The Blues, 2023

Acrylic, pigmented Ink, gouache, absorbent ground on wood panel, 30" x 24", Unframed

Courtesy of the artist

Developing a historical imagination and fondness for drawing stories, Gregory Rick collapses history while confronting personal trauma. His works exist as reflections of his personal experience, while in dialogue with the wider world. Gregory has received SF MOMA's SECA award in 2022, Kala's Veterans Artist Residency in 2017, the Hamaguchi printmaking award, the Nathan Oliviera fellowship, and the Jack K. and Gertrude Murphy Award and has exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States.

About his piece in Art Kala 2023, he described "Music, anchored in misery becoming an outpouring of joy providing buttress for the soul."

Submit your pre-bids for live auction items to ellen@kala.org by 12PM / noon PST on Saturday May 13, 2023. You can also call or text Ellen at 510-520-6438 during the process.

The Oddities of Marbling Garden series, Saffron, Amnesia, 2022

Marbling, watercolor, and gold paint on BFK Rives paper, 30" x 22", Framed

Courtesy of the artist

Saffron, Amnesia, shows saffron crocus flowers, after the flower images in Mattioli's 16th c. botanical book, on a hand-made marbled landscape. A word written in Persian says, Faramoushi (Amnesia), which refers to saffron healing properties; consumption of saffron spice improves the cognitive abilities of patients with Alzameri's disease.

Marbled papers decorated manuscripts and books, throughout the history of book-making. Marbling-a plant-based printing method from late medieval Iran-uses natural pigments, solution, and oil. As a printmaker, I have found this old technique as a new "territory" to portray nature from historic, medicinal, visual, and cultural angles in diverse contexts in my work.

In creating my prints I will treat the patterns as less conventional to allow room for content and additional visual elements. The patterns suggest turmoil and fragmented landscapes alongside the hand-written healing properties of plants in Persian, which have double meanings and cultural connotations.The name of the series is inspired by the 13th c. manuscript, The Wonders of Creation and the Oddities of Existence (Ajayeb al-Makhluqat va Gharayeb al-Mowjudat) written by Qazwini, the celebrated medieval geographer and natural historian.

Albany Mudflats triptych, 2022

Colored scratchboard, Panel 1: 72" x 24", Panel 2: 12" x 24", Panel 3: 36" x 24"

Courtesy of the artist

For over 45 years Jos Sances has made a living as a printmaker and muralist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded Berkeley's Alliance Graphics, a successful union screenprint shop, and several years earlier co-founded Mission Gráfica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Throughout these years as a union and community printer, Sances steadily and consistently maintained an output of politically engaged art.

Turtle Cannery Ruins, Punta Lobos, 2023

7 color screenprint, ED/ 12, 20.75" x 14.5"

Courtesy of the artist

For over 45 years Jos Sances has made a living as a printmaker and muralist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded Berkeley's Alliance Graphics, a successful union screenprint shop, and several years earlier co-founded Mission Grafica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Throughout these years as a union and community printer, Sances steadily and consistently maintained an output of politically engaged art.

Turtle Release and Frigatebird above Playa las Palmas, 2023

8 color screenprint, ED/14, 20.75" x 14.5"

Courtesy of the artist

For over 45 years Jos Sances has made a living as a printmaker and muralist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded Berkeley's Alliance Graphics, a successful union screenprint shop, and several years earlier co-founded Mission Grafica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Throughout these years as a union and community printer, Sances steadily and consistently maintained an output of politically engaged art.

Turtle Release, 2023

Color scratchboard, 9" x 12"

Courtesy of the artist

For over 45 years Jos Sances has made a living as a printmaker and muralist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded Berkeley's Alliance Graphics, a successful union screenprint shop, and several years earlier co-founded Mission Grafica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Throughout these years as a union and community printer, Sances steadily and consistently maintained an output of politically engaged art.

Seaturtle Eggs, 2023

Color scratchboard, 9" x 12"

Courtesy of the artist

For over 45 years Jos Sances has made a living as a printmaker and muralist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded Berkeley's Alliance Graphics, a successful union screenprint shop, and several years earlier co-founded Mission Grafica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Throughout these years as a union and community printer, Sances steadily and consistently maintained an output of politically engaged art.

Frigatebird, 2023

Color scratchboard, 9" x 12"

Courtesy of the artist

For over 45 years Jos Sances has made a living as a printmaker and muralist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded Berkeley's Alliance Graphics, a successful union screenprint shop, and several years earlier co-founded Mission Grafica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Throughout these years as a union and community printer, Sances steadily and consistently maintained an output of politically engaged art.

Cannery Ruins, 2023

Color scratchboard, 9" x 12"

Courtesy of the artist

For over 45 years Jos Sances has made a living as a printmaker and muralist in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded Berkeley's Alliance Graphics, a successful union screenprint shop, and several years earlier co-founded Mission Grafica, at the Mission Cultural Center in San Francisco. Throughout these years as a union and community printer, Sances steadily and consistently maintained an output of politically engaged art.