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.
Untitled
Sculpture
Small shelf with wire piercing piece of soap and sponge; wire hanging from shelf with ends piercing other pieces of soap and sponge
1204
Steel, sponge, soap
Sculpture
AR1204
Mincher/Wilcox Gallery
Purchase
Nayland Blake
1992
Object
65 in
10 in
8 in
Based on a True Story: Highlights from the di Rosa Collection
Curator
Born in 1960 in New York City, Nayland Blake has been an artist, educator, activist, and writer since the late 1980s. Earning his BFA from Bard College in 1982 and his MFA from the California Institute of Arts in 1984, Blake has worked across various mediums including sculpture, photography, painting, video, and performance. Direct forms of interaction through performance and collaboration as well as use of everyday objects are central to his art practice. As a queer and biracial artist, Blake explores sexuality and race issues - both personally and socially - through his work. In Untitled (1992) a natural sponge and piece of soap pierced by a metal pin perches atop a small metal shelf. A metal wire runs through the side of the shelf holding on one end a dangling piece of soap and on the other a sponge resting on the ground. While the objects have inherent meaning and associations, the title leaves the work open to interpretation. As Blake explained in a 2008 BOMB Magazine interview with Rachel Harrison, “My engagement with the object is about a quality of attention and a way to reveal my inner life to myself by externalizing it, by making it physical, or enacting it in some way.”