Listen to this note:
New Beginnings is the title of the painting by artist Noemi Manero presented in the Women's View 2024 exhibition, now on display at the Caldwell Gallery on the San Mateo County County Center campus through April 26, and is one of 46 works that offer a glimpse into what local women artists are thinking and doing.
"My art tells a story of resilience, celebrating who I am as a woman and an artist," Manero said. ?Through the ups and downs of life, I recognize the challenges I have faced and the victories I have achieved. This painting is about starting over, finding beauty in chaos and moving forward with determination.
The canvas by Renata Aryanti, another of the artists presented in this exhibition, is full of midnight blues, greens, yellows and points of light.
His work, “Cosmos,” is inspired “by the immensity of our universe and my emotional response to the unknown and uncertainties. I started doing a lot of abstract with fluid acrylic in 2021, after the pandemic, as my way of processing how to accept uncertainties and chaos and create beauty from them?.
Meanwhile, Agnes Qui's self-portrait radiates energy, hot and cold.
“In my art I incorporated both water and fire, since they are very important elements in Chinese culture,” Qui said. ?Water is believed to represent intelligence, wisdom, flexibility, softness and malleability. Fire symbolizes energy, creativity, passion, power, strength, courage and assertiveness.
?I chose these two elements,? she said, ?because I feel very connected to them, they represent a big part of who I am, all my internal expressions.?
This is the 18th annual Women's View exhibit, which runs through April 26 and opened March 1, the same time as Women's History Month. The event is a collaboration between the Office of Arts and Culture, the Arts Commission and the Commission on the Status of Women.
“Taken together, the exhibition gives us insight into the diverse creative processes of women in our communities,” noted Aimee Shapiro, executive director of the Office of Arts and Culture.
“Visitors can view artwork throughout the Caldwell Gallery, read artist statements, and discover what personal meaning the work has for them.”
Works include oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings, tapestries, photographs, mixed media and more. Participants must be women or local artists who identify as women.
With 2024 being the year of a hotly contested US presidential election, several of the works have social and political themes.
The overall winner of the juried exhibition is ?From Mother to Son: Don't Let Them Steal Your Sun?, an acrylic, fabric and paper collage by artist Rebecca Archer.
?Looking at a photo from Alabama from 1956, I was struck by how these two black children seemed so sweet and innocent and my instinct as a mother was to protect them. But since it was a photograph from 1956 and they were black, I was also aware that no one could do much to protect them?, described the artist. The title is inspired by the poem Mother to Son by Langston Hughes.
Selma Tufail took second place for her oil on canvas work, ?The Fountain?, while ?Madness?, a watercolor and ink by Echo Lake Wodarczyk, took third place.
The Caldwell Gallery is located on the first floor of the San Mateo County Hall of Justice in Redwood City. Admission is free.
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