Crossover Project Between MATRIX and L@TE Programs Offers Site-Specific Installations and Performances by a Gamelan Orchestra, Xiu Xiu's Jamie Stewart, Grouper, and a “SUN Ceremony”

Berkeley, CA, June 21, 2010-(Download a PDF version of this press release.)The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) announced its L@TE: Friday Nights @ BAM/PFA summer 2010 schedule, programmed exclusively by Oakland-based artist David Wilson. The four-event program is the first crossover project between L@TE and the museum's MATRIX program for emerging contemporary artists. David Wilson: Gatherings / MATRIX 233 is curated by Phyllis Wattis MATRIX Curator Elizabeth Thomas.

For the past several years, Wilson has been creating a series of unsanctioned installations and clandestine gatherings in Bay Area groves and woods. For his BAM/PFA exhibition and L@TE series, Wilson reorients these primarily outdoor celebrations of the natural world into BAM/PFA's spacious Gallery B for a uniquely ephemeral and interactive exhibition and L@TE series.

On July 9 Wilson hosts SUN Ceremony, a fully participatory drum and light demonstration. A collaboration with artist Chris Duncan, SUN Ceremony patrons are invited to bang along and stare into the sky while bathed in projections provided by Jeffrey Manson (Misto Reef Lights). Drummers and gazers will be serenaded by Chladni singer Meara O'Reilly (Avocet) and the SUN choir. Portland-based musician Liz Harris, a.k.a. Grouper, performs on July 23, contouring her sonic craft to the spiraling space of the museum. Her site-specific composition titled SLEEP is made up of tape-collage and live instrumentation accompanied by video. Eugene Petrushansky opens the evening with works of both early music and music of his own improvisation on his self-built harpsichord. On July 30, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, led by master Balinese musician I Dewa Putu Berata, will perform in traditional formation, surrounding dancers and encouraging an intimate circulation among the audience. The evening will open with a rare listening experience of a reel-to-reel recording of an a cappella mix of the Beach Boys' seminal album Pet Sounds. Wilson's L@TE program concludes on August 13 with an evening of field recordings provided by Xiu Xiu front man James Stewart. Stewart steps away from his song craft to debut a new composition of field recordings inspired by the night, animal calls, and quietness. Also featured on the evening's program, local film critic Max Goldberg responds with a selection of short experimental 16mm films from Canyon Cinema archive that “materialize the call of the wild and give ecstatic form to the way of nature.”

During the course of his residency from July 7 through August 22, Wilson will be building temporary architectures made of found materials; setting up a drawing studio full of artifacts and specimens; and making unique visual gestures to heighten the experience of the L@TE performances. One of Wilson's installations will be a sprawling wood canopy that will emerge from one corner of Gallery B up toward the central, cantilevered galleries above. Outside of Gallery B, on the terrace, will be a mirroring arch structure against the towering gallery windows, built with branches collected from the surrounding sites.

For some of his residency, Wilson will be working with students ranging between the ages of nine and twelve in his concurrent Gatherings-related course, offered through the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) Art Studios at BAM/PFA. Wilson's students will explore the surrounding wilds of the UC Berkeley campus and Strawberry Canyon while looking for materials to gather and bring back to the museum for the installations.

Wilson has had solo exhibitions at a number of Bay Area spaces, including Mollusk, Tartine, Forthrite Printing, and Eleanor Harwood Gallery. His work has also been included in regional group exhibitions, including Baer Ridgway, Hatch Gallery, Triple Base Gallery, and the California College of the Arts. His work will be featured in the 2010 California Biennial at Orange County Museum of Art. David Wilson: Gatherings / MATRIX 233 is the artist's first solo museum exhibition. Born in Framingham, Massachusetts, he now lives and works in Oakland, California. To follow Wilson's various projects and the development of his MATRIX exhibition, visit his blog: ribbonsribbons.blogspot.com/.

L@TE Friday performances, below, begin at 7:30 p.m. in Gallery B and conclude promptly at 9 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. with a cash bar and ambient sounds. Cafe Muse is open for dinner on L@TE Fridays from 5 to 7 p.m. Admission includes access to all BAM/PFA galleries.

July 9
SUN Ceremony, programmed by David Wilson

July 23
Grouper presents SLEEP, programmed by David Wilson

July 30
Gamelan Sekar Jaya, programmed by David Wilson

August 13
Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu) and Film Program by Max Goldberg, programmed by David Wilson

About the ASUC Gatherings Class

Gatherings with David Wilson
Youth ages 9–12 (exceptions considered)
Monday–Friday, 1–4 p.m.
Three one-week sessions: July 26–30; August 2–6; August 9–13

MATRIX artist David Wilson wants a few young minds to join him during his summer-long museum residency as he develops his Gallery B installation, Gatherings. Become a collaborator with him, exploring the surrounding wilds of the UC Berkeley campus and Strawberry Canyon while looking for materials to gather and bring back to the museum. Rooting his teaching in the ideas and conversations that occur during these adventures, and in the creative exercises that occur back at the museum, Wilson hopes to learn as much as teach. The class will focus on finding new ways to build with natural materials by adding to the installation-in-progress, experiments in light projection, drawing from life, making books and field recordings, and pursuing wonder.

$200 per week; $180 for BAM/PFA members, UC Berkeley students and staff

Register online at artstudio.berkeley.edu or by phone at (510) 642-6161. Register now; classes fill quickly!

ASUC is the Associated Students of the University of California, Berkeley. The ASUC Art Studio provides affordable quality art instruction for students as well as the larger Berkeley community.

$5 After 5
General admission to the BAM/PFA galleries is just $5 after 5 p.m. on L@TE Fridays. Show your ticket for a same-day PFA screening or gallery visit and get in free. Admission is always free for BAM/PFA members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff.

About L@TE
Start your weekend in the BAM/PFA galleries! The galleries are open until 9 p.m. or later on four Fridays this summer, with ambient sounds and wine and beer available for purchase in the lobby beginning at 6 p.m., and an array of performances and other programs in Gallery B.

L@TE Support
L@TE is made possible in part by Bank of America, the Tin Man Fund, and the continued support of the BAM/PFA Trustees. Special thanks to our media sponsors, East Bay Express and San Francisco Bay Guardian.

MATRIX Support
The MATRIX Program at the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive is made possible by a generous endowment gift from Phyllis C. Wattis; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; and the continued support of the BAM/PFA Trustees.

About BAM/PFA
The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) is the visual arts center of the University of California, Berkeley, one of the nation's leading research universities. BAM/PFA aims to inspire the imagination and ignite critical dialogue through contemporary and historical art and film, engaging audiences from the campus, Bay Area community, and beyond. One of the largest university art museums in the United States in both size and attendance, BAM/PFA presents fifteen art exhibitions and four hundred film programs each year. The museum's collection of more than 15,000 works, distinguished by artistic excellence and innovation, intellectual exploration, and social commentary, includes exceptional examples of mid-twentieth-century painting, including important works by Hans Hofmann, Jackson Pollock, Eva Hesse, and Mark Rothko, as well as historical and contemporary Asian art, early American painting, Conceptual and contemporary international art, and California and Bay Area art. The PFA film and video collection now includes the largest group of Japanese films outside of Japan, as well as impressive holdings of Soviet silents, West Coast avant-garde cinema, seminal video art, rare animation, Central Asian productions, Eastern European cinema, and international classics.

Museum Information
Location: 2626 Bancroft Way, just below College Avenue near the UC Berkeley campus.

Gallery and Museum Store Hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 11 to 5. Open L@TE Fridays until 9 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

Admission: General admission is $8; admission for seniors, disabled persons, non–UC Berkeley students, and young adults (13 – 17) is $5; admission for BAM/PFA members, UC Berkeley students, staff, and faculty, and children under 12 is free. Reservations are required for group visits; for information, rates, and schedule, please e-mail sgvisits@berkeley.edu. Admission is free on the first Thursday of each month.

L@TE Admission: General admission to the BAM/PFA galleries is $5 after 5 p.m. Show your ticket for a same-day PFA screening or gallery visit and get in free. Admission is always free for BAM/PFA members and UC Berkeley students, faculty, and staff. Tickets can be purchased online at bampfa.berkeley.edu. For updates on L@TE programs, visit bampfa.berkeley.edu/late.

Information: 24-hour recorded message (510) 642-0808; fax (510) 642-4889; TDD (510) 642-8734.

Website: bampfa.berkeley.edu

###