di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art maintains a permanent collection of works by Northern California artists that was originally collected by Rene di Rosa (1919-2010) and Veronica di Rosa (1934–1991). The collection contains notable works by artists living or working in the San Francisco Bay Area from mid-twentieth century to the early twenty-first century, highlighting a story of experimentation of the artists of the region. It is displayed in part, on a rotating basis, in the galleries at di Rosa.
This page represents a just a portion of di Rosa’s rich permanent collection. Stay tuned as we continue to populate this page with artworks from our collection.
di Rosa strives to be a resource for educators, students and lifelong learners. For research inquiries, please contact curatorial@dirosaart.org.
Chaotic Pendulum
Sculpture
Twisting the sculpture's central protruding knob will bring it to motion.
2117
Steel and Plexiglas
Sculpture
AR2117
Off the Preserve!
Purchase
Ned Kahn
1985
Object
69-1/2 in
51 in
20 in
Counter Clockwise
January 22 - April 11, 2026, di Rosa SF
Ned Kahn: Seed Vortex
January 11 - March 25, 2018, Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for Arts, Walnut Creek
Collection in Focus: Ned Kahn
February 3 - April 10, 2016, di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa
Curator
Chaotic Pendulum (1985) consists of four deceptively simple sets of pendulums linked together at human scale. Defying the predictive powers of physics, Kahn's device upends our intuitions and creates a whimsical mechanism that prompts us to come up with our own theories around its movement and capabilities. Visitors are invited to twist the sculpture's central protruding knob to bring the work to life and observe its chaotic, complex, and long-lived motion.