Sanchez Art Center begins 2024 with three exhibitions with an array of artistic mediums including, a stirring painting retrospective of work by Foad Satterfield, a photography exhibition featuring the work of the Fog Fest Photography Contest award winners and judges, and a group show with the members of the Art Guild of Pacifica, themed Light & Shadow.

The opening reception is on Friday, January 19, from 7 to 9 pm, with music by Blue City Jazz.

In Then is Now, 1995-2023, Foad Satterfield shares a retrospective of his works from various series of his paintings.  Satterfield notes that while each painting is unique within the context of its series, collectively they share an internal structure weaving them together with an intentional logic grounded into a pictorial intimacy and personal narrative.  Working with the artist to select the pieces, curator Jerry Ross Barrish (Sanchez Art Center’s Artistic Director) notes that the show is more than a painting exhibit, veering into “an installation bringing nature inside the gallery.  Visitors will be surrounded by a world of nature as Foad Satterfield sees it”.

Satterfield, who began his professional artistic practice committed to painting in 1973, has long explored his, and by extension our, relationship with nature.  His work is grounded in his early years, born in 1945 in Orange, Texas, and raised along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.   The geographic area, rich in texture, color and light welcomed him to explore nature while providing a diversion to the tension of the Jim Crow south.  A journey by a great aunt traveling to Spain and Rome and collecting trunks full of artifacts sent to family back in Louisiana, provided fascination and a sense of the broader world, that drew him into art.  Satterfield earned his B.A. at Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA and his M.F.A. Painting from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.  From 1980 – 2018, he was Professor of Art, Dominican University of California in San Rafael, and also Curator, of the San Marco Gallery at the university, through 2015.

Loose brushstrokes, infused with a depth of color and energy generate an interior light in each of his works that can be viewed as both abstractions and representational landscapes.  The artist notes, “As life’s processes reveal themselves to me, I am more able to view and articulate the textures and the warm and cool colors of the earth, and to contemplate and perceive this living world and the unchanging mystery from which Life began.”

Then is Now, an exploration of the artists journey over time, will conclude with a program on Sunday, Feb. 11, beginning at 3:00 pm with musical reflections on the artists work by Bernini Baroque Trio, immediately followed a conversation with the artist.

The East Gallery presents the Fog Fest Invitational Photography Show, featuring the winners of the annual Pacific Coast Fog Fest Photography Contest and the judges (Alan Grinberg, Edwin Hacking, and Sharron L Walker).  While the Contest has specific categories for entry, the Invitational provides the opportunity for each photographer to share the work they would like included in the exhibition.  Photographs by George Surmaitis reflect how nature displays the continuing cycle of death and rebirth, a type of covenant with the promise that this circle will be unbroken. Often something profound is hidden right in front of us.  Falu Bakrania is sharing work from a long dreamt of trip to photograph the slot canyons in the Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona.  In this series, she captures the stories in the flow of colors, textures, and shapes.  In a more intimate collection, Gretchen Telzrow presents an exploration inspired by the essence of an individual of great significance in her life, her mother.  She notes, “The play of light and shadow in each frame is more than a visual display; it’s an homage to the profound impact she had on my artistic journey”.   The public is invited to a Gallery Walk and Conversation with the photographers on Sunday, Jan 28, beginning at 3pm.

Ringing in the new year, the Art Guild of Pacifica presents Light & Shadow, a group show.  Open to any artwork or interpretation on the theme provides the opportunity for artists to share their own perspective, making a very interesting and engaging exhibit.   The Art Guild will also offer small artworks and art cards for purchase (cash/check).

Sanchez Art Center is located at 1220 Linda Mar Blvd in Pacifica, about a mile east of Highway 1. Following opening night, the galleries are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 1–5 pm, and by appointment, through Feb 11.  For more information call 650.355.1894 or visit SanchezArtCenter.org.