One of Three New Works Juried In

Juried into Close-Up and Reflection

“Interstitial” in NCWCA “Portals”

2023 Curatorial Project

Creating a show takes quite a bit of planning. This exhibition is close to my heart, titled “Third Generation: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Today”, I invited Catherine Merrill, sculptor, ceramic artist, teacher, and curator to co-curate this exhibition with me this past winter at SFWA. Here’s a newly published article on this subject: https://www.artandantiquesmag.com/making-the-rules/

NEWS BITS

“Tapestry” went to Burning Man!

SFWA Curatorial Projects & Exhibitions

I’m taking a break from my role as SFWA’s Exhibitions Director after five years (whew!) of planning and writing our show themes and inviting our jurors.

I’m continuing through Jan 2024 as the Chair of the SFWA/UCSF Serenity Art Series, with my co-chair Jean Brodie, as we move into our 6th show in The Center for Women’s Health on Sutter Street in SF. We curate each show of five SFWA women artists and can visit floors 3-5 now. Our next group of SFWA women artists will install on Sept. 15. Look for the announcement of that reception to come soon.

COLLECTIVE BIENNIAL SHOW

The Invisibility Collective Biennial Invitational: "Thresholds of Liminality"* December 10, 2022 – January 28, 2023, Radian Gallery, 440 Brannan St, San Francisco. Artists include The Invisibility Collective members Susan R. Kirshenbaum, Rhiannon Evans MacFadyen, Samira Shaheen, Christopher M. Tandy, and invited artists Joseph Abbati, Vin Seaman, Allan Rosenfield, Rell Rushin, Na Omi Judy Shintani, and Leif Larson.

In 2020, The Invisibility Collective presented their first invitational exhibition: Seen × Unseen at Radian. In their second exhibition: Thresholds of Liminality, artists explore the un- or under-perceived process of transition and the moments at which something might happen, cease to happen, take effect, or become true. Acting as revealers, guides, mapmakers, documenters, whisperers, and companions, the artists in this exhibition bear witness to these thresholds, centering experiences whose great meaning is undetectable by those not within the experience of transition.

MORE INFO AND PRESS RELEASE

*Liminal: a sensory threshold, barely perceptible or capable of eliciting a response. Liminality: a liminal state of transition between one stage and the next, especially between major stages in one’s life. In this exhibition, works in various media explore those unwitnessed or imperceptible states and experiences of transformation. 

SLIDESHOW TO THE RIGHT

NOW SHOWING

Botanical Figures at City Art Coop

“Pen and Pencil” at Arc Gallery

The Drawing Group

My long-time drawing is having a show at a new gallery, 2121 Art Space. Here I am (below) with artists Alex Rosmarin and Barbara Tonnesen at the opening reception in June 2023.

Women and Nature Series: Wide and Narrow Formats

Photographer’s Eye: Honorary Award

CURATING SHOWS

I have found myself curating a handful of exhibitions these last few years. It may have started with the planning involved in my Invisibility Collective group shows, or I could attribute the beginnings to my work over the last several years as the Exhibitions Director for the SFWA Gallery. More recently I’ve added USCF’s Art Series, Serenity to my volunteer curatorial work which I share with co-chair, Jean Brodie, on behalf of SFWA.

And I just co-curated an independent Bay Area group show that opens on April 8 at SFWA, “Third Generation: The Bay Area Figurative Movement Today”.

SERENITY ART SERIES AT UCSF

SFWA began a new curatorial partnership with UCSF Center of Excellence for Women’s Health at the Women’s Health Center in SF in 2021. I’m the Chair for the Serenity series.

We exhibit three times a year, showing works by five SFWA artists, one per floor, in the Women’s Health Center.

Our first show opened in January 2022. SFWA selected member artists were: Valerie Corbin, Marie Massey, Susan Proehl, and myself. Learn more: https://sfwomenartists.org/serenity/ and https://womenshealth.ucsf.edu/coe/serenity-i-am-resilient

SERENITY RECEPTIONS

We had a lovely Closing Reception of our Jan-May 2023 Serenity Art Series curated group exhibition, Radiant. There were five artists on five floors: Barbara McLain, Deena Smith, Chandana Srinath, Melissa Park, and Tiffany Conway. This is our first reception since Covid began. UCSF Women’s Health Center, 2356 Sutter St, SF 94115

There’s a May-Sept show on now (come and see!) and a Sept-Jan ‘24 beginning on Sept 15th. Look for the next reception on the SFWA website.

OPEN STUDIO SHOWS

PHOTO GALLERY OF EVENTS

THE DRAWING ROOM GALLERY

SERENITY ART SERIES AT UCSF

SFWA began a new curatorial partnership with UCSF Center of Excellence for Women’s Health at the Women’s Health Center in SF. I’m chairing the Serenity Exhibition Series, with co-chair, Jean Brodie. Our first show opened in January 2022 with five women artist members on five floors. SFWA selected member artists are: Valerie Corbin, The Marie Massey, Susan Proehl, and myself. There are three shows per year. Learn more: https://sfwomenartists.org/serenity/ and https://womenshealth.ucsf.edu/coe/serenity-i-am-resilient

RECENT SERIES: PRINTED ON PAPER, MOUNTED ON WOOD

THREE LIMITED EDITION BARBIE BOOKS & CARDS

Barbie on the Cusp: Japan, Zine #3, This is a signed limited edition $25 all inclusive with shipping. See my photo setups of Barbie in Japan in this ongoing zine series. I have Barbie art cards too.

THE NAKED TRUTH, A SOCIAL MEDIA PROJECT

As a figurative artist who is used to drawing live models in person on a regular basis, the pandemic led me to discover new ways to satisfy my need to keep up my drawing while supporting the life model community. I did not expect to enjoy drawing virtually but it turns out that I love it – and as a bonus, it’s like virtual travel too, since I’ve been attending sessions held all around the world.

Model-led sessions are a fairly recent development in my experience, but drawing groups have been a part of my art practice for a long time. Both types of groups are helping models survive under impossible circumstances. In addition to zoom model drawing sessions I attend my regular drawing group virtually. Twice a week I draw fellow artists heads and hands as we take turns posing. As a result of these Covid-inspired virtual sessions, I’ve gotten to know more artists, see their newly created work, meet models, and maintain my art practice. At the same time I was discovering the world of virtual drawing I was feeling a greater need to connect artists to delve into a subject that has plagued me for a long time, and people seemed to be more available than usual. I began a series of bi-coastal conversations and together we formed The Invisibility Collective, which organized a year-end gallery exhibition in San Francisco. These powerful and enduring outcomes wouldn’t have happened without the pandemic. Read an update about this show on my Summer Blog: Lefty.

CHERRY PITS LAUNCHES PRODUCTS

NOW YOU CAN ORDER DIRECT FROM TWO ONLINE SHOPS: REDBUBBLE

AND SPOONFLOWER. I am always adding more new art!

It’s the new way to dress! See many version of my art for sale on textiles, wallpaper, & merchandise @ SPOONFLOWER  and @ REDBUBBLE

A YEAR AGO: 2020 FIRST QUARTER

(100 YEARS AGO?)

MORE SHOWS

Until Sheltering in Place (SIP) kicked in on March 16, there was a ton of art activity and planning for 2020. In January there were art shows and Art Week in SF. I attended both big art fairs - Untitled and FOG Art & Design. It was a great dose of international art and design which just might hold me until my next art fair. Now they are all postponed!

THE MISSION KISS PROJECTS 1 & 2

On Sept 20, 2020, “The Mission Kiss” took place, a public art project & art walk - with over 100 artists and their heart art (SF). @themissionkiss

City Art Coop Gallery (SF) - Square but not Square was my exhibition at the group’s September show. | Video below: Ken Kobre

2020 (the year that wasn’t) HIGHLIGHTS

I founded and launched The Invisibility Collective, a national art-for-social-change collaboration. We are working on multiple projects and our first major exhibition is underway for next month! Save the dates: December 5 & 12 at Radian Gallery in San Francisco.

I was invited to become an ambassador, or as they call me, a “goddess” for a women’s group based in Catalonia, Grace of no Age. As a Creative Coach I write articles about relevant issues around creativity, self-expression, art, aging, and womanhood. In 2022 I’ve stepped away.

GRACE OF NO AGE

I am called a goddess by this group. You could also say I’m an ambassador. We are creating a sisterhood, an international community of women who are helping each other in a non-judgmental arena by sharing their own varied experiences and discoveries. A platform where women of any age that are looking for support will find resources to help them feel better both mentally and physically.

Here’s the link to my first article on this site titled Invisible Women Rising. I have a two more stories out now.

ART GREETING CARDS, SMALL PRINTS, BOOKS

BLACK AND WHITE WORLD

MY PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK

My first photo art book has arrived! This charming little hard cover book is full of my black and white photography shot in 2019. Black and White World is 6” x 6” with 31 pages of photos in a limited edition of 10. Get your signed copy for $35 (inclusive). Order it directly from me. Email: srkirshenbaum@gmail.com

OPEN STUDIOS 2020 & MY STUDIO

I’m back at my studio and starting bigger projects there. I can’t wait to have a live model there with me at a safe distance. Right now it’s just me in a good-sized space including a gallery, in a fairly empty commercial (wholesale, to the trade) building - the Sobel Design Building in SF. My space is large and empty enough for short, in-person distanced visits. I DID have a few studio visits in October and it was wonderful to invite people in to see my space and a great deal of my work.

DRAWING SESSIONS DURING SHELTERING

DRAWING GROUP - HEADS ‘N HANDS

Two nights a week I meet virtually with John Goodman’s drawing group to talk and draw. Some of us have been drawing together for decades! At some point I asked for us to pose for each other and work on hands, which turned into heads and hands and has settled into a routine of taking turns with 7-minute poses.

DRAWING OUTDOORS

The drawing group met outdoors twice so far during sheltering to draw a model. We hired a model each time to pose for us in a backyard with room to keep our distance. Lucky the smokey SF air was not too bad.