my new film We Are Here on the feminist history tree ring sculpture will be playing at the Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival on Dec 14.
Looking forward to seeing those of you locally in person soon!
A Short & Sweet List of Things to Check Out→
I don’t have time to do my normal full scale Breakfast @ Tiffany’s Newsletter curation with images, descriptions, and why I love them, but here’s my quick list:
NYC, LA & SF
Just returned from NYC with my family for Thanksgiving and highly recommend the following: Shmoné (Michelin-starred) to eat; the renovated Jewish Museum shows Anish Kapoor: Early Works and Identity, Culture and Community are both fantastic; Brooklyn Museum shows Christian Marclay: Doors and Everyday Rebellions: Collection Conversations; The Othership, a 21st-century schvitz in Flatiron—the design and experience are sublime; and Man Ray: When Objects Dream at the Met. In LA, go see Suffs, the poweful Broadway musical about women’s suffrage now traveling. In SF check out Art + Water new art space; Shack15 Art Prize winners, Bread and Roses, FOG Design+Art, SF Art Week,and SFMOMA’s Alejandro Cartagena retrospective. There was a moment when artists Lily Kwong and Anoushka Mirchandani and I were all on the same floor of my studio building in Sausalito and spent time together. Love that we’re all birthing shows this January. Don’t miss Ahna Girshick’s See Through Machine which offers a glimpse through the lens of AI on view at TIAT, a pop-up art space in Union Square. This spring, save the date for Livelong Women’s Health Summit April 17-18 with editorial direction by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt, and featuring great speakers including Jane Fonda. And Ayin Press, this super-cool new publishing venture, will be at book fairs, festivals and holiday markets in New York and the Bay Area; check out the full schedule here.
ANYWHERE
Tina Sharkey moderated a brilliant conversation with Yves Behar for Cultural Index for Tishman Speyer organized by Susan Boster. Tina & Yves both were amazing and Tina’s moderation was like experiencing intellectual tango. I watched it live and it’s now on YouTube here. Check out the NYTimes short Op Doc on “Building an Algorithm that Doesn’t Rot Your Brain.” January 24 is The Great Reset, Outward Bound’s new initiative to inspire 10 million offline hours, and the Global Day of Unplugging.
Pre-order Rebecca Goldstein’s timely and incredible book The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us. I read an early draft. She is brilliant and I am so glad it will finally be published January 13.
VOLUNTEER
While in Manhattan, Ken, Blooma and I just volunteered in the Lillian Wald Food Pantry in the Lower East Side that Odessa is coordinating for her year of public service. It felt so good to put together and then directly hand bags of food to people in need. If you are in NYC and you want to volunteer there, there are 2-hour shifts available. You can learn more here. If you want to donate, you can do so here.
Big gratitude still flowing from last week for a lot of down time with family, friends, food and art.
Love,
Tiffany (and Rosie, who is supervising all the work at the studio now that I’m back).
