castaneda/reiman, installation view of Untitled Landscape (system and structure), 2019. Printed drywall and metal, wood. Courtesy of Mills College Art Museum and Mills College.
Presented by Mills College Art Museum, In Plain Sight, features new work by Kathryn Andrews (Los Angeles), castaneda/reiman (San Francisco), Dario Robleto (Houston), and Weston Teruya (San Francisco), and is guest curated by Daniel Nevers. In Plain Sight points to the covert systems that shape our environments and perceptions. A seeming paradox, the phrase “hiding in plain sight” simultaneously implies obscurity and exposure—secrets under cover of the obvious. Through layering, embedding, and substituting materials, the artists in IPS give form to otherwise intangible forces.
In Plain Sight centers aesthetic strategies that reward what the writer Rebecca Solnit calls “slow seeing”—a discipline that practices observation to allow for the content of artworks to make a meaningful impression. Sculpture is emphasized throughout the exhibition, blurring the boundaries between object, image, and text, to provide a conceptual anchor for subjects concerning transformation and authenticity. The artists in the show reference history, art history, pop culture, science, and identity to underscore that, in addition to reason, our understanding of the world is informed by our complex emotional relationships with phenomena that sensory perception takes for granted.
The exhibition is accompanied by a digital publication with commissioned essays by Joanna Fiduccia (New Haven) and Anne Lesley Selcer (San Francisco), as well as a personal essay from the curator. The publication would not be possible without the support of Getty Publications.
ABOUT THE MILLS COLLEGE ART MUSEUM
Founded in 1925, The Mills College Art Museum is a forum for exploring art and ideas and a laboratory for contemporary art practices. Through innovative exhibitions, programs, and collections, the museum engages and inspires the intellectual and creative life of the Mills community as well as the diverse audiences of the Bay Area and beyond.
In Plain Sight is on view at Mills College Art Museum (5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613) through December 8, 2019. For more information, visit mcam.mills.edu/exhibitions.
