.Arts

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ANDERSON COLLECTION Stanford | anderson.stanford.edu

Kerry Tribe
Feb. 28-Jul 29
Two of Tribe’s films are coming to the Anderson. First up is Standardized Patient (through May 6), which puts actors in the place of medical students in training and their patients. Then, the visual artist films and follows the Los Angeles River for 51 miles out to the Pacific Ocean in Exquisite Corpse, which opens on May 16.

Examining Elizabeth Murray Feb 6
In support of the Anderson Collection’s exhibit “Spotlight on Elizabeth Murray,” this Burt and Deedee McMurtry Lecture—Elizabeth Murray with an Eye on Art Today—features Roberta Smith, the co-chief art critic of The New York Times, in conversation with exhibit curator Jason Andrew. Smith covered Murray beginning in 1975, on through to a retrospective in 1987 and, finally, writing the artist’s obituary. Andrew helped Murray archive her work when she was alive and, since her death, has been managing her estate.

CANTOR ARTS CENTER Stanford | museum.stanford.edu

Richard Serra’s Sequence Returns Starting Feb 6
After several years indoors at SFMOMA, Richard Serra’s steel sculpture Sequence returns to the campus—all 235 tons of it.

The Medium Is the Message: Art Since 1950 Feb 23-Aug 18
If you’re on the lookout for an esoteric exhibit about “the relationship between subject and materials,” try this one divided up into three categories. “In the Abstract” featuring paint, metal and fabric; “The Sum of Its Parts” with nontraditional materials; and, representing portraiture, there’s “The Faces We Present.”

Kerry Tribe: The Elusive Word Feb 23-Jul 7
A companion exhibition to the one at the Anderson Collection, “The Elusive Word” also consists of two films. Critical Mass, through Apr. 29, documents one couple’s extremely edited argument and Afasia (May 1-Jul 7) about a friend of the artist who had a stroke, paired with Kerry Tribe’s own efforts to relearn Spanish.

NEW MUSEUM LOS GATOS Los Gatos | numulosgatos.org

Warren Chang: Voice of the Fields Feb 22-Jun 16
Warren Chang has made a series of paintings with farm laborers from in and around the Salinas Valley. The painter grew up in Monterey and this exhibit draws on one of his early influences, the author John Steinbeck.

PACE GALLERY Palo Alto | pacegallery.com

The Chronicles of San Francisco—Sketches Feb 6-Mar 24
I passed the French photographer JR—who also co-directed (with Agnes Varda) the recent documentary Faces Places—on the streets of San Francisco last year. He said “Bonjour” to a woman he knew who was standing on a corner with a well-behaved pit bull. Along with his crew, he was on his way to chronicle a series of interesting faces like hers in interesting Bay Area places.

SAN JOSE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART San Jose | sjica.org

Stephanie Metz: Figurative Fiber Feb 23-Jun 9
Expect “abstract biomorphic” sculptures made of wool and felt, such as a headless, plucked chicken that’s primed for roasting in the oven—except this one is standing on human legs poised and ready for a Sunday stroll. Let’s hope Stephanie Metz’s strange and fascinating exploration of teddy bears (and their skulls) appears too.

Alan Rath: Virtual Unrealities Feb 16-Jun 9
Ooh, gadgets! A survey of Alan Rath’s work in “electronic, kinetic, and robotic sculpture.” Trained as an electrical engineer at MIT, he customizes cathode ray tubes and LCD screens. A Dr. Frankenstein for the digital age.

Sofie Ramos: Stuff(ed) Feb 23-Jun 9
Ever feel like walking directly into an artwork? Now you can. Sofie Ramos creates candy-colored settings that make Pee-wee’s Playhouse look understated. Go ahead, dimmerse yourself.

SAN JOSE MUSEUM OF ART San Jose | sjmusart.org

Undersoul: Jay DeFeo Mar 8-Jul 7
Revelatory photographs and paintings from the 1970s and ’80s by the late Jay DeFeo. Her ephemera and castoffs are just as transfixing as her best known painting, The Rose.

Catherine Wagner: Pomegranate Wall Apr 6-Aug 18
Described as “monumental,” Pomegranate Wall is an 8-by-40-foot arc of MRI photographs that glows with fluorescent light. Catherine Wagner made scans of animal bones, fruits and vegetables, and, yes, the seeds of a pomegranate.

STANFORD ART GALLERY Stanford | art.stanford.edu

Michael Richards: Winged Jan 22-Mar 24
Michael Richards finished his sculpture Tar Baby vs. St. Sebastian in 1999, two years before his death on 9/11 in the World Trade Center. The sculpture is a mold of his own body dressed in a fighter pilot’s uniform. A dozen small planes target and penetrate his uniform. Applying the word “visionary” to his oeuvre isn’t hyperbole.

TRITON MUSEUM OF ART Santa Clara | tritonmuseum.org

Contemporary Traces on Ancient Land Feb 9-Apr 21
Features the work of artists Mercedes Dorame, Catherine Herrera, Pamela J. Peters, Cara Romero and Hulleah Tsinhnahjinnie. Without ignoring the “brutal legacy of colonization,” this exhibit also acknowledges the diverse cultures and traditions of Native Americans.

Mark Eanes: The Passionate Spectator Feb 2-Apr 21
Abstract collages of paint with befuddling titles that dare you to look for meaning in them like Gordian Knot, Poésies Diverses or Opgaver/Algebra. Eanes’ statement of purpose reads: “Someone once said that if you scratch an abstract painting, a landscape lies just beneath the surface.”