A Living Room

An ambitious group show conceived and curated by gallery artist Joe Ferriso: A Living Room assembles over twenty artists working at the intersection of aesthetics, functionality, domesticity, and craft. Featured artists include Jonathan Anzalone (Portland, OR), Kim Bennett (Oakland, CA), Takming Chuang (San Francisco, CA), Mark Dutcher (Sea Ranch, CA), Veva Edelson (Sonoma, CA), Joe Ferriso (Sebastopol, CA), Johanna Friedman (Los Angeles, CA), Linda Geary (Oakland, CA), J Grabowski (New York, NY), Jiang Heng (Guangzhou, China), Ava Koohbor (San Francisco, CA), Terri Loewenthal (Oakland, CA), Amy Nathan (Oakland, CA), Duncan Oja (San Francisco, CA), Ben Peterson (Oakland, CA), Steuart Pittman (Oakland, CA), Sally Scopa (Bellingham, Washington), Vince Skelly (Los Angeles, CA), Jamie Sterling Pitt (Houston, Texas), and Fu Zhongwang (Wuhan, China). The works assembled in A Living Room all express a thoughtful connection to the material. Utilizing fabric, wood, stone, metal, light, and color, the pieces seek to transcend their materiality and attract close examination, touch, and contemplation. These contemporary artifacts situate themselves in A Living Room and participate in life activities—works to Illuminate, support, and reflect upon. The selected artists all have creative practices that draw inspiration from their environment and community. Many of the pseudo-domestic vignettes are built on the premise of conversation, where, like a living room, guests are invited, and conversations are sparked. In this case, the artworks are the guests, where one work of art speaks to another, and their combined dialogue generates a sense of accessibility outside of a more restrictive environment of a museum or gallery setting. The ensuing collision of mediums, methodology, and context produces a multilingual dialogue that expands the scope of the exhibition to inquire: What makes a space feel alive? This collection aims to demonstrate that, beyond the intention and love of the people that inhabit a space, the art, furniture, lighting, and architecture all contribute to a sense of life. This exhibition, A Living Room, is an experiment to activate the gallery with an assembly of objects that are all functional and serve to conjure a sense of vitality.