Please join BAMPFA Curator’s Circle members for a reception and intimate tour of the exhibition No Horizon: Helen Mirra and Sean Thackrey (July 3–August 25, 2019). The reception will feature wine generously donated by . . . Sean Thackrey! . . . and accompanying small bites by chefs Patrick Hooker and Joan Ellis, owners of BAMPFA’s Babette cafe.

Organized by BAMPFA Director and Chief Curator Lawrence Rinder with Curatorial Assistant Lucia Momoh, this exhibition brings together two artists whose work embraces the simple act of seeing as an inspiration to deep reflection and understanding. Helen Mirra and Sean Thackrey both have had longstanding engagements with Zen, and their approaches to art reflect the discipline of simplicity and the recognition of the sublime as bare experience.

Mirra’s most recent works capture the nuances of her somatic walking practice and the geography she encounters and moves through. Each small-scale weaving presents a rich and restrained irregular grid of drifting color, shape, and texture.

Thackrey’s photographs were taken during his travels through Venice, Italy. However, they are not intended as images of a place, but rather objects of contemplation. They are meant to transmit a state of mind, including spirit at its most profound level, and elicit a clear, attentive presence for viewing them.

Helen Mirra has an international exhibition history that is steady in measure and erratic in form. She is an ordained practitioner in the Soto Zen lineage.

Sean Thackrey, as an artist, has worked in photographic media for more than sixty years. Formerly a San Francisco–based art dealer specializing in early photography, he is now known internationally as a winemaker.

Both artists live in West Marin, just north of San Francisco.

THIS EVENT IS AT CAPACITY. Please email jlsime@berkeley.edu to be added to the waitlist.