Dollhouse artwork

DOLLHOUSE: ART AS SERIOUS PLAY
Arc Gallery, January 15 - February 19, 2022
Curated by Priscilla Otani & Tanya Wilkinson

“Genius is childhood recalled at will.”- Charles Baudelaire

When you were a child you made art, probably lots of it. You, and everyone around you, called that “playing.” Art is part of a child’s normal response to almost any aspect of life. A small child asks an art-teacher what he does at work. “I teach people to draw” the teacher says, and the child responds “You mean they forget?”

Within the bounds of an imaginary dollhouse, this exhibition showcases art that uses the tropes of playtime—storybooks, toys, dolls, games, dress-up, imaginary friends, and secret spaces—to explore the serious and playful nature of art-making. The works compel the viewer to recall the joys of make-believe and to appreciate the unique interpretation of “play” that each artist brings to the dollhouse.

Dollhouse Artists

Afatasi the Artist, Glenn Caley Bachmann, Rosalia Balthazar, Marie Bergstedt, Johnny Botts, Joshua Coffy, Sas Colby, Diana Elrod, Miriam Fabbri, Kathy Fujii-Oka, Dolores Gray, Maribel Guzman & Miriam Munguia & Jose Nunez, Trudi Chamoff Hauptman, Dianne Hoffman, Jennifer Jigour, J.L. King, Liz Mamorsky, Kristine Mays, Michael McConnell, Erica Meriaux, Geralyn Marie Montano, Howard Munson, Tomye Neal-Madison, Sean O'Donnell, Priscilla Otani, Barbara Pollak-Lewis, Na Omi Judy Shintani, Liz Steketee, Denise Tarantino, Stephen C Wagner, Tanya Wilkinson, and Sandra Yagi.

Dollhouse Curators

Priscilla Otani is a founding partner of Arc Gallery & Studios and has curated many exhibitions for Arc Gallery, Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art, and Pacific Center for the Book Arts. She was president of the National Women’s Caucus from 2013 – 2015 and currently serves on the board of Northern California Women’s Caucus for Art. Otani is a mixed media artist whose works have been selected in Bay Area, national and international exhibitions.

Tanya Wilkinson is a Feminist artist and author based in San Francisco. She has curated shows focused on themes of Mythology, Storytelling, Metaphor and Political Activism for the Pacific Center for Book Arts, at the Village Theater Art Gallery in Danville California, for the California Institute of Integral Studies and at Arc Gallery and Studios in San Francisco. Tanya’s own art practice focuses on collage, assemblage, mixed media sculpture and book arts. She is also the author of several books: Medea's Folly: Women's Relationships and the Search for Intimacy (1998), Persephone Returns: Victims, Heroes, and the Journey from the Underworld (1996) and Women’s Dreams and Nightmares (2018)."

Dollhouse Event Manager

Laura Abrams is an artist, writer, and arts manager who has worked primarily in the live arts presenting field. She holds an Art History degree from UCLA and an MA in Arts Administration from NYU. As Education and Community Programs director/campus and community liaison at UC Berkeley’s Cal Performances, she developed events designed to nourish interdisciplinary understanding in and through the arts. She is former board president at MOCHA, the Museum of Children's Arts. As a Northern California Women's Caucus for Art member, she was part of the exhibition team and edited the catalog for “Composing the Future.” Laura’s current drawings and mixed media shadow boxes express a colorful, surrealist aesthetic inspired by nature, folk art, puzzles, and improvisational jazz. Her blog, LA Art Notes https://www.laura-abrams.com/la-art-notes/ centers on creating meaning through artistic encounters.