Gallery 16 Presents Tucker Nichols and Dave Eggers All Ages Drawing Session and Artists In Conversation

In conjunction with the solo exhibition of Bay Area artist Tucker Nichols, Gallery 16 is pleased to present an all ages drawing session and conversation with artist Tucker Nichols and writer Dave Eggers. The event is FREE and open to the public.

 

Patio Music, a solo exhibition by Bay Area artist Tucker Nichols and September 8–October 28, 2017. This new collection of paintings is a study in mixed feelings depicted through decorative objects—flowers in vases, decorative bushes, garden statuaries and related abstract forms.

Many of the works are vibrant storms of energy, while others are somber and sweet. All of them seem to express conflicting emotions: cheerful and sad, serious and funny. A giant bowl of overflowing candies conveys a feeling of overly insistent good times.

A bush form appears so tightly wrapped in straps that it can't breathe. A vase exploding with flowers is just barely contained by the edges of the painting. Taken together, the paintings offer a sense of the possibility—and inherent futility—of art as a tool for expressing what words cannot.

Tucker Nichols, Untitled (BR1741), paint on panel 36 x 40 inches, 2017


Patio Music includes approximately 30 new works created with discarded house paint on wood panel and framed works on paper. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog of photographs, sculptures and paintings that gives a broader sense of Nichols"s work and his often funny perspective on the world around us. 


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“This is a strange time to be making such colorful paintings,” Nichols acknowledges. “But under the initial positive energy there's a lot of confusion and fear too, trust me. Painting is a magical, mysterious format for expression. It's great for capturing a driving spirit but horrible for conveying anything specific. It's like typing with mittens.”

As flowers serve as malleable messengers in Nichols's paintings, they also provide the perfect amount of content for him to remain free in his work. 

The New York Times' Roberta Smith writes, “Part of the modernity and joy of Mr. Nichols's paintings is the suggestion that all the elements in a composition are autonomous. The pictures are all temporary arrangements that will scatter as soon as you look away. That they seem eager to do so is part of their strength.”  

Nichols continues this sense of play and innovative use of space for Patio Music. By including more elements of a suggested environment in his newest paintings, he offers a slight departure from his typical straight-on, headshot-like perspective. These vague hints of place, neither indoor nor outdoor, suggest an almost surreal social gathering. Patio Music is a dreamlike collection of unexpected objects on display, like snapshots from a grand party you find yourself at well before any other guests have arrived.

Tucker Nichols, Untitled (BO1706), paint on panel, 40 x 60 inches, 2017

Tucker Nichols and Dave Eggers All Ages Drawing Session and Artists In Conversation

DATE:  Sunday, October 1, 2017 
TIME:  2—5PM
FEE:  FREE
LOCATION:  501 Third Street San Francisco, CA

2-4PM
All Ages Drawing Session
Gallery 16 invites grownups and kids to spend the afternoon drawing and making art with Tucker Nichols and Dave Eggers. This is not solely a children"s event—all ages will enjoy an afternoon of drawing exercises, including methods for destroying rejected drawings, as well as keeping the ones you like! Art materials supplied.

4—5PM
Artists in Conversation
Following the Drawing Session, Tucker Nichols and Dave Eggers will sit down for a casual conversation about their respective creative processes. Over the years the two have collaborated on various projects, most recently the book, This Bridge Will Not Be Gray (Chronicle Books will reissue in Fall 2017). The talk will reveal how these two creative forces work together and insight into their personal practices. Other artists and creatives may also gain a few tools as Nichols and Eggers discuss such topics as: What makes for good conditions for creative work, what specific tools they've come to rely on, what getting stuck looks like and where chance or coincidence comes into play.

This Bridge Will Not Be Gray by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Tucker Nichols  
Book will be reissued by Chronicle Books in Fall 2017

About Tucker Nichols: Tucker Nichols lives in Northern California. His work has been featured at the Drawing Center in New York, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Denver Art Museum, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. His first solo museum exhibition, Almost Everything On The Table, will open at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT in May of 2018.

His drawings have been published in McSweeney's, The Thing Quarterly, Nieves Books and the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times. He is co-author of the books Crabtree (with Jon Nichols) and This Bridge Will Not Be Gray (with Dave Eggers).

About Dave Eggers: Dave Eggers is the author of ten books, including most recently Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?, The Circle, and A Hologram for the King, which was a finalist for the 2012 National Book Award. He is the founder of McSweeney's, an independent publishing company based in San Francisco that produces books, a quarterly journal of new writing (McSweeney's Quarterly Concern), and a monthly magazine (The Believer). 

McSweeney's also publishes Voice of Witness, a nonprofit book series that uses oral history to illuminate human rights crises around the world. Eggers is the co-founder of 826 National, a network of seven tutoring centers around the country and Scholar Match, a nonprofit organization designed to connect students with resources, schools and donors to make college possible. He lives in Northern California with his family.


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About Gallery 16: Gallery 16 was founded in 1993 by artist Griff Williams with the primary focus of representing and advocating for the work of living contemporary artists. In addition to the regular exhibition schedule, the gallery sponsors artists talks, and hosts performances and music throughout the year. It's their belief that the brick and mortar gallery model, to be culturally relevant, needs to embody new strategies for facilitating and presenting artist's projects. The space, as Williams describes it, “allows for the artist to fail. We don't create exhibitions around curatorial agendas, but extend an invitation to artists we trust and hope they use the opportunity to challenge themselves without restrictions.”

The Gallery 16 exhibition program functions alongside their print studio which operates under the imprint Gallery 16 Editions. They were among the first print studios in the United States to combine traditional and digital print methods to create original artist editions. They continue to publish print editions, artist books, and multiples.

The gallery space is located on the ground floor of a historic building at the corner of Bryant and Third Street in the South of Market area of San Francisco.

Patio Music Exhibition Dates: September 8–October 28, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, September 8, 6–9pm
Music by the Prosumer BIG BOX Jazz Combo

Exhibition Hours: Tuesday–Friday 10am–5pm | Saturday 11am–5pm
501 Third Street San Francisco, CA |  www.gallery16.com

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