San Pablo Arts District (SPAD)

San Pablo Arts District Fund and di Rosa Present

Apocalypse Party and Video Works from Zombie-Proof House

Friday, June 24, 2011

5516 San Pablo Avenue

Oakland, CA

9 p.m.

Still from Afterlifers:  Walking & Talking (Exten-Dead Version)

HalfLifers (Torsten Z. Burns & Anthony Discenza) 2004/2008

Digital video

Courtesy Anthony Discenza and Torsten Z. Burns

OAKLAND, CA – The San Pablo Arts District Fund (SPAD) and di Rosa are pleased to present the Apocalypse Party on Friday, June 24, from 9 p.m. – 11 p.m.  This free event launches a show of video works by artists from the Di Rosa exhibition, Zombie-Proof House, curated by Robert Wuilfe, at SPAD’s storefront exhibition space, located at 5516 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, CA.  The party will also feature indoor movie projections, zombie-inspired foods, and drinks by Tieton Cider Works.  DJ Tom Thump spins music.  Admission is Free.

Projected onto a storefront window, these contemporary video works will be visible every evening after dark to passersby and drivers along San Pablo Avenue. SPAD’s partnership with the di Rosa introduces local audiences to new, experimental and evocative art.  Projection space is provided courtesy of Create In Clay School of Ceramics (www.createinclay.org).

Zombie-Proof House is a meditation on anxiety and hope, and what that means in a troubled time.  The work tackles recent history and speculates on potential futures as each relates to collapse, political upheaval, and shared responsibility.  Taking its tongue-in-cheek title from pop culture’s latest infatuation with zombies, the exhibition broaches challenging topics with an often darkly humorous sensibility.

"Zombies keep popping up in political, economic and philosophical theory,” says Wuilfe adding that “[t]here are certain zombie ideas that have been proven not to work, like trickle-down economics, and they’re these dead ideas but they won’t go away.”

While mindful of post-apocalyptic images and end-of-the-world scenarios, the exhibition also tries to expose some of the absurdity of paranoia and fear, grounding itself in the present and resuscitating the idea of hope and resistance.  The artists in Zombie-Proof House share a real concern for the world around us, and their work helps examine our individual and shared roles in times of crisis.

Artists in the video exhibition at SPAD are among the most innovative in the Bay area, and have exhibited both nationally and internationally. They include: Anthony Discenza, HalfLifers (Torsten Z. Burns and Anthony Discenza), Suzanne Husky, Inka Hoots (Joshua Short and Joel Dean Stockdill), Packard Jennings, Robin Lasser and Adrienne Pao, Whitney Lynn, and Carol Selter. The work of these artists, as well as Lucy Puls and Julio Cesar Morales, will be on view in the main exhibition at di Rosa till September 17th.

“We are proud to present the work of such diverse and talented artists,” says Idan Levin, Executive Director of SPAD.   “As the largest collection of Northern Californian art in the world, di Rosa continues to present ambitious, new ideas for exhibiting, collecting, and collaborating.  This collaboration gives us a great opportunity to share diverse contemporary art with the East Bay Area.”

ABOUT DI ROSA

Located on 217 beautiful acres in the Carneros Region of southern Napa Valley, di Rosa is a place that provokes the imagination and artistic spirit of our time, through celebration of the art and artists of the Bay Area.  The renowned di Rosa collection covers more than half a century of work from many noted and distinguished artists, attracting thousands of visitors annually for exhibitions, tours, lectures, and family events.  Visit their website at http://www.dirosaart.org

ABOUT SPAD

SPAD is dedicated to promoting art while facilitating urban development in the San Francisco East Bay Area.  Converting abandoned storefronts in long-neglected neighborhoods into functional, alternative art galleries, SPAD confronts inner-city blight and strengthens community relations, while showcasing cutting-edge art.  Visit their website at http://www.sanpabloarts.org/ 

Media Contacts:

Idan Levin, Executive Director, San Pablo Arts District Fund: idan@sanpabloarts.org