CWF LEAD ARTISTS: JON RUBIN
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People in Real Life


Installation view, “People in Real Life”

Project Titles: People in Real Life
Recipient Organization: Dublin Fine Arts Foundation
Lead Artist: Jon Rubin
Genre and Date Awarded: Visual Arts, May 1996
Presented: August 8-September 19, 1997

Artists Jon Rubin, Harrell Fletcher, and Larry Sultan collaborated with Dublin Fine Arts Foundation to examine “mall culture” through an artists’ residency in an empty store space at Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton, California. Their residency culminated with the installation, “People in Real Life,” which was visited by an estimated 14,000 people over a six-week period. Most of the visitors were not art patrons, but were at the mall to shop and entered the store out of curiosity: Nearly all of the visitors were new audiences for Dublin Fine Arts Foundation. Some came repeatedly.

In the cities of Dublin and Pleasanton (both in Alameda County, California), as in many suburban communities throughout the United States, the retail mall is the hub of communities’ social, cultural, and public life. The artists wrote at the project’s outset, “It is a common assumption that the bland, public uniformity of shopping malls mirrors the monotonous character of suburban developments. But this generalization overlooks the private, self-contained world of the people who live in these communities and the way they play out the daily dramas of their lives, each rich in individual detail.”

The artists sought to develop a new language for creating public art in this environment and an extraordinary opportunity arose when management of Stoneridge Mall was willing to make an empty store space available to them. Over two months, the artists spent a minimum of two days per week at the mall, meeting and talking to community members. As their research progressed, they chose five people—both mall employees and visitors—whose stories and possessions became the focal point for their installation. People in Real Life borrowed from the language and look of advertising and merchandising and replicated the look and organization of a store.

“People in Real Life” featured a series of “pieces” that used video, photography, sound, text, and mock products—tee shirts printed with phrases collected from mall shoppers asked to describe their wishes and fears, and underwear boxes printed with images of “real people” (as opposed to professional models) with observations about their own bodies printed on the other side of the box. Videos in the store’s front windows presented a sampling of conversations with some 60 individuals who had talked to the artists. Wall texts presented shoppers’ “to do” lists and the store’s back wall featured a video of an out-of-control backyard barbecue.

Prior to this project, Rubin, Fletcher, and Sultan had worked both collaboratively and individually on site-specific art projects that explored the dynamics of social spaces and communities. Their approach is to first understand a site’s physical and social characteristics and then to create work addressing and illuminating overlooked aspects of that site. They wrote of People in Real Life: “As in our previous work, our goal for this project is to recognize and honor the significance of daily life, creating for the community a greater understanding and appreciation of itself.”

While the artists had engaged in many collaborative projects, this was the first opportunity for the three of them to work together. Since 1973, Larry Sultan had collaborated with Mike Mandel on more than 25 site-specific public art projects. In 1993, Sultan and Mandel collaborated with Jon Rubin on “A Crisis in Education,” commissioned by the San Francisco Art Commission’s Market Street Art-in-Transit Program, through which they developed 25 posters for kiosks along Market Street. This series grew out of Sultan, Mandel, and Rubin’s spending a year interviewing and photographing students in three public high schools. In addition, Jon Rubin and Harrell Fletcher had been collaborating on public art projects for more than three years. In Oakland they had been using a donated storefront, “Gallery HERE,” as a center in which to work as artists-in-residence, creating projects that involved and addressed the people and places of the gallery’s neighborhood.

Founded in 1988 as a private, nonprofit organization, the Dublin Fine Arts Foundation was created with and for the citizens of Dublin to provide an arena for artistic activities using the Civic Center as its base. Its primary goal is to integrate art into the everyday lives of the community. As such, the Foundation focuses its attention on art programs with school age children, temporary and permanent artworks in public spaces, and temporary exhibitions in the Civic Center Lobby. While People in Real Life was located in Pleasanton, the Stoneridge Mall, lies just across the freeway from Dublin.

LEAD ARTISTS

Jon Rubin

Jon Rubin is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores the extraordinary possibilities of daily life. He has exhibited internationally including The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The de Young Museum, San Jose Museum of Art, The Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo,Mexico, The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and The Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle.He has received numerous national public art commissions, fellowships, residencies and awards.

RESUME HIGHLIGHTS

Selected Exhibitions and Projects

  • University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2004)
  • “the peaceable kingdom,” Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery, San Francisco, California (2003)
  • “Drawings and Videos,” Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery, San Francisco, California (2001)
  • “Boy,” Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, Washington (2000)
  • “The Boy Mechanic,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California (1999)
  • “Wanderings and Observations,” Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, California (1998)
  • “Anthony,” Walter McBean Gallery, San Francisco, California (1997)
  • “People in Real Life,” (Creative Work Fund project), Pleasanton, California (1997)
  • “A Few Months in Fairfield,” Patricia Sweetow Gallery, San Francisco, California (1997)
  • “Some People We Met, Some Stuff We Borrowed,” Richmond Arts Center, Richmond, California (1996)
  • “Garage Sale,” “The Cement Boat,” “Albert,” Gallery HERE, Oakland, California (1994)

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Germany (2004)
  • “First Happiness,” Albany Museum of Art, Albany, New York (2004)
  • Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, California (2004)
  • “Neighborhood Public Radio,” 21 Grand, Oakland, California (2004)
  • “Ladies and boys and touching,” Yale School of Architecture, New Haven, Connecticut (2003)
  • Harpers Magazine, November 2003
  • “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, Idaho (2003)
  • “Ladies and boys and touching,” Video Mundi, The Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois (2003)
  • “Adolescent Boys, and Living Rooms,” Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico (2002)
  • “Housebroken,” Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, California (2002)
  • “Gimme Shelter,” Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporaneo, Mexico (2002)
  • “Punk Rock Band,” San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, California (2002)
  • “No, No, Okay, Okay,” (commissioned video), San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California (2002)
  • “Fat Slice,” curated by It Can Change, Fat Slice, California (2002)
  • “Fast Forward,” Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, California (2001)
  • “Never underestimate the power of a drawing,” Refusalon, San Francisco (2001)
  • “Other People’s Lives,” Eyer/Moore Gallery, Seattle, Washington (2001)
  • “Of the Moment,” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (2000)
  • “Museum Pieces,” The M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, California (2000)
  • “Light Fantastic,” Walter McBean Gallery, San Francisco, California (2000)
  • “Urban Renewal Gallery,” (Creative Work Fund project), Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco (1998)
  • “Better,” San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco, California (1997)
  • “Incidents and Notations,” New Langton Arts, San Francisco, California (1997)
  • “Bay Area Award Show,” New Langton Arts, San Francisco, California (1994)
  • “Eyes on Public Art,” Center Gallery, Seattle, Washington (1994)

Public Art Commissions (*denotes permanent project)

  • OMI Recreation Center*, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, California (2003)
  • Campus Public Art Project*, University of California, San Francisco, California (2002)
  • Hillman FreeMobile, Seattle Art Commission, Seattle, Washington (2002)
  • North Beach Parking Garage Project*, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, California (2001)
  • Market Street Art in Transit Project, San Francisco Arts Commission (2000)
  • Muni Key Stop Project*, San Francisco Art Commission, San Francisco, California (1998)
  • “Forever,” City of Fairfield, Fairfield, California (1998)
  • University of Washington Bus Shelter Posters, Washington Arts Commission (1998)
  • Arts in Education Residency Grant, Laurel Elementary Web Site, City of Oakland, Oakland, California (1997)
  • “Some People from Around Here,” City of Fairfield, I-80 public art project, Fairfield, California (1997)
  • Billboard, Claremont Middle School, Oakland, California (1996)
  • “Claremont Middle School Bus Bench Project,” Rockridge BART Station (1995)
  • “I Am Afraid,” Exploration City Site, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco, California (1995)

Grants and Awards

  • The Art Matters Foundation Fellowship (1995)
  • Artist-in-Residence, California Arts Council, Claremont Middle School, Oakland, California (1994-96)

Teaching Experience

  • Visiting Faculty, New Genres Department, San Francisco Art Institute (1999-present)
  • Adjunct Faculty, California College of the Arts (2000-present)
  • Visiting Faculty, Stanford University, Stanford, California
  • Visiting Faculty, University of California, Santa Cruz

Public Collections

  • M.H. de Young Memorial Museum
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
  • Berkeley Art Museum
  • Hartnell College
  • University of California, San Francisco
OTHER COLLABORATING ARTISTS

Harrell Fletcher

RESUME HIGHLIGHTS

Grants Awards and Residencies

  • Gunk Grant (2003)
  • Artslink
  • Grant (2003)
  • Creative Capital Grant (2002)
  • Creative Work Fund Grant (2000)
  • Oxbow School Visiting Artist Residency (2000)
  • Artists and Communities Millennium Grant (1999)
  • Headlands Center for the Arts Residency (1998)
  • Creative Work Fund grant with Jon Rubin, Larry Sultan, and Dublin Fine Arts Foundation (1996)
  • Headlands Center for the Arts Post-Graduate Studio Award (1994)
  • Bay Area Award (1994)
  • Barclay Simpson Graduate Award (1994)

Solo and Collaborative Exhibitions

  • “Hi,” Christine Burgin, New York, New York (2004)
  • “Maintaining the Jazz,” Jack Hanley Gallery, San Francisco, California (2004)
  • “Happiness Follows Us Like a Shadow,” New Langton Arts, San Francisco, California (2004)
  • “The Sound We Make Together,” DiverseWorks, Houston, Texas (2003)
  • “Now It’s a Party,” Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut (2003)
  • “Reread Summerhill,” Signal Art Center, Malmo, Sweden (2003)
  • “Everyday Sunshine,” Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, Oregon (2001)
  • “48 Hours,” The Soap Factory, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2001)
  • “Cars and Houses,” The Physics Room, Christchurch, New Zealand (2000)
  • “The Boy Mechanic,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California (1999)

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • The Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York (2004)
  • “Near and Far,” Domaine de Kerguéhennec Centre d’Art, Bignan, France (2004)
  • “Street Selections,” The Drawing Center, New York City (2003)
  • “Playground” Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA, Portland, Maine (2002)
  • “Yes, We’re Excerpts,” Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York, New York (2002)
  • “Fast Forward,” Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, California (2001)
  • “Of the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Collection,” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (2000)
  • “Above and Beyond,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California (2000)
  • “Museum Pieces,” M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California (1999)
  • “Urban Renewal Laboratory,” Southern Exposure, San Francisco, California (1998)

Curatorial Projects

  • “Hello There Friend,” Christine Burgin, New York, New York (2003)
  • “A Love for All Animals,” San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery (2001)
  • “Survivalist,” Southern Exposure at Project Artaud, San Francisco, California (1999)
  • “Whipper Snapper Nerd,” Bronwyn Keenan, New York; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; and Mark Moore Gallery, Santa Monica, California (1998)

Selected Public Art Commissions

  • “More Sunshine,” Portland Oregon RACC (2002)
  • School of Social Work, University of Minnesota Art Commission (2000)
  • North Beach Parking Garage, San Francisco Art Commission (2000)
  • “Market Street Art in Transit,” San Francisco Art Commission (1999)
  • University of Washington, Seattle, Washington (1998)

Public Collections

  • The New Museum, New York, New York
  • The M.H. de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
  • Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, California
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California

Related Work Experience

  • Instructor, Cooper Union, New York, New York (2004)
  • Instructor, Det fynske Kunstakademi, Odense, Denmark (2003)
  • Instructor, Hartford Art School, Hartford, Connecticut (2003)
  • Instructor, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon (2003)
  • Instructor, Design Intensive, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, California (2002)
  • Instructor, Graduate Intensive, MECA, Portland, Maine (2002)
  • Instructor, Graduate Interdisciplinary Seminar, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, California (2001)
  • Instructor, Based in Real Life, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California (2001)
  • Instructor, Generosity, DasArts, Amsterdam, Holland (2001)
  • Instructor, Graduate Interdisciplinary Seminar and Graduate Independent Study, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California (2000)
  • Instructor, Interdisciplinary Seminar, Stanford University, Stanford, California (1999)
  • Instructor, Graduate Independent Study, California College of Arts and Crafts, San Francisco, California (1999)
  • Instructor, Beginning Sculpture, Stanford University, Stanford, California (1998)
  • Instructor, Graduate Seminar and Graduate Independent Study, California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, California (1998)

Larry Sultan

RESUME HIGHLIGHTS

Awards

  • Photography Fellowships, National Endowment for the Arts (1992, 1986, 1980, 1977)
  • Louis Comfort Tiffany Fellowship (1991)
  • Public Arts Award, Oakland Cultural Arts (1990)
  • Eureka Fellowship, Fleishhacker Foundation (1989)
  • Art in Public Buildings, California Arts Council (1989)
  • Englehard Award, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, Massachusetts (1988)
  • Artist’s Fellowship, Marin Arts Council (1986)
  • Guggenheim Fellowship (1983)
  • Special Projects Grant, California Arts Council (1978)
  • Art in Public Places Grant, National Endowment for the Arts (1976)

One Person Exhibitions

  • “Pictures from Home,” Scottsdale Center for the Arts, Scottsdale, Arizona (1995)
  • “Larry Sultan: Pictures from Home,” The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (1995, 1994)
  • “Larry Sultan: Pictures from Home,” Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, Illinois (1994)
  • “Pictures from Home,” Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, California (1994)
  • San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California (1992)
  • The Exploratorium, San Francisco, California (1990)
  • Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California (1989)
  • Janet Borden, Inc., New York, New York (1989)
  • Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island (1987)
  • Film in the Cities, St. Paul, Minnesota (1983)
  • University of Colorado Art Gallery, Boulder, Colorado (1982)
  • Portland School of Art, Portland, Maine (1982)
  • Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon (1981)
  • Light Gallery, Los Angeles, California (1981)
  • Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1978)

Public Collections

  • Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
  • Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France
  • Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama
  • Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona
  • Chase Manhattan Bank, New York, New York
  • Frods Regional D’Art Contemporain, Lyon, France
  • The Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
  • Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York
  • The National Museum of Art, Washington, DC
  • San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
  • University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska
  • University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

Selected Group Exhibitions

  • “To Keep Her Countenance,” Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, California (1996)
  • “Home is Where…,” Weatherspoon Art Gallery, Greensboro, North Carolina (1995)
  • “A Selection of Photography by Gallery Artists,” Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, California (1995)
  • “We Look and See,” University Art Museum, Berkeley, California (1995)
  • “Death and the Family,” Presentation House, Centre for the Visual and Performing Arts, Vancouver, British Columbia (1995)
  • “Big Shots/Little Shots,” Transamerica Pyramid Lobby, San Francisco, California (1994)
  • “Imagining the Family: Photographs by Tina, Barney, Lorie Novak, and Larry Sultan,” List Art Center, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island (1991)
  • “Group Show,” Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, California (1991)
  • “Blood Relatives,” Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1991)
  • “Photography As Idea: Conceptual Photography of the 60s and 70s,” San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California (1991)
  • “Summer Selection,” Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York (1991)
  • “Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort,” Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York (1991)