Dorothy Fratt: Works

Dorothy Fratt: Works is being published in conjunction with the first major US museum exhibition on the prolific, yet underrecognized, American painter Dorothy Fratt (1923–2017). Born in Washington, DC, and associated with the Washington Color School in the early 1950s, Fratt moved to Arizona in 1958 and would go on to forge her own style of abstraction more closely tied to the Southwest United States. Although Fratt’s paintings are often classified as color field and Abstract Expressionist, her use of color and expression of her surroundings evolved into a prolific body of work that idiosyncratically emotes landscape, atmosphere, gesture, and mood on her own terms. Spanning five decades of the artist’s oeuvre, the publication will include a selection of foundational early works alongside numerous paintings that exemplify Fratt’s vibrant and distinct style of abstraction. The book also features an extended biography, ephemera from Fratt’s life, and a conversation with contemporary artists Teresa Baker, Caroline Kent, and Rebecca Ward.

Published by Radius Books with Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Artwork by Dorothy Fratt
Essays by Lauren R. O'Connell and Jennifer McCabe
Illustrated biography by Dr. Ashley Busby
Conversation with authors and Teresa Baker, Caroline Kent, and Rebecca Ward
​Distributed by D.A.P./Art Book
Photos: Ian Byers-Gamber

Language in Times of Miscommunication

The conceptual catalog for Language in Times of Miscommunication formulates a timely exchange about the slippery relationship between opinion, fact, and fiction, within the construct of our collective reality in the United States since 2016—a year that marks a shift in acknowledging the fallibility of communication. The book epistemologically rethinks the equity of democracy through a deep dive into artwork by 18 American artists including Kristin Bauer, April Bey, Andrea Bowers, York Chang, Jeremy Dean, Jeffrey Gibson, Jenny Holzer, Christopher Jagmin, Glenn Ligon, Patrick Martinez, Elizabeth Moran, Ann Morton, Polymode, William Powhida, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Horacio Rodriguez, Safwat Saleem, and Anna Tsouhlarakis.

​The design studio Polymode created a twofold object, publication and artwork, that clearly relays information while simultaneously conveying notions of intentional and unintentional miscommunication. Polymode progressively complicates the visual reception of information in the catalog through this experimental approach, oscillating between moments of clarity and distortion.

Published by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Design by Polymode
Print and binding by Shapco

"Inka Essenhigh, Candice Lin, Amy Sillman, Kiki Smith, and Sturtevant" in New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century

Exhibition catalogue for New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century at UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive featuring work by more than 75 artists and collectives, including Laura Aguilar, Louise Bourgeois, Andrea Bowers, Judy Chicago, Ellen Gallagher, Luchita Hurtado, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Kalup Linzy, Goshka Macuga, Mai-Thu Perret, Carol Rama, Kiki Smith, Sturtevant and Kara Walker. The publication examines their work through themes such as the stereotypes associated with hysteria; the gendered gaze; the revisiting of historical subjects through a feminist lens; fragmented representations of the female body; shifting categories of gender; activism, domesticity and labor; female anger; and feminist utopias.

Published by University of California Press in association with UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive
Distributed by D.A.P./Art Book

"Dr. Kremer's Magic Powders: A Color Glossary for Harvey Quaytman" in ​Harvey Quaytman: Against the Static

The history, alchemy, and chromatic effects of color were essential sources of inspiration and contemplation for Harvey Quaytman, a fact reflected on the stunning surfaces and in the poetic titles of his work. This glossary--arranged according to the organization of the color wheel and concluding with shades found in grayscale--covers a selection of the artist's preferred pigments and additives, often sourced from German chemist Georg Kremer's supply store in New York City. It aims to bring insight into the prolific oeuvre of Harvey Quaytman through the complexity of pigment.

Published by University of California Press in association with UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

Mimi O Chun: It's all cake

New York-based artist Mimi O Chun’s first solo museum exhibition presents all-new soft sculptures produced over the past year and a half—a time marked by the global COVID-19 pandemic, a polarized political climate, and a civil uprising for racial justice. Chun explains that “these cultural, political, and economic winds formed a perfect storm that have exposed and exacerbated the structural inequities of a late capitalist economy.” The soft sculptures in Mimi O Chun: It’s all cake prompt viewers to reexamine the reality of this time, reckoning with illusions influenced by popular culture and consumerism. For example, the plush sculpture Prime Hermit (2021) is a handmade version of a single-use delivery envelope—white with bright blue text and a yellow sticker—that once held an item ordered from Amazon. Inside the discarded package is a stuffed coral-colored hermit crab peeking out from its repurposed home. The sculpture is simultaneously adorable and disturbing as it points to human consumption and its effect on the natural environment. One might find a sympathetic connection with the hermit crab when considering the way in which the COVID-19 pandemic required us to seek shelter and use online ordering to avoid interactions with others.
Published by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art.

Diedrick Brackens: ark of bulrushes

"A dark silhouette squats in a contemplative position with arms spread outward and head bowed. Suspended in a sky of blue, the figure’s gesture is simultaneously vulnerable and vast as it balances within the patterned frame of an 8-foot weaving. Somewhere between the color of dusk and night, the blue woven yarn is radiantly deep and speckled with flecks of white as if stars making their first appearance in the night sky. When looking at survival is a shrine, not the small space near the limit of life by Diedrick Brackens, one can almost imagine an atmosphere filled with the vibration of celestial beings and the static hum of creatures settling for the long night. The colors—black, dark gray, blue—are distinct and yet variations of the same palette that close the gap between body and cosmos. In a new series, including large-scale weavings and premiering the artist’s first woven sculptures, Diedrick Brackens: ark of bulrushes tells a timeless narrative about emancipation and remediation through pattern, body, and the power of craft."

Published by Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. 

The Hopper Prize 2019, Curator Essay

"The question 'What makes art contemporary?' often arises in conversations when looking at contemporary art, and I seem to reflect on this question when asked to select artists whose work deserves recognition in the form of an award. Art historian Terry Smith wrote that 'place making, world picturing, and connectivity are the most common concerns of artist these days because they are the substance of contemporary being.' This is true that artists who cover topics about contemporary being are those dealing with the most current issues, such as environmentalism, reforming modernisms, postcolonial rehabilitation, and politics (plus its ripple effect), among other things."

Lauren R. O'Connell

Marigolds, Horses, and a Diamond: Jill Magid's "The Proposal"

In a minimal black ring box with white interior cushions rests a 2-carat blue diamond set on a silver band. Unlike most, this diamond is formed from the cremated remains of Mexican architect Luis Barragán (1902–1988). The ring and its proposal are part of an intricate story involving the deceased architect, his archives, and a corporation in Jill Magid's multi-part project "The Proposal."

Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts (Summer/Fall 2017, Volumen 29, Issue 2).

Asher Hartman and Cliff Hengst / MATRIX 264

Asher Hartman and Cliff Hengst/MATRIX 264 presents Mr. Akita, a satire about life, sex, art, masculinity, ego, expectations, failure, disillusionment, and the sublime, written and directed by Hartman and performed by Hengst. In this one-man performance, a nameless, middle-aged man with a mischievous and comedic temperament reminisces about his past, from youth to adulthood. The protagonist shifts among numerous personas and voices, as the first sentences of the play explain: “The man will be a Borscht Belt comedian, de Kooning, a watery ghost, a painting, Christ/Jack Nicholson. All lines are his.” A large painting, Sun Burn (Split) 1 by Emily Joyce, with a bright white sunburst radiating from its center, hangs across the gallery; the painting assumes the role of an interlocutor. As Hengst’s character encounters the Op art painting, he engages it in an abstract conversation about art and class that leads him down a rabbit hole of memories, specifically about a convoluted relationship with his art school professor Mr. Akita.
​
Exhibition brochure published by UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

Carey Leibowitz Loves Andy Warhol

"Cary Leibowitz loves Andy Warhol, as he has stated in his paintings and interviews. The repeated sentiment, meant to express fandom and admiration rather than suggest a personal relationship, makes one think of a teenage obsession with a favorite celebrity."

Published online in conjunction with the exhibition Carey Leibowitz: Museum Show at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.

The 46th Annual UC Berkeley MFA Graduate Exhibition

Exhibition brochure for the 2016 UC Berkeley MFA Graduate Exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

The 45th Annual UC Berkeley MFA Graduate Exhibition

Exhibition brochure for the 2015 UC Berkeley MFA Graduate Exhibition at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.

David Ireland's 500 Capp Street: Making Visible a Complex Matrix of Relationships
Masters thesis on the artist David Ireland and his most significant artwork, his home at 500 Capp Street in San Francisco.
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MANY PLACES at ONCE
Exhibition catalogue for Many Places at Once at the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, including a curatorial essay and interviews with the artists. Edited by Marie Martraire, Julian Myers-Szupinska, and Lauren R. O'Connell. 
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Interview with Tony Labat
Artist Tony Labat discusses performance, documentation, the rituals of cleaning, and his collaboration in 1978 with artist David Ireland at 500 Capp Street in San Francisco. 
Read INTERVIEW​

Intervention in Everyday Space: ​Renata Lucas' Cruzamento
Through a simple intervention in the physical space of an urban street intersection, Brazilian artist Renata Lucas' Cruzamento (Crossing, 2003) shifts the perception of the commuters’ everyday routine to draw attention to the socio-political context of the site. 
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​Impermanence and Death of an Iconic Building: The Nakagin Capsule Tower
This paper considers the concept of impermanence of a building—which is at the ideological core of the Metabolist vision—and the actual living conditions of the Nakagin Capsule Tower in order to reevaluate the argument to preserve this iconic building.
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Arriving at the Beginning: ​Interview with Cydney Payton
Cydney Payton, former director and chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, discusses architecture, social space, collaboration, and the future of curatorial practice. 
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Intermediary Space: ​Locating formal relationships in SFMOMA's Field Conditions
Exhibition review of Field Conditions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art from September 1, 2012 to January 6, 2013. 
​Read ESSAY