Author: Justin Nagle

Lamp Repair with Rico Duenas

September 4 – 25, 2021

Lamp Workshop: Saturday September 25, 2pm-5pm

Light Repair Shop Garage: Saturdays from 12-5pm

The David Ireland House at 500 Capp Street is proud to present the work of artist and electrician , Rico Duenas. This September, The David Ireland House is inspired by the transformational power of light in a room and the implications of highlighting and staging stripped down everyday objects in an elevated view. David Ireland had the habit of creating lamps using utilitarian materials and tools like concrete, and copper pipes for plumbing. He would also light up certain angles of a space to highlight colors, and textures in an architectural space or an object. Duenas uses brass sheet metal, traditionally used for roofing, found cast iron, and found aged objects and magnifies its patina. Like Ireland, Duenas works with unassuming objects and construction materials to repurpose them into artworks.

David Ireland began his interest in art and art practice through industrial design and stage design. In several installation pieces, he would include a light fixture or a stage and light setup providing the elements of exposing a Brechtian fourth wall in reminding us that spatial mediations can provide you a different experience in lighting and staging the everyday.

Duenas intervention at The David Ireland House can be viewed from September 4-25, Wednesday to Saturday. Each Saturday, the Garage at the David Ireland House is transformed into a Light Repair Shop where Rico Duenas will set up shop to repair anyone’s broken lamp. There will also be a scheduled Lamp Making Workshop scheduled for Saturday, September 25, 2-5pm. Tickets for this workshop will be released in the coming week. 

Rico Duenas was born and raised in San Francisco. As a child, he spent time on the east coast with his grandfather, a sculptor and founding member of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. In San Francisco he also often accompanied his father to flea markets and garage sales, where his father bought, fixed, and re-sold furniture. It was there where he was introduced to artist Kevin Randolph, who was repurposing lights, and quickly developed a love of lighting and sculpture. Rico instantly gravitated towards light and sculpture. He lives and works in San Francisco as an union electrician and artist.

David Ireland’s Tribute to John Cage

In the early 1990’s, David Ireland worked with Tim Berry at Teaberry Press and Tom Cvikota at C. Editions to print and publish A Variation on 79, Side to Side passes of a dumbball, Dedicated to the Memory of John Cage (1912-1992), 1993. The work was published as the first C. Editions project. It is comprised of two metal music stands, five intaglio prints and two pine boxes.

Image: David Ireland, A Variation on 79, Side to Side Passes of a Dumbball, Dedicated to the Memory of John Cage (1912-1992), 1993.  Published by C. Editions, San Francisco, printed by Teaberry Press, San Francisco.

The work highlights Ireland’s experimental and conceptual methods, as they are made by different methods of mark-making with each turn of the page. One process involves rolling a musket bullet “dumbball” over the surface of a copper plate 79 times. 79 passes—one for each year of John Cage’s life. Cage died at age of 79. Tim Berry also shares, “…the ball was rolled over a plate covered in a soft asphaltum ground where it collected the wax as it transversed the plate 79 times exposing the metal beneath. These open traces were then exposed to acid where it etched creating the then printable lines.” In some marks on the print, Cvikota and Berry mention, “…the effect is a subtly evocative field that suggests an expressive Shodo calligraphic mark.” Apparently, Cage was fascinated by Japanese calligraphy. They further go on, “…what binds the project as a whole is David Ireland’s vision of a performative collaboration, between artist, printer, publisher and viewer.”

David Ireland did not want these sets of prints framed. He wanted them on music stands, where the paper could absorb the oils on people’s hands as they turn the page. He hoped the music sheets could be also played. This is a rare opportunity to see the work mounted in its original intended form, and it is on view during regular visiting hours.

This project acknowledges the tireless work and support of both Thomas Cvikota and Tim Berry in helping us re-mount this work for this current iteration.

Twilight Tour of Below the lighthouse is the darkest part of night

Wednesday, February 16th 2021 5:30pm

$25/person

Reserve Your Tickets

A rare opportunity to see The House at this special time of day to view the last days of the exhibition of the work of New York-based artist duo Zakkubalan, featuring their 2017 collaboration with composer Ryuichi Sakamoto async – volume – and new work created in conversation with The David Ireland House

The David Ireland House changes not just from exhibit to exhibit, but also with the natural lighting that enters the windows. Come and experience the changes twilight brings, and view the works of David Ireland and artist duo Zakkubalan’s exhibition Below the lighthouse is the darkest part of night. As the sun sets, Zakkubalan’s multimedia film works installed throughout the House brighten the warm, amber glow of the polyurethane walls. From the exhibit’s namesake projection on the multilayered silk curtain in the Accordion Room to the displays broadcasting the video works of the duo’s 2017 work -async-, Zakkubalan’s work has revolutionized the way we at the House experience the environment curated by the late Ireland himself.

This is a rare opportunity to experience Zakkubalan’s collaboration with The David Ireland House in a beautiful, nighttime setting before the exhibition ends on February 19th. Tickets are available for $25

Photo by Christian Casillas

Artist conversation between Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo & David Wilson

Wednesday, June 23, 6 pm PT
In Person & Online

Join us for an intimate artist conversation between David Wilson and Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo on Wednesday, June 23 at 6pm. Drop by in person, or tune in on Instagram Live @500cappstreet. David Wilson is the resident artist of The David Ireland House while artist Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo is the curator of Southern Exposure’s current exhibition, We use our hands to support. They have previously collaborated with one another and now find themselves in the same neighborhood doing collective exhibition work. Join the artists as they check in on each other, share stories and, exchange experiences of their work processes in an intimate one-on-one dialog.

This program will take place outdoors on The David Ireland House terrace. Free and open to the public.

Doors: 5:30 pm PT
Program: 6:00 pm PT

Links to the shows:
We use our hands to support, Curated by Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo at Southern Exposure @southernexposuresf

Sittings, David Wilson exhibition after 4 months of residency at The David Ireland House @500cappstreet

About the artists:

Lukaza Branfman-Verissimo is an artist, activist, educator, storyteller & curator who lives/works between Ohlone Land [Oakland, CA] and Powhatan Land [Richmond,VA]. Their work has been included in exhibitions and performances at Konsthall C [Stockholm, Sweden], SEPTEMBER Gallery [Hudson, NY], EFA Project Space [New York City, NY], Leslie Lohman Museum [New York City, NY], San Francisco State University Gallery, Signal Center for Contemporary Art [Malmo, Sweden], Yerba Buena Center for the Arts [San Francisco, CA] and Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive [Berkeley, CA], amongst others. For the past 5 years, Lukaza has been the Lead Curator at Nook Gallery [Oakland, CA], collaborating with over 80+ artists, writers, performers & musicians, in a gallery located in their apartment kitchen. They are currently enrolled in an MFA program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.


David Wilson creates observational drawings based on direct experiences with landscape and orchestrates site-based gatherings that draw together a wide net of artists, performers, filmmakers, chefs, and artisans into collaborative relationships. He organized the experimental exhibition The Possible at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) and received the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) 2012 SECA Art Award. He has exhibited his work with SFMOMA, was included in the 2010 CA Biennial, and presented a Matrix solo exhibition at BAMPFA. Wilson has received grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation, Southern Exposure, The Center for Craft and the Kenneth Rainin Foundation. He is based in Oakland, CA.


David Ireland’s Birthday with Ursula Brookbank

David Ireland’s Birthday with Ursula Brookbank

Wednesday, August 25, 2021, 8:30-9:30pm

The David Ireland House at 500 Capp Street is proud to present a sculptural and performance work by artist Ursula Brookbank, David Ireland’s niece, to mark Ireland’s birthday, August 25. Using elements from her She World Archive and the ephemera at the House, Brookbank will conjure a sculptural projection on the Garage front facing 20th St. that will involve stories, recipes, relics, and archives both linear, non-linear, and familial. Brookbank’s She World Archive is a body of work about the personal residue and found objects from the lives of women. At The David Ireland House, she recreates the angel cake recipe of her grandmother, Martha Ireland, in honor of the artist’s birthdate.

Ursula Brookbank uses film, overhead projection, photography, video, and performance, to make textural experiences that capture the illusive potential of everyday objects. These ordinary objects, under conditions of light and shadow, produce another world—one that illuminates the poetry of the ordinary and makes something out of nothing. Her performances, projections, and screenings have been presented at Automata, the Echo Park Film Center, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (REDCAT), the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Velaslavasay Panorama, in Los Angeles, and at the Westbeth Gallery, New York, NY.

Light Repair

Rico Duenas

September 4 – October 2, 2021

Lamp Repair Shop, Saturdays in September, 12-5pm, Garage

View Gallery

The David Ireland House at 500 Capp Street is proud to present the work of artist and electrician, Rico Duenas. This September, the House is inspired by the transformational power of light in a room and the implications of highlighting and staging stripped-down everyday objects in an elevated view. Duenas works with unassuming objects and construction materials to repurpose them into lamps, and sources of light. Duenas uses brass sheet metal, traditionally used for roofing, found cast iron, and found aged objects and magnifies its patina. Apart from lighting architectural spaces and nooks at the House, Duenas also recreates and repairs light structures implicated by David Ireland to light up specific works like the copper window, and “Delection,” a broken window, and the basement.

David Ireland had the habit of creating lamps using utilitarian materials and tools like concrete and copper pipes. He would also light up certain angles of space to highlight colors and textures in an architectural space or on an object. Ireland began his interest in art and art practice through industrial design and stage design. In several installation pieces, he would include a light fixture or a stage and light setup providing the elements of exposing a Brechtian fourth wall in reminding us that spatial mediations can provide you a different experience in lighting and staging “the everyday.”

Duenas’ intervention at the House can be viewed from September 4-25, Wednesday to Saturday. Additionally each Saturday, the Garage will be transformed into a Lamp Repair Shop where Duenas will repair anyone’s broken lamp. The show will open on Saturday, September 4, 12-5pm. There will also be a Twilight Tour on September 9, 7-9pm, A reading with poets Lourdes Figueroa, Karen Llagas and friends and Lamp Making Workshop scheduled for Saturday, September 25, 2-5pm.

Rico Duenas was born and raised in San Francisco. As a child, he spent time on the east coast with his grandfather, a sculptor and founding member of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. In San Francisco, he also often accompanied his father to flea markets and garage sales, where his father bought, fixed, and re-sold furniture. It was there that he was introduced to artist Kevin Randolph, who was repurposing lights, and quickly developed a love of lighting and sculpture. He lives and works in San Francisco as a union electrician and artist.