REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN: Release Me

October 21 - December 10, 2016
Artist reception: Friday, October 21, 7-9PM

CULT | Aimee Friberg Exhibitions is pleased to present Release Me, Rebekah Goldstein’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, on view from October 21 through December 10, 2016. Release Me features a series of new paintings and sculptures by the San Francisco based artist.

Goldstein’s paintings depict imagined structures and spaces that push the boundary between abstraction and traces of the familiar. Each painting relies on and creates its own internal logic. Ignoring laws of gravity and perspective, Goldstein’s paintings portray structures that could only exist within the world of a painting – the perspective is warped, the figure and ground constantly flip and the structure appears to simultaneously hold together and fall apart. In contrast, the sculptures – as if plucked from the paintings into real time and space, are beholden to the natural world of physics, reliant on gravity and an actualized physicality.

Goldstein sites the experience of color – how it creates form, shape and space, as well as the references that it holds for the viewer – as an essential exploration of her practice. For this new body of work, Goldstein has pulled palettes from art historical paintings. The palettes initially served as a starting point for her paintings, which are unplanned and improvisational, but soon became an examination of her personal relationship to the history of painting. The warm colors of a Pierre Bonnard painting, seen on a rainy morning at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor museum, served as inspiration for “Last Splash.” “Watch Me When I Walk Away” combines the palettes of paintings by Georges Braque and by Hans Holbein the Younger. Although these works are from vastly different time periods and impacted her at very different moments in her life, they coexist through the process of painting. By quoting these palettes, Goldstein explores the temporal nature of color, as well as its ability to conjure memory and associations.

As personal experience is attached to color, the forms in the paintings suggest personal narrative as well. Although the references are subtle, Goldstein alludes to the figure, visible in the curves of the line or the vertical nature of the forms. Says Goldstein: “I see these structures as figures each taking a pose, sometimes awkward and complicated. As they pose the figure is in a state of flux – disappearing, becoming architecture, becoming environment, shifting between categories, becoming ambiguous.” The rendered structures are thus symbolic of the body, each depicting different emotional states and portrayed in varying degrees of composure and disarray.

Her sculptures, twisted forms painted with patterns and highlights of bright hues, spring to life from the forms within the paintings. These objects inform the painting process and assert a dialogue with the paintings. As the viewer shifts their gaze between the 2D surface of the paintings and the embodiment of the 3D structures, a clear pictorial language is made evident.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Goldstein received an MFA from California College of the Arts in 2012, and a BA from Sarah Lawrence College in 2004. Her work has been exhibited at CULT | Aimee Friberg Exhibitions (San Francisco), Jack Geary Contemporary (New York), The Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco), City Limits (Oakland), George Lawson Gallery (San Francisco), FIFI Projects (Mexico City), 100% Gallery (San Francisco), TMoro Projects (Santa Clara), The Battery (San Francisco), Alter Space Gallery (San Francisco), Pro Arts (Oakland), and Berkeley Art Center (Berkeley). Goldstein has been awarded residencies at the Sam and Adele Golden Center for the Arts, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the Arad Arts Project. Her work is part of the permanent collection of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, as well private collections throughout the Bay Area. She is represented by CULT | Aimee Friberg Exhibitions.

REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN One of My Kind, 2016 Oil and acrylic on canvas 78 x 65 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Easy Way Out, 2016 Oil and acrylic on canvas 70 x 65 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Broad Shoulders, Sharp Tongue, 2016 Oil and acrylic on canvas 65 x 52 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Last Splash, 2016 Oil and acrylic on canvas 65 x 52 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Guilty Pleasure, 2016 Oil and acrylic on canvas 65 x 52 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Watch Me When I Walk Away, 2016 Oil and acrylic on canvas 65 x 52 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Everyone But You, 2016 Oil and acrylic on canvas 70 x 65 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Untitled (Indigo brushstroke), 2016 Watercolor on paper 15 x 11.5 inches (framed) / 14 x 10 (artwork) Custom frame by Smallworks
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Untitled (reds square), 2016 Watercolor on paper 13 x 9.5 inches (framed) / 11 x 8.5 (artwork) Custom frame by Smallworks
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Untitled (gold triangle), 2016 Watercolor on paper 13 x 9.5 inches (framed) / 11 x 8.5 (artwork) Custom frame by Smallworks
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Curves, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 58 x 28.5 x 19 (with podium)
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Angles, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 62 x 28.5 x 19 inches (with podium)
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Navy with Square Pattern, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 17 x 15 x 6 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Grey with Square Pattern, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 25.5 x 10 x 12 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Brown and Yellow, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 26.5 x 18 x 12 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Pink Stripe Pattern, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 17 x 11 x 2
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Teal Leaf Pattern, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 12 x 9 x 2
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Purple and Brown, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 15.5 x 6 x 2 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Light Blue Stripe Pattern, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 8.5 x 6 x 6 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Brick Red and Yellow Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 5.5 x 8 x 8 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Lavender Stripe Pattern, 2016 Paper mache, foam, oil and acrylic paint 8.5 x 6.5 x 2 inches
REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN Navy and White, 2016 Paper mache, Foam, oil and Acrylic paint 7 x8 x 5 inches

Current

CULT TURNS 10
10 Year Anniversary Exhibition
January 18 - March 2, 2024

Past

Terri Loewenthal
Mountain Goat Mountain

September 15 – November 18, 2023

Time is a Tangled Web: Mary Fernando Conrad, Sophronia Cook, Cross Lypka, Tyler Cross, Zhivago Duncan, Jean Isamu Nagai, Rachel Kaye, Ruth Charlotte Kneass at CULT Bureau, Oakland
September 28 - December 16, 2023

Last Light: Luz Carabaño, Sophronia Cook, Cross Lypka, and Aidan Koch
June 23 - August 26, 2023

ECHO ECHO: Rachel Bridges and Ivan Bridges at CULT Bureau, Oakland
March 2 - August 5, 2023

Two Handfuls Of Silver Dust: Rhonda Holberton
April 27 - June 17, 2023

LEGACY: Binta Ayofemi, Adrian L. Burrell, Rachel Bridges, Ivan Bridges, Masako Miki, and Jean Isamu Nagai
January 18 - April 1, 2023

ZHIVAGO DUNCAN: Measuring Consciousness
September 15 - December 10, 2022

CULT Bureau: Gaze Interrupted
September 17 - November 19, 2022

AMY NATHAN: Slipknot Loophole
May 14 - August 26, 2022

Rebekah Goldstein: Welcome Home Stranger
March 19 - May 7, 2022

Sapiens / Stories at CULT Bureau
November 10, 2021 - April 30, 2022

Physics & Fiction
January 20 - March 12, 2022

Chris Fallon: Irresistible Deception
October 15 - December 18, 2021

Sapiens / Stories on 8-Bridges
October 7 - November 3, 2021

Masako Miki: New Mythologies
June 16 - October 12, 2021

Tales of Metamorphosis: Rebekah Goldstein, James Perkins, and Amy Nathan
June 3 - 30, 2021

Janus II - CULT's 7 Year Anniversary Exhibition
April 9 - May 20, 2021

Troy Chew: Yadadamean
October 17 - December 12, 2020

We’re all in this together
August 14 - October 10, 2020

Beyond Words
June 26 - August 29, 2020

Ritual of Succession
January 10 - March 28, 2020

Record of Succession at fused space
January 13 - March 27, 2020

AMY NATHAN: Glyph Slipper
September 13 - December 7, 2019

FEMALE TROUBLE 2
June 28 - August 3, 2019

RUXUE ZHANG
April 20 - June 15, 2019

MASAKO MIKI: Shapeshifters
January 12 - March 23, 2019

JASKO BEGOVIC (SKO HABIBI): HUMAN_E.T.
November 30 - December 14, 2019

REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN: See You On The Flipside
September 8 - November 25, 2018

FEMALE TROUBLE
June 9 - July 28, 2018

TERRI LOEWENTHAL: Psychscapes
March 2 - May 19, 2018

VECINOS
October 27, 2017 - January 20, 2018

RHONDA HOLBERTON: Still Life
January 10 – March 4, 2017

REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN: Release Me
October 21 - December 10, 2016

NO SHOW MUSEUM: Yves Klein, Maria Eichhorn, Daniel Knorr, Etc.
One Night Only: Monday, October 17, 2016

DESIRÉE HOLMAN: Selected Works
September 17 - October 8, 2016

SHE MOONAGE DAYDREAM:
Facundo Argañaraz, Leah Guadagnoli, Desirée Holman, Kara Joslyn, Max Maslansky, Liz Robb, Tamra Seal, Emily Weiner, & Cate White

July 16 - August 20, 2016

PABLO DÁVILA: Ladies & Gentlemen,
We Are Floating In Space

May 13 - July 9, 2016

MASAKO MIKI: Conversations with Fox, Feather, and Ghost
March 4 - April 30, 2016

SUZY POLING: Total Internal Reflection
January 15 - February 27, 2016

DAN GLUIBIZZI: You Don’t Have to be Alone Tonight
November 6 – December 19, 2015

FRANCESCO IGORY DEIANA: Haptic Render
September 11- October 31, 2015

SEXXXITECTURE: Daniel Gerwin, Rebekah Goldstein, Roman Liška, Max Maslansky, May Wilson & Jake Ziemann
July 1 - August 1, 2015

ADAM SORENSEN: In Situ
May 1 - June 27, 2015

KLARA KÄLLSTRÖM & THOBIAS FÄLDT: Village / High Hills
February 27 - April 25, 2015

PRINCE RAMA: How To Live Forever
January 25 – February 21, 2015

JOSEPH DUMBACHER & JOHN DUMBACHER: Divert (Out of Line)
November 7, 2014 – January 16, 2015

REBEKAH GOLDSTEIN: Passenger
September 12 – November 1, 2014

A PATTERN LANGUAGE: Michelle Grabner, Angie Wilson & Lena Wolff
June 20 - July 19, 2014

MICHELLE BLADE: Gathering Into Being
April 25th – June 7th, 2014

MIGUEL ARZABE: /*Reject Algorithms*/
March 7 – April 19, 2014

JACQUELINE KIYOMI GORDON: Drawings
March 7 – April 19, 2014

FRITZ CHESNUT: Purr Valley
& Rhonda Holberton

January 10 - February 22, 2014

UNSEEN: Miya Ando, Miguel Arzabe, Chris Duncan, Klea Mckenna & Dean Smith
November 10 - December 21, 2013

Past Off-Site Exhibitions

RHONDA HOLBERTON: Still Life 2
April 7 - May 26, 2018

LAS COSAS QUE PINTAN / PAINTING IN AN EXPANSIVE FIELD
Works by Miguel Arzabe & Juan Sorrentino

April 9 – May 17, 2015

EBB: Gina Borg and Chris Russell at Loczi Design
December 10, 2014