First Friday: October 2023
Inspiration & Updates from Brian Madden Studio
“Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.”
— Ai Weiwei
I’m writing to you from the upper deck of the Caltrain, rumbling from San Francisco to San Jose for day 2 of CODA Summit, a conference about public art and the community of people who make it all happen.
I’m here because I want to learn more about making public art and to expand my network of creative collaborators and kindred spirits. And since so many of my conversations this week have focused around my marble sculpture practice, it’s fun to also be celebrating a milestone with my Six Months in Dogpatch artwork now on view in The de Young Open.
The de Young Museum’s triennial exhibition went live this past Saturday with a jubilant public celebration in Golden Gate Park. People can say what they will about the doom loop, but right now San Francisco feels more alive than it has in a long time, and I know there is a creative spirit at the heart of all of it.
Read on for more about The de Young Open and other findings from our first month back in SF! I’ll share:
What I’m Showing: The de Young Open 2023 is live!
What I’m Seeing: “Around the Way” by Aaron De La Cruz
What I’m Reading: Ai WeiWei: 1000 Years of Joys & Sorrows
What I’m Hearing: Hardly Strictly Portola
You’re receiving First Friday because you’ve supported my artwork, visited my studio exhibitions, or signed up to stay in touch. Thanks for being a part of this story!
WHAT I’M SHOWING: The de Young Open 2023 is live!
I’m thrilled to share that my Six Months in Dogpatch diptych is now on view at The de Young Open 2023! This exhibition features artwork from the 9 Bay Area counties, each piece selected by a jury assembled by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Artworks are hung salon-style, showcasing a diverse range of local artists. The de Young Open 2023 invites you to see the creativity and personal expression of the Bay Area under one roof in the heart of Golden Gate Park.
Six Months in Dogpatch is my collection that marked the first half year of sculpture practice in my San Francisco studio. Each piece is an unexpected array of water, natural stone, epoxy, and paint thrown from my sculpting tools onto the walls of my spray booth, from June to December 2021. By dismantling and reframing the by-product of a half year of artistic practice as the artwork itself, I’m revealing unexpected abstract landscapes that can tell time.
The de Young Open is on view until January 7, so if you want to meet up for a visit, just let me know. And this piece is available for sale, so if you’re interested or have any questions, I'd love to chat!
WHAT I’M SEEING: “Around the Way” by Aaron De La Cruz
When we were in Australia, I became a fan of San Francisco-based artist Aaron De La Cruz, not only for his artwork, but for his stories about life as an artist, a partner, and a parent.
Since we’ve been back in San Francisco, one of my goals has been to be more intentional about connecting with other artists, so I was excited when Aaron announced he’d be doing a ribbon cutting of a new site-specific sculpture in late September. His sculpture was built into the facade of a brand new affordable housing development called Kapuso at the Balboa Park Upper Yard.
I loved the words Aaron used to describe his piece and wanted to share them directly:
This site-specific work was created using one line to represent the lasting, generational connection a family can have in their home. Home is not only defined by the roof over our head but also by the neighborhood we are raised in, a place where stories of the past, present, and future are shared and passed down over time.
As one pillar of inspiration, family is often integrated in Aaron De La Cruz's work through colors, mediums, and abstract forms. In ‘Around the Way’, there are three signature silhouettes that represent the artist's own three children who call this neighborhood ‘home.’
I’m inspired by the role public art can play in bringing creativity and inspiration to communities who may not have had access to those before. I was stoked to celebrate Aaron’s contribution to the city. And now I’m even more excited to continue my own journey toward creating public art.
WHAT I’M READING: Ai WeiWei: 1000 Years of Joys & Sorrows
Another artist I’ve long admired is Ai Weiwei, who is as celebrated for his human rights activism and free spirited nature as he is for his artistic expression.
Last weekend, Jen and I went to Berkeley to watch a live interview with Weiwei as part of a book tour for his first memoir, 1000 years of Joys & Sorrows. Ai touched on issues of exile, imprisonment, repression, and advocacy that have infused his personal life and artistic work. He also humorously touched on life at home and in his studio, with his 40 foster cats, as well the more functional aspects of working with large teams and a lot of capital, all for the purpose of critiquing capitalism and control.
Through the conversation, a few things became clear. First, Weiwei emphasized that he doesn’t really see himself as an artist, more of a human rights activist. He once said: “I never really decided to be an artist myself. I have simply been called an artist by some people and it’s easier to say that that is art.” He also made it clear that Artists don’t always need to imbue meaning into their art, as the world often does it for them.
But what inspired me the most was his dry, matter-of-fact sense of humor in the face of a great deal of erudite verbosity from the academic interviewer who kept seeking a deeper meaning or intention behind his work. And the further I go through my career, the more I realize that it’s best to keep a sense of humor and buoyancy in the face of all the ups and downs.
In 1000 years of Joys & Sorrows, Ai WeiWei introduces the reader to his father, Ai Qing, an internationally renowned poet who was imprisoned by the communist party because of his creativity. Weiwei lived with his father in labor camps for the first 20 years of his life, before embarking on a global whirlwind of boundless personal expression, community building, and critical discourse that led back to prison, and now, exile. But it was his stage presence alone that made me want to pick up my own copy. With visuals and anecdotes that carefully illustrate Ai Weiwei’s life from childhood until today, and I know the rest is still unwritten.
WHAT I’M HEARING: Hardly Strictly Portola
This past weekend, there were two (!) music festivals going on in San Francisco: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in Golden Gate Park & Portola Festival on Pier 80, not too far from my studio in Dogpatch.
Because my musical taste spans between high and low depending on the hour, I’m going to keep our experimental playlist going with overhead selections from both festivals, as well as our regularly scheduled overheard tracks from the past month.
The First Friday Playlist can only come from songs I’ve heard, received, discovered, (or rediscovered) out in the world. Songs overheard at (coffee) shops, festivals, galleries, and received from friends IRL and online.
I will be playing tracks from all the First Friday playlists in my Dogpatch studio during San Francisco Open Studios this fall. I’ll be hosting two weekends, Oct 28-29 and Nov 18-19, 11-5pm, 2415 3rd Street, Suite 263. I would love to see you there.
In the meantime, thanks for reading!
Yours,
Brian
brian@brianbmadden.com
