Teaching Wall / Water, Art, and California

August 28–December 22, 2024

This exhibition presents a group of works drawn from BAMPFA’s collection, organized in conjunction with an undergraduate Art Practice course. Taught by Professor Greg Niemeyer, this course surveys the many waters that flow deep within our bodies and all across the globe.

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Max Bill: Composition, 1967
Joan Brown: Golden Gate Bridge, 1987
Georgios and Constantinos Zangaki: (Egyptian water carrier filling pot with woman behind screen), c.1870-1880

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Teaching Wall / Water, Art, and California

Campus Collaborations

August 28–December 22, 2024

The works on view all demonstrate the impact that art and visual culture have on our understanding of water. While it is one of the most vital natural resources, our access to water is also precarious. This is often contradicted by images in which water appears to be, especially in California, unlimited. These artworks depict the many ways that waters function in different cultures and at different times. In some, water is presented as part of nature, such as awe inspiring lakes seen hiking or swimming, or as sudden downpours of rain. In others, water is more literally seen as a resource, harnessed for energy or stored for drinking. Across this broad range...

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This Teaching Wall is part of our BAMPFA's Campus Collaborations, an ongoing series in partnership with faculty and students at UC Berkeley. The BAMPFA Art Curatorial team works closely with UC Berkeley faculty members to present small groups of works from the museum's collection, drawing largely from the Florence Helzel Works on Paper Study Center. We work with one faculty member per semester to develop an exhibition related to course themes, integrating the collection into class curriculum. These presentations may also be organized by graduate research groups and the BAMPFA Student Committee.