Gallery 621 presents "Life On Earth," sculpture by Lisa Reinertson, with painting by Lee Wilder Snider.
LISA REINERTSON is known for both her life size figurative ceramic sculptures and her large-scale public sculptures cast in bronze. As an artist raised in a family of peace and civil rights activists, Reinertson has created artwork that conveys an underlying humanism and concern for the earth that can be seen both in her poetic ceramic figures with animals, to her more historic public commissions that express ideals of peace and social justice. In her public sculptures of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez she blends bas-relief into her three-dimensional sculptural forms creating an historic and powerfully moving narrative. Her work combines a realism rooted in figurative art traditions, with a contemporary expression of social and psychological content.
About her exhibition "Life on Earth", Reinertson states: "My life size ceramic sculptures and wall pieces combine the human with the animal in ways that juxtapose our contemporary existence with the more primal nature of life, creating a resonance of mythology. The work is intended to stir up our humanity, a vague reminder of the primal myths in which we understood the important connections we share with the other living beings on our planet. Many of these living beings are now struggling to survive and are threatened with extinction. My sculptures stand mute, but ask one to see, to feel, to remember, and to do something."
"Lisa Reinertson's sincerity and passions serve her well. She is a woman totally committed to art, family and a better world. She is a powerful caregiver and protector of all of Earth's creatures. Her heroic ceramic figures exude strength, vitality and honest directness in their very "clayness" and vigorous treatment. To grasp Reinertson's aesthetics is to simply look at her work. It's all there. Wow!" -Pam Dixon, Founder, Gallery 621
Reinertson completed her MFA at UC Davis in 1984, studying with Robert Arneson, and Manuel Neri. She has taught at several universities and colleges in Northern California including CSU Chico, Santa Clara University and UC Berkeley. Her ceramic work has been in exhibitions and museums nationally and internationally including the Crocker Art Museum, Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, the Museo Internationale Della Ceramica in Faenza, Italy and the ASU Art Museum. Reinertson has completed over 20 public commissions in bronze.
Reinertson currently works from her studio in Benicia and teaches at the San Francisco Art Institute.
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, June 9th, 5-8pm
EXHIBITION: June 7 – July 8, 2012
GALLERY HOURS: Thursday through Sunday, 12am to 6pm. Showings by appointment.
