Reinventing Riley

Presented by the ICA San Jose

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Join Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) San José’s Executive Director James G. Leventhal in dialogue with San Francisco Bay Area artists Sarah Hotchkiss, Lordy Rodriguez, and Susie Taylor as they explore the themes of hard-edged abstraction at the SJICA exhibition, Altered Perceptions (March 17 – August 13, 2023).  Inspired by Riley’s embrace of a new language of abstraction, informed by mechanization, as well as magical plays on adjacencies, focusing on the viewer’s perceptions, each artist’s approach is unique: one more political, one working on a loom, and one exploring the visual puns embedded in Riley’s work. Together, the panel will explore Riley’s powerful legacy while displaying the variety of approaches to art-making across the Bay Area arts scene.

Sarah Hotchkiss is an artist and writer in San Francisco. Since 2015, she’s been the visual arts editor for KQED, the Bay Area’s NPR and PBS affiliate, covering the local visual arts and film scene in online articles. Before wading into the earnest waters of public media, she worked as the communications director for the venerable San Francisco arts nonprofit Southern Exposure. And before that she wrote condition reports in a warehouse that stored Indiana Jones-level amounts of art. She holds an M.F.A. from California College of the Arts and a B.A. from Brown University. In addition to her own studio practice, she watches a lot of science fiction, which she reviews in a semi-regular publication called Sci-Fi Sundays.

Lordy Rodriguez was born in the Philippines, raised in Louisiana and Texas, and currently lives in Hayward, California. He obtained his B.F.A. from the School of Visual Arts in New York and his M.F.A. from Stanford University. For several years he has been working on a series of ink drawings that reinterpret the United States of America as delineated by geographic, civic and state boundaries. These handmade maps, drawn in fine Technicolor detail, represent his take on the ideal reconfiguration of our [U.S.] country. His recent exhibitions include “The Map is Not the Territory” at the Hosfelt gallery New York, New York (2011); “Surface Depths” at Nevada Art Museum (2009); “States of America” at the Austin Museum of Art (2009); “Optimism in the Age of Global War” at the 10^th Annual Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey (2007); “The California Biennial” at the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California (2006); “Perspectives,” as part of “25: A Quarter Century of New Art” at the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas (2004); and “Dessins et des autres” at Galerie Anne de Villepoix in Paris, France (2004).

Susie Taylor is a veteran textile designer and master weaver who combines technical skill and artistry to create abstract and dimensional textiles.  She received her BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and her MFA from UCLA. Her work has been seen in New American Paintings, The LA Times, American Craft, Fiberarts, FiberArt Now, The Textile Eye, Complex Weavers Journal, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, Handwoven, Journal of Weavers Spinners & Dyers and The Bulletin (Guild of Canadian Weavers) magazines.  She has taught at Penland School of Arts & Crafts,  Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts and Tyler School of Art. She maintains a studio in San Jose, CA.

Image Credits: Untitled 600, Lordy Rodriguez, courtesy of the Artist and Hosfelt Gallery.