Unpacked

Unpacked debuts contemporary works from private collections of Northern California. More than 15 artists are included, providing a rare look into the inspiration for established collectors to build private museums and gift their art to regional institutions. It is the first exhibit of an ongoing initiative to showcase works of private collections to the public. In its inaugural edition, Unpacked exhibits works from the collections of both Debbie and Eric Green and Cindy and Howard Rachofsky.

Inspired by painter Dana Schutz’s imaginative narratives, the Green Collection explores creative expressions of humor, terror, contemplation, and love. For this exhibit, the Green loaned a selection of photographs and paintings that date as early as 1911. These portraits feature mysterious children, imagined gods, nude models, family pets, and ancestral relatives.

For this exhibit, the Rachofskys generously loaned six artworks with the Dansaekhwa movement, which emerged as an informal association of Korean painters in the mid-1970s. Influenced by the experience of the Korean War (1950 – 1953), Dansaekhwa artists engaged with philosophical concerns of the mind and body’s reintegration with nature. Their introspective artworks are often restricted in color palette because monochrome planes bared connotations of nature in post-war Korea. Dansaekhwa artists experimented with technique and frequently manipulated indigenous Korean materials such as raw burlap, hemp, and tak paper.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.