Artist : Tara de la Garza
Viewing Dates : June 12th – July 5th 2020
(please maintain proper six-foot social distancing while wearing a facial cover)
About the Installation
As we collectively grapple with our multiple crises, artist de la Garza took this time to reconsideration of her installation. This allowed her to think more deeply about racial & environmental justice with hopes of creating a community dialogue through her artwork at the Art Kiosk. We will be announcing a virtual speaking event that aims to bring together artists and advocates for social justice.
Between social justice and social distancing, Public Art can be an important forum at this unique time in history. We feel blessed to have the Art Kiosk in Redwood City’s Courthouse Square and understand our responsibility. As quarantines are loosened, the Art Kiosk offers art installations for contemplation and connectivity in the heart of Silicon Valley.
Environmental justice and stewardship of the planet are central to de la Garza’s art practice. She reveals the stories embedded in our collective consumption, specifically of single use plastic. She delves into the archaeology of contemporary waste materials. The artist states, “The work becomes time capsules, little stories of our consumption” while she hopes to elevate consumer plastic waste as an art medium.
Her minimalist forms contain a maximalist aesthetic of excess. Textures fashioned from the detritus of our community and molding into concrete cylinders and lights. Influenced by minimalist and constructivist artists such as Dan Flavin, Eva Hesse, Vladmir Tatlin, and contemporary artists Rachel Whiteread and Eva Rothschild, de la Garza’s ‘Monumental’ projects continue a practice of reusing materials and referencing modernist forms.
At this fraught time, the artist asks, “How does one exist in this once in a lifetime pandemic, let alone try and connect and tell stories with a community?” We are thrilled to reopen the Art Kiosk with such a visionary and timely artist. Inspired with our goal of keeping our viewers safe, Tara will create a virtual discussion and closing via zoom on Saturday June 27th at 6 PM.
About the Artist
Tara de la Garza studied Fine Art at Curtin University in Western Australia and is currently in a resident studio program at Cubberley in Palo Alto.
De la Garza’s work is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Watson Library, NYC. She has had two solo exhibitions at The Lodge Gallery in NYC. She has also exhibited extensively throughout the US in museums and galleries such as Mass MOCA, Chicago Art Institute, Cornell University, San Diego Art Institute, Palo Alto Arts Center, Palace of Fine Arts SF and SF Design Week.
De la Garza has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant through Chashama.
About the Art Kiosk
The Art Kiosk aims to bring thought-provoking installation art to Redwood City and the Bay Area through nine month-long exhibitions during 2020. Artists from the region and around the world have been invited to realize their ambitious site-specific artworks – often with the assistance of local volunteers, artists, and vendors. The initiative was conceived and curated by Lance M. Fung. Donated project management of the exhibition series is provided by Fung Collaboratives. The Redwood City Improvement Association funds the initiative for our second year of 2020. Redwood City acts as the logistical partner and its Civic Cultural Commission awarded small grant to support the efforts of participating Redwood City based artists. Please drop by for a visit 24/7 at 2208 Broadway, Redwood City.
For more information, schedule of upcoming exhibitions, artist talks, and all other events please visit www.fungcollaboratives.org and www.taradelagarza.com
Fung Collaboratives Art Shows
The Art Kiosk aims to bring thought provoking Installation / Public Art to Redwood City, CA and the Bay Area through a series f five week-long exhibitions, throughout 2020. The initiative began in January 2019 as a nonprofit partnership between Fung Collaboratives as the curator and organizer, Redwood City as the location and logistical partner, and the Redwood City Improvement Association (RCAI) as the primary funder. Artists from the region and around the world were invited to realize their ambitious site-specific commissions in 2019. Each artist has researched the City, it’s history, and residents to conceive their new temporary installation so that each exhibition is meaningful and relevant to the viewers.
In this second year of exhibitions, the curatorial focus has shifted exclusively to the Bay Area providing a much needed exhibition venue for the talented artists that call the Bay Area home. The artists are challenged to identify, react and respond to the local environment for the inspiration of their site-specific commissions. Each exhibition promises to be thoughtful and engaging and is free to the public.
We would like to recognize the Redwood City Improvement Association as the sole funder the 2020 exhibition series along with the continued and crucial support of Redwood City.
The Art Kiosk is located at 2208 Broadway in Redwood City, CA
