ABOUT
Erin Fong is a Bay Area-based multidisciplinary artist with a vibrant and diverse creative background. After studying letterpress printing in college, Fong embarked on a journey collaborating with esteemed letterpress printers and bookbinders, honing her skills in the creation of unique artist editions. In 2013, she co-founded Western Editions, a letterpress and design studio focused on smallbatch specialty printing.
In 2019, Fong shifted her focus to transition to a dedicated studio practice that explores the profound impact of color on our daily lives and delves into the intricate dynamics of human connection, both with herself and others. This shift expanded her repertoire beyond printmaking to encompass the expressive potential of painting and the experiential realm of immersive installations. Her work serves as an exploration of the interplay between hues and emotions, alongside interpersonal relationships, self-discovery, and one's inner state.
Fong's creative prowess has attracted collaborations with a diverse range of commercial brands, including notable names such as J.Crew, Incase, Squarespace and Allbirds. Her work has been commissioned for office spaces such as Square HQ, Hush Puppies and Google as part of the Google Artist in Residence program. Her letterpress work has included colophons and text for several artist editions, including renowned names such as Maira Kalman, Clare Rojas, Malick Sidiblé, and Wayne Thiebaud
Beyond her artistic practice, Fong's creative vision extends to the creation of dynamic content that captivates audiences through colorful styling and engaging experiences across the Bay Area and beyond.
Please reach out at [email protected]
EXHIBTIONS
2023 The Voice in the Hand, Petaluma Art Center | group show (forthcoming) 2023 Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, Emeryville, CA | group show (forthcoming) 2023 Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, CA | group show (forthcoming) 2023 The Sensation of Color, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA | solo show 2022 Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, Emeryville, CA | group show 2022 Faith, Hopes, and Dreams, Realm Gallery, Los Angeles, CA | group show 2021 Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, Emeryville, CA | group show 2020 The Friendship Project, Rare Device, San Francisco, CA | solo show 2019 The Friendship Project, Wild Child Children's Museum, Oakland, CA 2018 Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, Emeryville, CA | group show 2017 The Peep Show, Mule Gallery, San Francisco, CA | Co-curated 2016 Greetings From California, Alite Gallery, San Francisco, CA | duo show EDUCATION + OPPORTUNITIES
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2025 Emeryville Bus Shelter Public Art (forthcoming)
2022 Google Artist in Residence
2022 Rare Device Mural commission
2022 Ferry Building Earth Day commission
2022 Square HQ commission
2021 Ferry Building Earth Day commission
2019 California College of the Arts Letterpress Instructor 2019 Jewish Community Center SF activation
2019 In Cahoots Residency
2012 San Francisco Center for the Book | Non-profit volunteer 2009-2012 Codex Foundation | Non-profit volunteer
2004-2009 University of Nevada, Reno
Liberal Arts degree with a focus in studio art, women’s studies, and sociology.
More information can be found here https://erinloves.fun Mike Farruggia
Mike Farrugia’s work is currently on view at the Bedford Gallery as part of the Recology Artist in Residence retrospective national traveling exhibition; RECLAIMED: THE ART OF RECOLOGY. The show was commissioned in 2021 for exhibit at the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, CA.
The collaboration with the Recology Artist in Residence (AIR) Program and the Bedford Gallery was described by Val Britton as “present[ing] a breathtaking survey of artists who have had the opportunity to participate in the program. Operating with the belief that art plays a unique role in educating and inspiring the public, Recology—San Francisco’s recycling and composting company—provides Bay Area artists with access to discarded materials via coveted scavenging privileges, a stipend, and studio space at the San Francisco Transfer Station and Recycling Center. This special exhibition of work created from unwanted materials encourages us to see our “trash” in a new light and reflect on our own consumption practices in a time of heightened concern and awareness for the future of our planet.
Since its founding in 1990, over 150 professional artists and 50 college student artists have completed residencies “at the dump.” The facility is a 47-acre site that includes the trash transfer station, the Household Hazardous Waste Facility, the Organics Wing, the Public Reuse and Recycling Area ("the dump"), and other recycling areas.” Artist Statement of this Experience
Residency: February 2005 - April 2005
Art Exhibition: Friday, April 22 & Saturday, April 23
“Garbage” — seen, selected and loved — recalibrates the synchronicity of its path and therefore everything. The event becomes art. An object becomes the exploration of a human experience.
Ever since I was a little boy, I have been making stuff. At a very young age — 5 or 6 perhaps — I remember making a cage for my cat Tiger. The wooden box had a ladder-like door constructed of two strips of wood connected with dowels.
This door was strung to the winding knob on the back of an alarm clock. As the alarm rang, the knob would spin and (I hoped) raise the door. My sister recalls me taping the CO2 cartridge from my brothers BB gun to a pair of roller skates to make them “supersonic.”
Not much has changed over the past thirty years. I have spent much of my adult life living in garages continuing this three-dimensional experimentation: In my twenties, I made a pool table out of a Volkswagen Bus, a fish tank out of an AMC Pacer, and lamps from parking meters.
My recent study of furniture design and building techniques has given my work a cleaner, more refined look. No doubt, this education has made me a better, more dynamic designer and builder, but the attention to detail and formalism that it requires has also taken away some of my inventiveness.
In response to this realization, I am currently experimenting with designing a mass produced chair made from plywood and recycled felt impregnated with epoxy. I am also designing and building furniture from old wine barrels.
The Dump is a perfect venue to host the meeting of my free-thinking, creative past and my most recent formal education. I am excited to share the results with the world.
Visit Mike Farruggia's website
Artist Biography
At an early age, John Whitehead showed a high appreciation and ability for visual arts, spatial relationships, and math. By the age of ten, without any formal training, he had begun painting in oils, creating architectural models, working in clay, and drawing imaginative abstract images.
John’s formal training in art began while he was attending Hoover Middle School in West Oakland. Unfortunately, his middle school art classes did not seriously challenge him nor contribute much to his artistic growth. So, by the time John entered high school, he had abandoned all hope of ever growing as an artist or sculptor.
And then, a miracle occurred. Assigned to a sculpting class at the request of his Aunt Ina, he was introduced to the teachings of Richard Davies, a dedicated and talented art teacher at McClymonds High School in West Oakland. Under his astute tutelage, John was exposed to a whole new approach to art, which emphasized geometric abstraction, creative expression, and constructivist art. Armed with this new approach, John entered and won a major Oakland Unified School District-sponsored art competition and placed either first, second or third in several other local art competitions.
Starting around 2005, about ten years before his retirement as a tenured professor in economics at CCSF, John began creating beautiful multi-colored abstract wall sculptures from various art media. Soon after, he began a new body of work consisting of geometric abstract stainless steel and aluminum sculpture influenced by the sculpting methods and paradigms introduced to him in his high school sculpting class. John’s current work is heavily influenced by David Smith’s “Cubi” series and Fletcher Benton’s “Folded Circle” series.
Artist Statement
My sculptural work evolves from the constructivist and geometric abstract traditions. While it is inspired by my faith in humanity and the beauty of nature, it is most directly influenced by Fletcher Benton’s geometric abstractions and David Smith’s “Cubi” series. Stylistically, my work contains a variety of geometric constructions, shapes, and patterning curves and spaces that exhibit movement, harmony, energy, symmetry, and balance.
I view my work as an evolving process that seeks to achieve four objectives: 1) to provide art that is imaginative and original; 2) to provide art that is three dimensional and interesting from all angles; 3) to provide art that will be true to my vision, while stimulating the imagination and intellect of the viewer; and 4) to provide art that reflects meticulous craftsmanship, structural strength, and durable materials.
CV / Exhibitions
Education
1983 M.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Major in Economics with significant coursework in Visual Arts; graduated magna cum laude 1979 B.A., University of California, Berkeley, CA. Major in Economics, Minor in Art; graduated with high honors
1974 California College of Arts & Crafts High School Summer Program, Oakland, CA 2010s Studied under Fred Kling, Faculty Emeritus of Art, CCSF Selected Solo/Two-Person Exhibitions
2019 Overland-Tandberg Corporation Headquarters Lobby, San Jose, CA 2019 Tertulia Coffee and Gallery, Oakland, CA
2017 Home of African American Actor, Danny Glover, San Francisco, CA 2016 Joyce Gordon Fine Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
2016 Office of the Chancellor, City College of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 2015 Artworks Foundry Gallery, Berkeley, CA. Curator: Steven Headley 2015 Jacobs Gallery at the Holt Center, Eugene, OR
2014 Gallery 85 at Santana Row, San Jose, CA
2014 Home of Former San Francisco 49ers’ Tight End, Vernon Davis, Los Altos, CA 2013 City College of San Francisco Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2012 Mills College Upward Bound Program, Oakland, CA
2012 111 Broadway – Oakland City Center Lobby, Oakland, CA Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 37th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2022 36th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2021 35th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2018 32nd Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2018 San Fernando Valley Arts & Cultural Center, Tarzana, CA 2017 Nancy Littleton Fine Arts, Houston, TX
2016 Ritz Carlton Hotel, Lake Tahoe, CA
2015 29th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2014 28th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2013 Solomon Dubnick Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2012 26th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2011 21 Grand Gallery, Oakland, CA
2011 Esteban Sabar Gallery, Oakland, CA
2010 Lima Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 4th Street Fine Art, Berkeley, CA
2010 24th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2009 23rd Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2008 Watergate Clipper Club and Trader Vic’s Restaurant, Emeryville, CA 2008 22nd Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition, Emeryville, CA 2007 DeFremery Park, Art/ Recreation Center, Oakland, CA Awards
2017 3rd Place, Nancy Littleton Fine Arts, Houston, TX
2009 3rd Place (Second Honorable Mention), City of Emeryville Purchase Award 1975 1st Place, Invitational High School Competition: Oakland Unified School District 1975 3rd Place, Jurred High School Competition: UC Berkeley Department of Art Publications
2018 ZO Magazine, Artist Profile
2013 “Sculpture of John Whitehead.” City Currents, City College of San Francisco Newsletter, Volume XX – Issue 24
Scholarly Presentations
2016 “Contemporary Geometric Abstract African Diasporic Sculpture: A Comparison.” Joyce Gordon Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
2013 “Balance, Gravity, and Movement in Fletcher Benton’s Large-Scale Sculpture.” City College of San Francisco Art Gallery,San Francisco, CA More informa�on can be found at htps://www.johnwhiteheadsculptures.com/