Travis Somerville was born in 1963 in Atlanta, GA. Growing up in towns throughout the southern United States and along the eastern sea board, he briefly studied at Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, finally settling in San Francisco where he attended the San Francisco Art Institute, CA. His large scale oil paintings on paper mounted to canvas incorporate collage and present images of political and cultural icons associated […]
The canvas had been painted with the regal portrait of Thomas Jefferson then draped and folded back to reveal another portrait behind it. A sullen Sally Hemings peers forth, her bare shoulder and leg exposed, irritation and resentment just beneath her placid expression. It’s a powerful piece. In Behind The Myth Of Benevolence, Titus Kaphar seeks to question how history has remembered Jefferson as a color-blind progressive while rewriting Hemings […]
Angela Hennessy is an Oakland-based interdisciplinary artist and Associate Professor at California College of the Arts, where she teaches courses on visual and cultural narratives of death and contemporary textile theory. Through writing, studio work, and performance her practice examines mythologies of blackness embedded in linguistic metaphors of color and cloth. Her current project, The School of the Dead, is a program for the decolonization of death and grief through […]
Inaugural Collect For Change™ Exhibition Curated by Amy Kisch + Danielle Smith + Kimberly Verde + Heather Zises state space, San Francisco, CA Saturday, January 6 – Friday, February 16, 2018 AKArt and state are pleased to present Object Action: The “F” Word in a Post-Truth Era, to mark the inauguration of Collect For Change™—an initiative which collaborates with artists across disciplines, offering artwork with a portion of sales benefitting a charity personally selected by each artist. A group exhibition that […]
In this episode, Niki, Neil, and Natalia debate the recent reckoning with Bill Clinton’s legacy, the state of the New York City subway, and the new tax reform measure. Here are some links and references mentioned during this week’s show: Conservatives and liberals alike are reevaluating Bill Clinton’s legacy in terms of the sea change in attitudes about sexual harassment and assault. Niki referred to Clinton’s 2012 speech at the Democratic […]
In this episode of Past Present, Natalia, Niki, and Neil debate the historical origins of Antifa, cultural appropriation, and the role of contract labor in an unequal society. Antifa We discussed Antifa, which has been popularized by historian Mark Bray’s Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook. Natalia commented on the romanticized assumption of Antifa opponents that there ever was a “perfect” nonviolent protest culture, as explained in this New York Times opinion […]
In this week’s episode of Past Present, Natalia, Neil, and Niki debate the role of neo-Nazis in the white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, the Google memo, and the political power of blondeness. Nazis in Charlottesville We discussed the deadly attack by white nationalists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, Virginia. Niki has written about her experience in Charlottesville for U.S. News & World Report and for Vox. In thinking about the history […]
In this week’s episode of Past Present, Niki, Natalia, and Neil debate Trump’s divisive speech before the Boy Scouts, the return of eugenics in criminal justice, and the rising wave of elopements. Boy Scouts Donald Trump’s recent speech at the Boy Scouts Jamboree has earned criticism for its political tone and inappropriate remarks. Niki pointed out that other presidents have given political speeches to the Boy Scouts, including Franklin Delano […]
In this week’s episode of Past Present, Neil, Natalia, and Niki debate the politics of pride marches, the history of climate change, and Kathy Griffin and the politics of offense. Pride Month June marks Pride Month, although Donald Trump’s White House has not officially recognized it. We discussed the history of pride parades, and Neil talked about their connection to the Stonewall Riot of 1969. Natalia commented on the commercialization […]
How do you create a mission-based business that’s also revenue-driven? Joe Mitchoff and Pierce Henley, founders of Viridian Reclaimed Wood, came to Pregame HQ for Green Week to tell their story of building a business that’s successful on multiple levels. The Viridian story was born in 2004 down at the shipyard, with a lot of grit and a couple of friends’ idea to rescue some really amazing wood from winding up […]