The Art of Beth Fein & Martin Webb
April – June 2023
There is stillness in the work of Beth Fein and Martin Webb that encourages you to pause and reflect. The calm stems from the layering of colors and the use of primary shapes to create finely balanced compositions. Each artist creates a depth of experience by giving us space and time to be present with their work. But to see their art as only quiet meditations ignores their energy. There is movement that flows across and emanates from these works of art. Creating balance requires tension, and in that tension between stillness and movement, we find deeper understanding.
Beth Fein explores shape and color in her work as a path back from the isolation and grief experienced during the pandemic. Similarly, the paintings of Martin Webb contemplate our desire for home, belonging, and connections using objects that combine simple representations, layered abstractions, and plain-spoken materials.
About the Artists
Martin Webb
British artist, Martin Webb (b. 1964), first came to the American West when he was awarded a Fulbright teaching exchange that brought him to the San Francisco East Bay in 1999-2000. He has found great success as a highly acclaimed artist with numerous public commissions visible throughout the Bay Area, and beyond. Whilst being primarily a studio painter, his work also encompasses printmaking, murals, reclaimed wood, concrete, ceramic tile, sculpture, and site-specific installations. He currently lives and works in Oakland, California.
Artist Statement
My work contemplates fundamental things such as our basic need to provide for ourselves; our desire for home, belonging, and connection; and our being a small temporary part of the natural world’s continuum. These thoughts take shape in images and objects that combine simple representations, layered abstractions, and plain-spoken materials. For some time now, I’ve used the recurring motifs of boats, houses, and travelers, to reflect on life’s journeys, arrivals, and moorings.
More Information at martinwebbart.com
For purchasing, please email [email protected]
Instagram: @martinwebbart
Beth Fein
Beth Fein is an interdisciplinary artist whose work encompasses installation, printmaking, video, and performance. Fein lives in Berkeley, where she works at her Oakland studio and at Kala Art Institute. She was the creator and director Of dance anywhere® a public, participatory, international performance work. Fein has been awarded artist residencies in Spain, Argentina, New York, Vermont, and California. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the Oakland Museum of California, the International Print Center NY, the Triton Museum of Art, Headlands Center for the Arts, Banks Gallery in London, The San Francisco International Airport, Santander/Spain, Buenos Aires/Argentina and Basel / Switzerland. Fein’s work is in the collections of the Yale University Library, the Oakland Museum of California, Taller Grafica Experimental Havana, The Bancroft Library, The Nevada Museum of Art, Zuckerman Art Museum, and the San Francisco Art Commission.
Artist Statement
My art practice encompasses printmaking, performance, sculpture, and installation. Recent projects embrace chance and choice; stillness and movement; repression and freedom; conceptual and material; reality and dreams – a collage of personal experiences within the world that surrounds us. My art reflects the shifting layers of ordinary life, balancing between the deeply personal and the political. There are references to social justice, betrayal, and struggle. My work can be configured in different ways, picked up and moved as though it were a performance evolving for a specific site. Ephemeral elements filter into many aspects of my art practice, magnifying the unpredictability of time and outside forces that permeate the essence of my artistic intent.
For more information visit bethfein.com
For purchasing, please email [email protected]
Instagram: @beth.fein
Exhibit Gallery
Gallery Visits
1995 El Dorado Avenue, Berkeley, California
We welcome you to view the exhibit from Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Please call 510.528.5820 to reserve a time to visit.
Questions:
For purchasing and additional information, please email us at [email protected]