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Grand opening: Backstock GalleryPost an Event »

Backstock Gallery

February 2 - March 7, 2013

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3231 Grand Avenue Oakland, CA 94610
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Please join us for our first art exhibition and grand opening of our new gallery: Backstock Gallery in the Grand Lake District of Oakland! Opening: Saturday, February 2, 6-9 pm Backstock Gallery is a new contemporary arts project space focusing on exhibiting work by emerging Bay Area artists. Situated in two unused back rooms in Oak Common, a retail concept store in Oakland, CA, Backstock Gallery provides exhibiting artists with the creative space needed to explore new ideas without the pressure of creating work to sell. In the Backstock Gallery's debut exhibition, Lauren Douglas presents a grouping of works that explore how we navigate time and focuses on what Douglas calls "the in between". The name of the show is derived from an Italo Calvino story called "A Sign in Space" in which he examines the passage of time from the perspective of losing oneself to it. Ultimately the main character tries to make a mark in time with the idea of finding it again, light years later. Using this as a jumping off point, Douglas simultaneously explores the tension between trying to define one’s own life through forced gestures and the ultimate realization that, in the end, we simply exist within the time-space continuum that life lays out for us. However, instead of approaching this topic with any sense of convalescence or angst, Douglas instead delves into this realization full force by looking deeper at the profoundness of the seemingly mundane. Her photographs document the beauty of light as it reflects on water encouraging us to pause and realize all that we are missing as we rush through our lives. She examines horizons, appreciating their suggestion of what lies ahead but also our inability to every fully reach them as they keep moving away from us, just out of reach. Her Star Fields contemplate the blurry line between reality and imagination through hand crafted constellations. What’s most startling is that the fabricated stars mirror the precise way that the light is reflecting off the water in Douglas’ other works. It is at this point that connections between these works begin to develop and her ruminations on light and water pushes us to realize our position within a context larger than ourselves. Also included in the exhibition is a new installation, there was an answer there, in which Douglas immerses us in rippling water. Constructed using a video projection, mirrors and a subtle soundscape, this installation brings the ideas explored in her photographs to stunning conclusion. The power and beauty of something so seemingly mundane becomes an immersive experience in which the viewer is encouraged to step into Douglas’ world, and if only for a fleeting moment, soak in the profoundness of what is right in front of us. Lauren Douglas is an Oakland based-artist who has been exhibited at Hatch Gallery, The Royal None Such Gallery, Adobe Backroom Gallery and SF Camerworks. Douglas was born in Carson City, Nevada and raised on the Central Coast of California. She received her BA from San Francisco State University in 2005 and is currently an MFA candidate at Mills College. This is her first solo exhibition. ___ Backstock Gallery is a new contemporary arts project space focusing on exhibiting work by emerging Bay Area artists. Situated in two unused back rooms in Oak Common, a retail concept store in Oakland, CA, Backstock Gallery provides exhibiting artists with the creative space needed to explore new ideas without the pressure of creating work to sell. With a focus on film/video, installation and, other experimental forms of art, Backstock Gallery seeks to provide a venue for artists who work in these under-represented genres in which they can present their work to the community at large. We are currently rounding out our exhibition schedule for 2013 and looking for submissions by Bay Area Artists. If you're interested, contact us at gallery@oakcommon.com.