/Galleries
Conversation 8: Harry Dodge and Alicia McCarthy
Event WebsiteAbout
This exhibition marks the eighth iteration of the Conversation series launched in 2005 that features a substantive body of work by a local artist alongside works by another artist based outside of the Bay Area. The intention of the series is to allow for a closer look at two artists’ practices as well as to connect dialogues happening locally among artists with those happening across the globe. Past pairings have included artists Farah Al Qasimi (New York) & Marcel Pardo Ariza (San Francisco); Jason Hanasik (San Francisco) & Berndnaut Smilde (Amsterdam); Marcel Dzama (New York) & Alice Shaw (San Francisco); and Oliver Herring (New York) and Tim Sullivan (San Francisco).
Conversation 8 brings together the work of Alicia McCarthy (Bay Area) and Harry Dodge (Los Angeles), two longtime friends with close ties to San Francisco.
SF/Arts Curator Insight
Oakland-born, Mission School artist Alicia McCarthy's drawings and paintings often remind me of vibrating crystal forms or knots of positive energy. They loop and glow, encouraging my body to mirror the shapes found on paper or canvas, sweeping my soul into unusual motion. McCarthy's LA-based pal, Harry Dodge manifests these same emotions in three dimensions. Cast bronze, spray paint, newspaper headline, galaxy, wooden box, periscope. The sculptures are all over the place and yet self-assuredly contained. One piece tops orange metal legs with a driftwood head evoking a giant squid and a guffaw. The artists' "conversation" is like stepping into a babbling brook. Joyful noise.
Mark Taylor
SF/Arts Curator
San Francisco Arts Commission