Timeshare

Liz Magor

June 22 – July 6, 2019

The 500 Capp Street Foundation is pleased to present TIMESHARE, a solo exhibition by Liz Magor. Featuring new and previously made work, this will be the Canadian artist’s first West Coast institutional solo exhibition.

For the exhibition TIMESHARE, Liz Magor occupies 500 Capp Street, as a short-term tenant. Her artwork bumps David Ireland’s material world out of position, pushes him aside, and does so without apology. Through a series of spatial considerations, Magor’s objects and arrangements flip-flop, provoking questions about beauty, uncertainty, confusion, digression, and doubt. Magor complicates this inquiry further by presenting no fixed answers; she would rather contradict one explanation, while offering the next. Her artworks exist in this ambiguous space where the unwillingness to settle on one meaning or voice is extremely valued. 

At the entrance to Magor’s exhibition is One Bedroom Apartment, (1996 – 2019) a crowded grouping of furniture and household items clustered together, as if someone were moving in or out. As familiar as this setting appears, something is off. Searching through the objects for clarity, we locate a sculptural anchor: sheltered underneath a cluttered table is a dog, or the appearance of a dog, a white three dimensional object, lifelike, yet stylized. Magor offers us a moment of empathy, allowing representation to become more tranquil than real. One Bedroom Apartment, sets a transitional tone for the exhibition—the objects in One Bedroom Apartment are taken from 500 Capp Street itself—so, rooms within the house are bare, furniture is covered by moving blankets, turned backwards, or left askew. Deciphering where the art begins and ends becomes complicated. Magor has collapsed the interior of 500 Capp Street; is the inside going out, or is the outside coming in? 

Among other artworks included in the exhibition, two wall-mounted sculptures incorporating damaged and discarded wool blankets are installed on the first and second floors. In these works, Magor continues the marks left from the blankets’ previous lives, highlighting areas of disruption with wax, paint, and sewing thread. This treatment parallels David Ireland’s polyurethaned walls, emphasizing the history of the object. By way of Magor’s attention, the blankets assume a new self-assurance, simultaneously referencing and enlarging their origin. Hung on the wall and covered with patterned cellophane, these objects complicate expectations of painting and sculpture. 

There is an exceptional technical mastery present throughout Magor’s sculpture—though this craft seems to be beside the point in the conversations she raises. In this way, Magor’s impeccable touch allows the sculptures to operate as believable objects, but also as surreal doubles that live in a separate world. Formal ll, (2012) sits alone in the empty bedroom: a wooden chair draped with a single garment bag cast in platinum-cure silicone rubber. Long Table (ashtray), (2006–2018) and Long Table (wrappers), (2008–2018), both constructed from polymerized gypsum, are wedged between Ireland’s office doorways, acting as a display for a smaller object, as well as rerouting a viewer’s path through the house. Leather Palm, (2019) resembles a grey leather glove, removed, and temporarily left behind. The glove is an accurate reproduction, cast in polymerized gypsum, although it feels very far from real. On top of the actual cast is a real cigarette sitting on a tiny metal stand, it appears forgotten—ash has fallen into the palm, and a faint hint of cigarette odor is still present. The glove becomes a pedestal for the cigarette, as well as a gentle reminder of time slowly passing.

For the past four decades, Magor has been committed to a dialogue about our material world. Magor works subjectively and usually with objects that do not carry strong cultural or personal signifiers. Combining found objects with cast elements, Magor investigates issues of authenticity and representation, blurring the space between reality and simulation. Unpredictable, imaginative, and generous, there is a slowness to Magor’s work, an uncanniness celebrated by letting materials and associations reveal themselves over time.

Liz Magor lives and works in Vancouver. In 2017, her work was the subject of traveling survey at the Kunstverein in Hamburg, Migros Museum, Zurich, and MAMAC, Nice. Recent solo exhibitions of her work include: BLOWOUT, co-organized by the Renaissance Society and Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts at Harvard University (2019), Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry – le Crédac, Paris (2016), Musée d’art Contemporain de Montréal, Montreal (2016), the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (2015), Peep-hole, Milan (2015), Presentation House Gallery, Vancouver (2014), and Triangle France, Marseilles (2013). In addition, she has had solo exhibitions at Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2008), the Power Plant, Toronto (2003) and the Vancouver Art Gallery (2002). Magor participated in Documenta 8, Kassel (1987), and the 41st Venice Biennale, Venice (1984).

There is no such thing as a perfect circle

Felipe Dulzaides

March 7 – December 9, 2021

View Gallery

In There is no such thing as a perfect circle, Felipe Dulzaides explores subjects of circularity, cultural displacement, chance, dislocation, relocation, and the relationship between architecture and public spaces. 

Dulzaides, who now resides in Havana, lived in San Francisco from 1998 to 2010. He and Ireland met while Dulzaides was a student at the San Francisco Art Institute, where Dulzaides received a MFA in 2001 and taught for over a decade. He has since returned to Cuba, where he has  developed Centro Bahia, an architectural restoration project and interdisciplinary art space. There is no such thing as a perfect circle will highlight works reflecting on his friendship with Ireland, including a selection of mixed media works from his earlier work Full Circle and a mixed media installation documenting Centro Bahia

Dulzaides is a recipient of numerous awards including the Rome Prize (2010), Cintas Fellowship, Gwangju Biennial, California Biennial, and Havana Biennial. His interdisciplinary practice includes installation, photography, video, and marks on paper, and he has had numerous international solo exhibitions.

Public Opening

Saturday, March 7, 2020

12-5pm

The House opens with newly installed David Ireland works from the late 70s and early 80s, including his newly restored copper window.

There is no such thing as a perfect circle 
Featuring works by Cuban-born artist Filipe Dulzaides
March 7-June 27, 2020

Special performance by Jasmine Perfume, 1pm

As a tribute to Dulzaides, who was a close associate of David Ireland and whose father played an important role in the development of Latin Jazz in Havana, the local youth jazz group Jasmine Perfume will be performing at the March 7 re-opening at 1 pm.

Free admission, advanced reservations are recommended.

INTENT: a dialogue on values in the intersection of art and architecture

Online Program
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
5:00pm PST

Stream this online program archived on our YouTube channel

An invisible landscape conditions the visible one”― Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Is there a blurred line between reconstruction, adaptive reuse, and stabilization? David Ireland insisted he was “stabilizing” his house at 500 Capp Street over reconstructing it. How do we negotiate between patrimonial values in architecture and softening the hard edged lines that intersect preservation, urban use, and artistic practice? Artist Felipe Dulzaides encountered a similar process while working on his architectural restoration project Centro Bahía in Havana, Cuba, an interdisciplinary art space located across the shore of Havana’s bay.  

For this online dialogue, Dulzaides is joined by Cuba-based architecture and art studio Infraestudio and San Francisco-based Steven Huegli of Jensen Architects for a lively discussion, moderated by associate professor Neeraj Bhatia of the California College of the Arts Architecture Program and independent curator Gretel Medina, about their experiences working on art spaces that were formerly domestic environments, including The David Ireland House itself, Centro Bahìa and Lìnea 508 in Havana, and more. 

Infraestudio will share their work on project Línea 508 in Havana, a structure built in 1888 which was almost untouched until they transformed it into an art center. And, Steven Huegli will share the challenges of creating structures and spaces with embedded culture and environments, including The David Ireland House, Ann Hamilton’s tower, and Fort Mason Center. 

This dialogue is grounded by Dulzaides’ mixed-media installation Santurio #21, currently on view through Dec. 19 in the exhibition There is no such thing as a perfect circle. The work artfully documents his life-art restoration project, the creation of Centro Bahìa, where he has developed a socially active studio space. How can you maintain cultural heritage while transforming historic houses into art spaces? How does adaptive reuse relate to the reduction of environmental impact?

In addition, Dulzaides’ video work, Water Runs, will be made available online for a limited time December. 1-19, 2020 to further connect this public program with online viewers. In Water Runs, the artist uncovers the history of Cuba’s National Art Schools which reflect utopian revolutionary exuberance. Dulzaides gestures to reclaim this space by cleaning the gutters of the school and allowing water to run again, a symbolic action that evaluates an identity revitalized. 

This program takes place online via Zoom. Free with registration. All times are in Pacific Standard Time (PST).

Water Runs can be viewed online here, December 1-19, 2020.

There is no such thing as a perfect circle is on view through December 19, 2020. 

Neeraj Bhatia is a licensed architect and urban designer whose work resides at the intersection of politics, infrastructure, and urbanism. He is an Associate Professor at the California College of the Arts where he also co-directs the Urban Works Agency. Bhatia has also held teaching positions at UC Berkeley (as the visiting Esherick Professor), UT Arlington (as the visiting Ralph Hawkins Professor), Cornell University, Rice University, and the University of Toronto. Bhatia is founder of The Open Workshop, a transcalar design-research office examining the negotiation between architecture and its territorial environment. Select distinctions include the Architectural League Young Architects Prize, Emerging Leaders Award from Design Intelligence, and the Canadian Prix de Rome. 

Felipe Dulzaides studied drama at the Instituto Superior de Arte of Havana and received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. A poetic and metaphoric sensibility underlies his practice, which includes single- channel videos, photography, drawings, and installation. Some of his works begin with actions executed for the camera; others use autobiographical experiences to address the emotional stress of cultural displacement or to reveal memory as an unstable process of endless revision. His studio, located in the historic area of Regla-  across the shore of Havana’s bay, is also a project space called Centro Bahía. Centro Bahia’s mission is to stimulate community dialogue, experimental art, and interdisciplinary academic exchanges. Due to its location, Centro Bahia plays an active role in the urban rehabilitation of the historic neighborhood.

Steven Huegli has a distinct architectural background with experience in site-specific installation work, craft, and experimental use of construction materials. Many of his projects have been recognized by local and national awards; and his representations are included in SFMOMA’s permanent collection. Huegli has a long-standing commitment to mentoring young professionals including teaching positions at California College of the Arts and University of California, Berkeley where he attended graduate school. Huegli is a Principal and Studio Director at Jensen Architects, a design-oriented architecture firm exploring innovative approaches in search of design solutions that are elegant, effective, and environmentally sensitive. 

Infraestudio is an architecture and art studio founded in 2016, directed by Anadis González and Fernando Martirena. Based in Havana, Infraestudio has developed an expanded practice of the discipline through the creation of concepts that take shape in architecture projects, urban investigations, works of art and artist’s books. They have exhibited their work at the 11th and 12th Biennial of Havana, and have participated in several personal and group exhibitions.  Among their most important projects is the Linea 508 Contemporary Art Center and Casa B, both currently under construction.

Gretel Medina is an independent curator and art critic based in Havana. She was head of exhibitions at Centro De Desarrolo De Las Artes Visuales, La Habana from 2013-2019. During this time, she led the team that curated the XI (2014) an XII (2017) Cuban contemporary art salon. She was a guest curator of XII Havana Biennial 2015, and in 2019, was part of a curator’s team for the XIII Havana Biennial. 

Green or Otherwise: Care, Color, and Ceilings

Justin R. Nagle
Wednesday, February 17, 5pm PST

In this first performance lecture, Green or Otherwise: Care, Color, and Ceilings, Justin R. Nagle will delve into David Ireland’s use of the color “Institutional Green” and discuss it in relation to his treatment of the ceilings within 500 Capp Street to better understand care through the metaphor of concealment. The lecture will be followed by a short, guided meditation, using a ceiling in the House as the focal point, to give pause and further contemplation on the often overlooked space above our heads.

This spring, The David Ireland House at 500 Capp Street expands on the Bay Area Conceptual Art movement with Opening The Cabinet, a cross-disciplinary lecture series self-organized by our Artist Guides.

Justin R. Nagle (He/They) is a fiber artist and critical writer living and working in San Francisco, CA. Nagle has procured a BFA in Fine Arts and a BA in Visual and Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and recently completed an MFA in Fine Arts and MA in Visual and Critical Studies at the California College of the Arts. Nagle self publishes writings and ephemera under the moniker Sad Fag Publications and currently works as an Artist Guide at The David Ireland House where they co-edit The Cabinet.

Image credit: David Ireland’s bedroom ceiling, The David Ireland House (2020). Photo by Justin R. Nagle.

Making and Maintaining Space

Sam Claude Carmel
Wednesday, February 24, 5pm PST

Sam Claude Carmel invokes the history of San Francisco’s conceptual art locales and the emerging possibilities for arts venues in the city. They will highlight Ireland’s concept of Maintenance Action and draw parallels to the labor of past art spaces—New Langton Arts (1975-2009) and the Museum of Conceptual Art (1970-1984) that served as the blueprints to the next generation of community arts spaces in San Francisco. Carmel will also examine the community building that made these past organizations successful, and expand on new strategies for the longevity and adaptability of San Francisco’s emerging arts spaces.

This spring, The David Ireland House at 500 Capp Street expands on the Bay Area Conceptual Art movement with Opening The Cabinet, a cross-disciplinary lecture series self-organized by our Artist Guides.

Sam Claude Carmel (They/Them) is a video installation and sculpture based artist residing in San Francisco, CA. Carmel graduated in 2019 with honors and a BFA in Queer Artist Studies from Mills College. Carmel works as an assistant video archivist and writer at TEXAS TOMBOY BRAND PROD and as an Artist Guide at The David Ireland House.

Image credit: David Ireland and Tom Marioni, The Restoration of a Portion of the Back Wall, Ceiling, and Floor of the Main Gallery of the Museum of Conceptual Art (1976).