Never a Disappointment

I knew rain was not in the forecast today so I decided to go to the di Rosa. The di Rosa is a private museum located in the rolling hills of Napa on 217 acres. The di Rosa has three separate galleries, a sculpture park, a 35-acre lake, and a wildlife preserve. It had been a few years since I had been there and because they have a collection of over 2,000 artworks primarily from Northern California artists, I knew I could view some new contemporary artwork that I had never seen before. I booked a two hour tour in advance and headed out the door to begin my adventure.

I arrived a little before 10 a.m. as the reservationist requested and walked up the pathway to see a gorgeous sculpture just outside the main entrance door. 

Created by Viola Frey, titled "Woman with Vase," 1998, Ceramic.

Viola Frey was known for her larger than life sculptures. As I looked at this piece I began to ask our tour guide questions and discovered that she had a love of clay just like Peter Voulkos. When my tour guide mentioned Voulkos name I immediately remembered the videos I had watched in class. My tour guide went on to tell our group that Frey and Voulkos knew each other and both of them had helped to redefine the use of ceramics as a fine art medium. I stood there for a while just admiring the bold colors and the realistic proportions of the anatomy. 

Here is a link of Frey working on some of her sculptures in her studio.

http://ww2.kqed.org/spark/viola-frey/

Once inside the first gallery called the Gatehouse gallery is a new exhibition called Radical Landscapes that started on February 6^th and will be there until April 3, 2016. The idea behind this new exhibition was for the artists to investigate the natural environment through a contemporary lens.  I was so excited to see them. The reason for my excitement is although, I am an art history major, I have a passion for painting and I happen to love painting landscapes. When looking at Robert Minervini's work I could see how his landscape paintings depict the ecological impact of humanity on the land.  Here are a three examples of my favorites from this exhibition.

Artist Robert Minervini, titled "Contemplating the Moon, 2015. Acrylic on canvas.

Artist Robert Minervini, titled, "In the Dust of the Future," 2015. Acrylic on canvas.

Two guests looking at artwork titled, "Everything I've known I have forgotten, 2016, by Cybele Lyle. Mixed Media.

The artwork that is featured in the Gatehouse Gallery changes regularly. In this gallery they will feature Bay Area Artists and part of their permanent collection. As the tour continued out of the first gallery everyone climbed into a great looking trailer pulled by a pick-up truck.

This was our transport from the Gatehouse Gallery to both the Residence & Main Gallery.

One of my joys when coming to this museum is that not all of the artwork in housed inside buildings. There are many sculptures outside as well. This place lives and breathes art in my opinion. Once we arrive at our next destination no one is disappointed including me at what we get to look at. I forgot to mention that we were blessed with two docents for our tour. This was nice because everyone had an opportunity to ask questions without disrupting the tour.

Inside the next building we entered (which is the Main Gallery) there is an art car created by the world renowned sculptor David Best. Best created this art car as a tribute to Rene di Rosa’s mother. The horse saddle on the front and lamps on the rear of the car are items that belonged to di Rosa’s mother. 

Art Car by David Best, created in late 1990's. Mixed Media.

Front of car.

Here is a link showing how David Best creates his art cars.

http://ww2.kqed.org/spark/david-best/ 

One of the paintings in the background has an interesting story behind it. First here is the painting.

Artist Sandow Birk, titled, "The Triumph of San Francisco," 1998. Oil on canvas.

The artist Sandow Birk was living in Los Angeles as an artist. He would travel up to San Francisco for business and while there he also frequented a bar. When the patrons would ask where he was from and he told them L.A. the trash talk would start. The story goes that he did not mind the first two or three times but eventually it angered him and as a result created this painting and several more bashing San Francisco. I for one like the way Birk choose to show his attitude. The painting is the bomb. What a great sense of humor.

I could not help but laugh when I saw this next artwork in the kitchen of the home that Rene and his wife Veronica di Rosa once shared. It reminded me a little of Andy Warhol when he did his Campbell Soup cans. Every inch of wall space is covered in artwork just like when they lived in the home. It was a bit overwhelming but awesome at the same time.

Artist Ester Hernandez, titled,"Sun Mad," 1982. Print.

Here are a few more examples of some of the art I enjoyed today.

Artist Enrique Chagoya, titled, "When Paradise Arrived," 1998. Charcoal and pastel on paper.

Artist Jim Melchert, titled "Feathers of the Phoenix (Phoenix Series 11), 2003. Ceramic.

On my next visit here I plan to go on the sculpture tour. They only do those a few times a year I learned today. Another reason why I decided to come back to this museum is because on my first trip here the docent that gave the tour told the group I was with that Rene di Rosa loved to go to student art shows to buy artwork. He supposedly he said that he liked to find a budding artist and buy a piece of their artwork to add to his collection.