M. Stark Gallery is opening in January in a newly remodeled 120-year-old building located in the historic downtown district of Half Moon Bay.
Owner Marianna Stark says the gallery will feature artists whose work evokes the spirit of the West Coast and is in dialogue with contemporary fine art movements.
The first exhibition is a solo show featuring 83-year-old sculptor and Pacifica resident Jerry Ross Barrish. Barrish’s materials are upcycled plastic junk, harvested from beaches and treasure troves like Urban Ore. Barrish is the long-time creative director of the nonprofit Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica.
DESCRIPTION: M. Stark Gallery is proud to announce our inaugural exhibition, Jerry Ross Barrish: Protagonist, curated by Paris Cotz MA. Jerry Ross Barrish applies his deft hand to the cast offs of our materialistic consumer society to tell immutable tales of love and loss. Both humble and exquisite, even his compositions of inanimate objects are imbued with personality. Familiar items like umbrella handles, funnels, and toys are transformed when combined with takeout containers, janitorial supplies, and vacuum parts. Each element of these assemblage sculptures is placed in a way that perfectly expresses the universal language of gesture. His figures’ mouths are open to the exact right degree to express disbelief, humiliation, ardor. The nearly imperceptible arch of a shoulder conveys grief, self-doubt, hubris.
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Jerry Ross Barrish (b. 1939, San Francisco, CA) lives in Pacifica and works in the Mission District of San Francisco. Barrish received his BFA and MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1974 and 1976, respectively. He was the subject of a feature length documentary film, Plastic Man, the Artful Life of Jerry Ross Barrish, in 2015. Barrish has been the creative director of Sanchez Art Center since 2003.
M. Stark Gallery represents Bay Area artists whose work evokes the spirit of the West Coast and is in dialogue with contemporary fine art movements.
Protagonist
January 22 – March 30, 2023
Curated by Paris Cotz MA
Red Parasol, 2008
Also in the building is the Stark-Perry Coastside Artists Retreat, an invitational residency program for artists of all disciplines. A grand opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 22. The gallery be open weekends and by appointment.
Opening 2023, join our mailing list to receive notice when application period begins.
The invitational Coastside Artists Retreat hosts artists of all genres who are interested in making work that responds to the dogged socioeconomic issues magnified by the Coastside Economic Recovery Initiative Recommendations Report.
Located on Main Street just outside the historic downtown district of the City of Half Moon Bay, use the space as your home base while you explore the coast, recharge, and become inspired to take your practice in new directions. This is a 2 bed/1 bath apartment with no studio space.
The residency will also be available as a short-term rental beginning February 2023. Details coming soon.
Coastside Artists Residency is sponsored by Marianna Stark and Sam Perry.
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Madonna Mermaid
1998-2015
assemblage found materials
44 x 11 x 10 inches
$3,200
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Running Bones
2006
assemblage found materials
16.75 x 21 x 15.5 inches
$1,800
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Playing Softly
2022
assemblage found materials
11.75 x 14 x 14 inches
$1,200
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Grace
1992
assemblage found materials
32-1/2 x 7 x 9-1/2 inches
$1,800
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Scrounger
1996
assemblage found materials
57-1/2 x 15 x 20 inches
$3,200
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Gardenia Girl
2022
assemblage found materials
46 x 14 x 26 inches variable
$5,800
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Ode to Monet
2022
assemblage found materials
17.75 x 16.5 x 7.5 inches
$1,500
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Teaching, the Most Honorable Profession
2016
assemblage found materials
50 x 40 x 30 inches (variable)
$8,500
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Cabana Girl
2022
assemblage found materials
12.5 x 7.25 x 7.25 inches
$850
$900 with pedestal (not shown)
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Pretty in Pink
2016
assemblage found materials
11.5 x 11.5 x 3.5 inches
$500
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Dandy Man
2022
assemblage found materials
12.75 x 6 x 4.5 inches
$500
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Russian Dancer (2/7)
2008 (ed. 2 of 7)
bronze
27.5 x 12 x 9 inches
$9,500
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