Obsession: Art & Artifacts from Sonoma County Private Collections
Sep 22, 2007 - Jan 13, 2008
Obsession: Art and Artifacts from Sonoma County Private Collections is an intimate view into the private collections of Sonoma County’s collectors. The first show of its kind to be presented by the Museum, Obsession will feature more than thirty significant works from fifteen diverse private collections. Visitors will be delighted to find a wide range of unique art and artifacts presented in an original installation created by Bay Area artist Lewis deSoto.
Taking a scientific and historical approach, Obsession will be installed with an overarching theme of a collector’s taxonomy, allowing the broad spectrum of works to be presented and understood by relating it to categories of knowledge about the world: animals; plants; minerals; humanity; and machines. In this sense, the exhibition reflects an understanding of the world through the acquisition of rarefied objects. According to deSoto, this creates an artistic and coherent way to unify the collections "even though all these collections come from disparate sources and a variety of people, there are ways in which we can find connection and association between them that speaks to the deeper way we think about the world."
Intentionally eclectic and diverse, the exhibition features Abraham Lincoln's hair from an impressive civil war collection; a light-box installation by contemporary artist Alfredo Jaar; original sixteenth century maps of Japan; nineteenth century papier mâché plant studies; photography by Ann Hamilton, Ansel Adams and Adam Fuss; and Native American walrus ivory carvings, among many other remarkable pieces. Obsession underscores that the impulse to collect is to impose order, as well as to elicit greater meaning and truth from the material world.
Collectors:
Jack Blades, Ron Casentini, Cindy Daniels and Doug Lipton, Ann Hatch and Paul Discoe, Paul Hill, Jim Kidder, Wally Lowry, John de Marchi , Dan Murley, Steven and Nancy Oliver, Craig Rosser, Bob and Pam Stone, Guy Smith, Henry Wendt, and Frank and Kay Woods.
Artists:
Ansel Adams, Kirsten Bahrs-Janssen, David Best, Paul Caponigro, Terry Fox, Adam Fuss, Ann Hamilton, Alfredo Jaar, Anish Kapoor, Duane Michals, among others.
Artifacts:
Civil War artifacts, taxidermy birds, military uniforms, papier mâché plant studies, historical maps, paintings, sculpture, hood ornaments, photographs, Native American basketry and carvings, minerals, antique toys, firearms, and tools.
Curatorial Team:
Sonoma County Museum Chief Curator, Patricia Watts; Sonoma County Museum Historical Collections Curator, Eric Stanley; Independent Curator, Gay Dawson. Exhibition installation designed by Bay Area contemporary artist Lewis deSoto.
