¡Printing the Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics, 1965 to Now
Smithsonian American Art Museum | November 20, 2020 – August 8, 2021
”In the 1960s, activist Chicano artists forged a remarkable history of printmaking that remains vital today. Many artists came of age during the civil rights, labor, anti-war, feminist and LGBTQ+ movements and channeled the period’s social activism into assertive aesthetic statements that announced a new political and cultural consciousness among people of Mexican descent…” Read more >
De Young Open to showcase works of hundreds of artists at critical time for creativity
SF Chronicle, Datebook | Tony Bravo | August 2020
Cheryl Derricote featured in this Datebook Sfchronicle.com article! Vessel Gallery is very excited about this show! A number of our artists have been selected to participate in the de Young Museum’s Open show! This keeps us engaged, hopeful, and looking forward during these uncertain times! Congratulations Cheryl Derricote, Pamela Merory Dernham, Hyeyoung Kim, Christy Kovacs, Todd Laby, Peter St. Lawrence! Read more >
Vessel Gallery, Oakland Art Murmur Fixture, to Reopen Following 2018 Displacement
KQED | Sam Lefebvre | January 2020
”Oakland Art Murmur fixture Vessel Gallery will reopen in February more than a year after being displaced from its longtime 25th Street home, curator and director Lonnie Lee told KQED. Vessel Gallery, Oakland Art Murmur Fixture, to Close Following Lease Termination Local Language, Art Fabrication Studio, to Replace Vessel Gallery in Oakland The Culture is the Cure: Artists as First Responders The contemporary visual art gallery will take over the 23rd Street location …” Read more >
Local Language, Art Fabrication Studio, to Replace Vessel Gallery in Oakland
KQED | Sam Lefebvre | December 2018
”Last month, Oakland's Vessel Gallery shuttered after landlord Matthew Iglehart declined to renew the Oakland Art Murmur fixture’s lease, saying through his property management company that …” Read more >
Vessel Gallery, Oakland Art Murmur Fixture, to Close Following Lease Termination
KQED | Sam Lefebvre | October 2018
”Eight years ago, Lonnie Lee opened Vessel Gallery with a solo exhibition by Oakland sculptor Cyrus Tilton. Next month, she’ll close her Oakland gallery–a fixture of Oakland Art Murmur—with …” Read more >
Vessel Gallery: Interview with Lonnie Lee, Founder and Curator
San Francisco Arts Quarterly | Kelly Inouye | June 2012
"As a thirty-year resident of Oakland, Vessel’s owner and curator, Lonnie Lee, is fiercely proud of all that Oakland has to offer and is an active participant in the Oakland Art Murmur. I recently sat down with Lonnie to talk about her background, the evolution of Vessel, and her perspective as a gallerist." Read more >
Vessel Gallery to Close After Eight Years in Oakland
East Bay Express | Janelle Bitker | October 2018
”Lonnie Lee sounds remarkably calm about the end of her popular art gallery.
"We are closing our doors," she said. "We have been displaced…” Read more >
STAFF PICK | Utopia: Forecasting Our Future
East Bay Express, October 2018
"Vessel Gallery’s current exhibit takes a look at environmental preservation as artists explore the idea of utopia. In partnership with the recent Global Climate Action Summit and San Francisco’s COAL + ICE exhibit, Utopia: Forecasting Our Future features philosophical and historical ruminations…” Read more >
Vessel Gallery Envisions the Future
Oakland Magazine | DeWitt Cheng | September 2018
”The bunker mentality exuded by the White House and its petroleum plunder-bound allies seems never to gain the attention of Trump loyalists,…” Read more >
Sunset Magazine featuring Vessel Gallery
Sunset Magazine | Allison McCarthy | July 2018 Read more >
Locusts Art Installation | Cyrus Tilton at Crocker Art Museum
Airtime coverage on CBS local, July 2018
"Ashley Williams is at the Crocker Art Museum which is proud to present The Cycle by Cyrus Tilton, an immersive and kinetic exhibition of sculptures that tell the story of the locust's mutation, breeding, development, and swarm... " Read more >
Cyrus Tilton @ Crocker Art Museum
Squarecylinder, June 2018 by Julia Couzens.
"If ever an artist’s work embodied the paradox of attraction and repulsion, it is Cyrus Tilton’s accomplished and disturbing three-part installation, The Cycle. It possesses the appeal of art and the revulsion we feel toward invasive insects, evoking..." Read more >
Giant Steps for Chaves
Maji Press, May 2018
"The first time I saw Chaves’ work was on a waning afternoon on the block of Oak and 12th. I saw it on the side of downtown Oakland’s many unassuming yet content-wise obscure buildings." Read more >
Persistence of Light: Staff pick
East Bay Express, January 2018
"With a new calendar comes new possibilities. Whether you decide to make New Year’s resolutions or actually stick to them, the mere concept proves our innate optimism, hope for positive change, and attraction to light. Vessel Gallery will explore these ideas..."
Read more >
Wide Perspectives on Landscapes
Oakland Magazine, by DeWitt Cheng, December 2017
"Sculptor Pamela Merory Dernham and painter Walter James Mansfield, who showed previously together six years ago, are reunited for This Land We Share, exploring landscape, in the broadest sense—political and psychological as well as geologic/geographic." Read more >
Art Letter, Crocker Art Museum Members Magazine,
Jan, Feb Mar, Apr 2018
"The Cycle by Cyrus Tilton: This March, a swarm of muslin and steel locusts will inhabit one of the Museum's third floor galleries as part of The Cycle by Cyrus Tilton..".
Read more >
Art Letter, Crocker Art Museum Members Magazine,
Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec 2017
Announcement for The Cycle by Cyrus Tilton. Read more >
Art Letter, Crocker Art Museum Members Magazine,
May, Jun, Jul, Aug 2017
John S. Knudsen Prize Awarded to Cyrus Tilton
The artist’s first solo museum exhibition opens next year at the Crocker. Read more >
Best gallery runner-up: East of the City
San Francisco Magazine, July 2017
Read more >
East Bay Artist Cyrus Tilton: A Powerful Legacy Lives On
Art Opticon / Oakland Magazine + Alameda Magazine, June 2017
"The recent art-world flap over the semi-abstract painting of civil-rights martyr Emmett Tillpoints up how confusing it is nowadays interpreting sociopolitical art. Such is not the case, however, with the powerful and sometimes disturbing art of Cyrus Tilton,.."
Read more >
Sights & Sounds: Francis Wong
KALW Local Public Radio, 91.7 FM in San Francisco
"WONG: Right now we're really fighting for visibility and dignity as Asian Pacific Islander communities..." Read more >
Crocker Art Museum awards inaugural $25,000 Knudsen Prize to Bay Area sculptor Cyrus Tilton
Art Daily, May 2017
The Crocker Art Museum announced the award of its inaugural John S. Knudsen Prize of $25,000 to Oakland-based sculptor Cyrus Tilton (1977–2017). Read more >
Pulse: San Francisco
Art Ltd. Magazine, May 2017
"Identity and oppression is critical to the context of race in America. Excuse Me, Can I See Your ID? challenges notions of model minority,.." Read more >
Pacific Rim Sculptors (PRS)
Sculpture Magazine, May 2017
"Cyrus Tilton won the 2016 John S. Knudsen Prize, and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento acquired his sculpture, Lovers,.." Read more>
Accolades
HYPERALLERGIC, APRIL 2017
The Crocker Art Museum awarded its inaugural John S. Knudsen Prize to Cyrus Tilton (1977–2017). Read more >
AN EXPANDED APPROACH TO ASIAN-AMERICANNESS AT VESSEL GALLERY
Juxtapoz Magazine, by Sarah Burke, April 2017
"Two massive paintings by Oakland artist Dave Kim meet the viewer at the entrance to Vessel Gallery’s Excuse Me, Can I See Your ID?, an exhibition that aims to unravel over-simplified understandings of Asian-American identity." Read more >
Cyrus Tilton wins inaugural $25,000 Knudsen Prize
ARTFORUM, April 2017
"The Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento announced that Cyrus Tilton, an artist who lived and worked in the Bay Area, has been posthumously awarded its inaugural $25,000 John S. Knudsen Prize,.." Read more >
Crocker awards its first Knudsen Prize, plans exhibit of late sculptor’s work
The Sacramento Bee, Janet Vitt, April 2017
"The Crocker Art Museum has awarded the first John S. Knudsen Prize, which supports a California artist with $25,000. The award has gone to the late Cyrus Tilton,.." Read more >
Dismantling Stereotypes About Asian-American Identity Through Art
Huffington Post, Priscilla Frank, April 2017
"A timely exhibition called “Excuse me, can I see your ID?” is “not intended for the white gaze.” Read more >
Bay Area sculptor, musician Cyrus Tilton dies of cancer at 39
East Bay Times, by Mark Hedin, April 2017
OAKLAND — "Cyrus James Tilton, one of the bright lights of Oakland’s art and music scene, has died of esophageal cancer, his gallery announced. The sculptor and musician was 39." Read more >
An Expanded Approach to Asian-Americanness at Vessel Gallery
KQED, by Sarah Burke, April 2017
"Two massive paintings by Oakland artist Dave Kim meet the viewer at the entrance to Vessel Gallery’s Excuse me, can I see your ID?, an exhibition that aims to unravel over-simplified understandings of Asian-American identity." Read more >
Critic's picks: San Francisco
Art Ltd. Magazine, by Barbara Morris, February 2017
"In 2015, the month of May was proclaimed as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by Barack Obama; this spring, Oakland’s Vessel Gallery will present its own examination of Asian American identity with “Excuse Me, Can I See Your ID?” While plans have been in the works for two years,..." Read more >
Chief curator Scott Shields of the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento announced Cyrus Tilton has won the 2016 John S. Knudsen Prize Art Ltd. Magazine, January 2017 Read more >
Oakland City Council Moves Forward With Uptown Arts District Resolution
KQED, by Creo Noveno, September 2016
"A resolution to establish an Uptown Arts District in Oakland goes before the city’s Life Enrichment Committee meeting next month after a year-long campaign by local community members." Read more >
Aaron Schuyler's Cophinus at Vessel Gallery
Street Spirits, by Ariel J. Smythe, August 2016
"Local fine artist Aaron Schuyler has his eye on the issue of homelessness. While homelessness is a condition some may consider ugly, Schuyler offers his art piece “Cophinus,” a part of the Disruptus exhibition at Oakland’s Vessel Gallery, which debuted at last month’s Art Murmur event, as a reminder of the beauty of humanity that connects all of us, whether housed or not." Read more >
Disruptus at Vessel Gallery
SF Arts Monthly, by SF/Arts curator Christian L. Frock, July 2016
"Featuring works by David Burke, Cheryl Derricotte, Ian Alan Paul and Martin Webb among others, this group exhibition considers the broad-reaching effects of disruption in our daily lives... " Read more >
Disruptus at Vessel Gallery, art pick
East Bay Express, by Sarah Burke, July 2016
"At the center of Disruptus, there’s a massive tile painting of Pussy Riot — the Russian feminist punk rock protest group — in action, yelling in the street with their fists in the air. Nearby, stands a towering pink cage in the shape of a grenade with an explosion of crows emerging from it."
Read more >
Bella Feldman: New works at Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, by Sarah Burke, January 2016
"Bella Feldman's recent work includes a sculpture that resembles a menacing underwater mine. Two glass orbs are outfitted with sharp steel spikes and anchored to militaristic mounts made of heavy metal, then tethered to one another with a hefty chain. The piece embodies a glaring tension between force and fragility — a recurring characteristic in the 85-year-old artist's body of work." Read more >
Lost Love: Sanjay Vora, William Schwob, Rosella Scapini ar Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, December 2015
"To create his paintings, Sanjay Vora first depicts an image from his memory — a scene from a home movie or a recollection of a day on the beach as a child." Read more >
2014 TopTen List
Art Ltd. Magazine, by DeWitt Cheng, January 2015
Vessel Gallery's Discovering Uncharted Territories made the top 10 list of art ltd.
Read more
Evan Holm: “The River Made No Sound” at Vessel Gallery
Art Ltd. Magazine, by Barbara Morris, July 2015
"With California in the third year of a recordbreaking drought, Evan Holm's "The River Made No Sound" could strike a tender nerve, yet instead manages to convey a largely soothing feeling, offering hypnotic sounds and images that engage us in much the same way as actual natural phenomena..." Read more >
Sculptor Evan Holm Goes to the Edge
SFWeekly, Review by Jonathan Curiel, May 2015
"In his Oakland studio just minutes from the Bay Bridge toll plaza, Evan Holm shows a visitor a long, strange contraption that includes unspooled cassette tape, large wooden wheels, small metal rotors, oak branches, and pools of water. The sculpture is designed to push the tape through the air and into the pools, where the tape is submerged and then continues on its way, all the while playing overlapping music that evokes nature at its most sublime..." Read more >
The World Inside a Cassete
East Bay Express, Review by Sarah Burke, June 2015
"Evan Holm's "Forest Pools" unfurls a world from inside a cassette tape. The installation, currently on view at Vessel Gallery (471 25th St., Oakland) for Holm's solo show the river made no sound, is made up of shallow pools of water and black ink that span the length of the upstairs showroom — 78 feet long..." Read more >
Oakland artist Evan Holm creates environments within galleries
SFGATE, by Kimberly Chun, May 2015
"Call it a close encounter of the artful kind. Watchers will probably remember Oakland artist Evan Holm DJing on “Submerged Turntable” amid mossy tree branches in SFMOMA’s atrium during its 2013 countdown to closure, much as they will recall kindred spirit Christian Marclay’s “The Clock” screening at the same time upstairs. Little wonder that the two have converged, unintentionally, at other points..." Read more >
Notions of Romance
East Bay Express, Review by Sarah Burke, January 2015
"Curating an art show around the slippery idea of love will always be a risky endeavor for those hoping to avoid cliché. But with Notions of Romance, Vessel Gallery takes a more nuanced approach to the poetic problem. The show aims to collect reflections on the more tangible feelings that surround the elusive “L” word. With a focus on representing varying perspectives, the group show features ten artists...." Read more >
"William Harsh review: Painting, drawing for keeps"
San Francisco Chronicle, Review by Kenneth Baker, December 2014
"Looking at many of Harsh’s paintings induces discomfort. You can feel the struggle in them, the effort of improvising something into fictive being and trying to make it credible in the way that only the delirium of heartfelt painting can...." Read more >
Will Art Silicon Valley Transform the Art World?
Artnet News, October 2014
"Lonnie Lee, founder and director of Vessel Gallery in Oakland, told artnet News: "I am interested in introducing our artists to collectors in this region of the Bay Area. We're only a bridge away, and local; I want collectors to know that quality, distinctive art produced in the Bay Area is being represented and shown in Oakland. The SF Peninsula is home to Stanford University and is the epicenter of technology and venture capital—these sectors value creativity, innovation, and quality." Lee is bringing works by Nick Dong, Beili Liu, Cyrus Tilton, and William Schwob." Read more >
Recap: Art Silicon Valley Brings Banksy, Kehinde Wiley to the Suburbs
High Fructose, October 2014 Nastia Voynovskaya, see Cyrus Tilton's works included
"The selection of galleries at Art Silicon Valley was refreshing. The event was put together by Art Miami, the organization behind several annual Basel Week fairs in December, and felt truly cosmopolitan. Art Silicon Valley had a heavy emphasis on unusual materials..." Read more >
Ron Weil / William Schwob
Visual Art Source, September 2014 Critic's Pick
"Pairing artists is tricky: their work is usually related in theme or material, and aesthetically on the same wavelength; but also different enough so that they speak to each other. The works Ron Weil and William Schwob work (and play_ so nicely together that novice curators could study how this works to their benefit." Read more >
Oakland Artist Ron Weil Evokes Immersive Worlds with Peculiar Techniques in his Vessel Gallery exhibit, Discovering Uncharted Territories
East Bay Express, Review by Sarah Burke, September 2014
"He developed an artistic technique using charcoal powder through which he now builds abstract dreamscapes on paper, producing works that appear remarkably tactile, and forming visual spaces with incredible depth...." Read more >
Best of Oakland and the East Bay
Oakland Magazine, July 2014
It's the 4th year in a row we've been named best gallery by our bay area community! Thank you for the continued support! Read more >
Animalia House
East Bay Monthly, Review by Dewitt Cheng, July 2014 Issue
"A new show by sculptor Gordon Glasgow and assemblagist-painter Iris Polos, appropriately entitled Us, explores our malfeasance as our brother animals’ keeper..." Read more >
The Animals In Us
East Bay Express, Review by Sarah Burke, June 2014
"The show Us at Vessel Gallery explores this tension between inclusion and exclusion in regards to the relationships between humans and animals through the art of Gordon Glasgow and Iris Polos." Read more >
What Lies Beneath
San Francisco Chronicle, March 2014
"(Vora) has spent hours – full days – perfecting the light, the feel, the emotion...Vora's large scale paintings focus on the forgotten moments of his past through a process that requires him to relive memories, cover them up and then unbury them again."
Read more >
Periphery
East Bay Express, Review by Sarah Burke, March 2014
[“My work is to bring the peripheral into focus,” says sculptor Cyrus Tilton in his artist statement. Indeed, Tilton’s sculptures reside in the space between the conscious and the unconscious, an area rich with the potential for imaginative play...] Read more >
"Vessel Gallery Showcases a Surveys Tim Rice's Paintings"
San Francisco Chronicle, Review by Kenneth Baker, February 2014
"I'm really interested in being aware of my surroundings continually. ... Also, working improvisationally, all this stuff comes up in an accidental way and I work with it as it does. It's about translating a visual experience in a particular way, but not a descriptive way..." Read more >
Pareidolia
Traction Art, February 2014
"There is no denying Donald Fortescue's multi-media, solo exhibition, "PAREIDOLIA" at Vessel Art Gallery, in downtown Oakland is..." Read more >
Pareidolia
East Bay Express, January - February 2014 Review
"With impeccable execution, the California College of the Arts professor of art and design presents several amorphous pieces inspired by nature, each of which work as Rorschach tests... "Read more >
Science and Art Align in Fortescue Exhibit at Vessel
East Bay Monthly Review - February 2014 Issue
"It’s the title of a solo show by Donald Fortescue, scientist turned artist, who balances scientific objectivity with artistic subjectivity..." Read more >
Vessel Gallery - Art & Soul of Oakland, These diverse galleries invite art lovers to explore Oakland's creative side.
US Airways, January 2014 Review
"Owner Lonnie Lee opened Vessel in 2004 and is passionate about developing relationships with artists and collectors. Championing emerging and established artists, Lee curates compelling solo shows and group exhibits in a historic building in Uptown. Vessel presents a regional and international lens on art through site-specific installations, paintings, sculpture, and fine jewelry—all with a refined eye toward individuation, distinction, and respect for nature as a source. Named Best Gallery for three years running...." Read more >
Cheryl Calleri / Thekla Hammond
Visual Art Source, October 2013 Review
"the two artists went beyond that level of dialogue and coalesced - or, more prosaically, collaborated - on a joint project, a video installation, "Co-Motion" with music by Armando Mafufo. It's in the downstairs gallery, but consider going there first. This collage of fleeting black and white images, exploring "the poetry of motion," features what appears to be solarized live film footage of dances, marathons, and microbial life. Projected onto a scrim of panels, the video is set to a propulsive beat that sets the tone for the silent but immersive works upstairs in the main gallery..." Read more >
Reviews, The New Bay Bridge: Christy Kovacs and John Ruszel @ Vessel Gallery
Squarecylinder, September 2013
"The New Bay Bridge, now on view now at Vessel Gallery in Oakland, uses photography and sculpture to frame the bridge in as an emblem of the “technological sublime”. Christy Kovacs, in photo collages, paintings and sculptures, probes its social, ecological and sonic possibilities; John Ruszel, a sculptor, explores it as a feat of engineering. Both celebrate its functional and aesthetic virtues." Read review >
Reviews, Oakland, Cyrus Tilton, Vessel Gallery
Sculpture Magazine, September 2013
"Absence, Tilton's recent show, assembled a range of surprises. Suggesting Magrittte's paintings with a 21st-Century aesthetic, these sculptures form fantastic equivocations, prompted by the mysteries of life." Read review >
Best of Oakland and the East Bay
Oakland Magazine, July - August 2013
"Since relocating, Lee has become an active member of the burgeoning Art Murmur scene, regularly hosting cutting-edge group shows..."
Read more > View online source >
Landscapes: Near and Afar
East Bay Express, June 2013 Review
"The works are varied, deep, and often stunning. Sanjay Vora creates marvelously textured seaside landscapes consisting of painted canvas veiled with a thick layer of meticulously scraped, fondant-like gray oil..." Read more >
Cyrus Tilton: "Absence"
Art Ltd. Magazine, May / June 2013
"Tilton has channeled this investment in craft and form into primarily classical subjects...by recalling historical references and emphasizing material processes, Tilton expresses multiple, complex emotional...." Read more >
William Harsh taps the tangible but unnameable"
San Francisco Chronicle, Review by Kenneth Baker, November 2012
"Vessel Gallery in Oakland has given Benicia painter William Harsh the sort of retrospective that his work has merited for years. Sadly, though he was intensely involved in preparing the show, Harsh died of cancer at 59 just a week before it opened. Harsh studied at Boston University with Philip Guston (1913-1980) and James Weeks (1922-1998)..." Read more >
William Harsh's Inner States
East Bay Express, November 2012 Review
"Vessel Gallery mounts a final retrospective of the admired expressionist painter....Unfortunately, Harsh would not live to see his final exhibition; he passed away the night his works left Benicia for installment. But with this rich retrospective now hanging, he is in every position to do as Picasso did for him: inspire other young artists, for whom there are certain things that can only be expressed in paint." Read more >
Hidden Agenda at Vessel Gallery
Art Ltd. Magazine, November 2012 Review
"All of the works in this exhibition display a dedication to craft, an interest in organic shapes, forms, or textures, and a balance of contemporary and modernist aesthetic. Critchfield's works on panel and linen are laboriously built, and her process even extends to formulating her own proprietary gesso to prepare the surfaces." Read more >
A Glass Menagerie - Alex Abajian and Jerry Lin-Hsien Kung explore an unusual technique
East Bay Express, July 2012 Review
"In isolation, one of these creatures might appear a merely decorative object — a chic, sensuous addition to a posh lobby or some such space. However, Abajian and Kung have no interest in delivering their creations to such a fate..." Read more >
The Craft of Creation
Handful of Salt, August 2012
"We’re big fans of Lonnie Lee’s Oakland-based Vessel Gallery. Why? Other than Lonnie’s sparkling personality and the gallery’s serious coolness as a space, it’s her unerring taste, obviously. She has a way of finding great artists, and nurturing them to even further greatness. The other thing we love is her commitment to process: she understands how great art gets made in a profound way, and better yet, exposes that process to the community. So few (if any) do this, and we can’t figure out why. But there you have it: Vessel’s the only place to go for this kind of thing." Read more >
Best Gallery, Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, July 2012
"With its mix of media (sculpture, jewelry, painting, etc.), Lee's gallery demonstrates what Oakland art is, and exemplifies what
it can be." Read more >
Summer Saturdays: Oakland's Coolest New Art Event
7x7 SF, July 2012
"Looking for another reason to cross the bridge to the East Bay? Many of the galleries that participate in Oakland's popular Art Murmur gallery scene are extending their First Friday festivities to include Saturday hours." Read more >
Vessel Gallery: Interview with Lonnie Lee, Founder and Curator by Kelly Inouye
San Francisco Arts Quarterly, June 2012
"As a thirty-year resident of Oakland, Vessel’s owner and curator, Lonnie Lee, is fiercely proud of all that Oakland has to offer and is an active participant in the Oakland Art Murmur. I recently sat down with Lonnie to talk about her background, the evolution of Vessel, and her perspective as a gallerist." Read more >
Oakland's Gallery Scene Boasts a Growing Murmur
Art Ltd. Magazine, May 2012
"Lonnie Lee, owner of Vessel Gallery, is a key player in the Oakland Art Murmur. Energetic and committed, she is one of the few full-time gallerists in the neighborhood. She moved to her current site on 25th Street from a much smaller showcase in Berkeley and brought her clients with her." Read more >
Beili Liu
Artillery, March 2012
"Hitting that sweet spot between old-school emotion and avant-garde formal innovation, Beili Liu's work combines Eastern continuity over time with Western passion for the new." Read more >
Videos of Artist Talk Series at Vessel Gallery, on our YouTube channel.
Check VesselGalleryOakland channel for video clips from this series of Artist Talks. Hosted most 2nd Saturdays of the month. Thus far: Walter James Mansfield on process, Cyrus Tilton on "The Cycle," Gordon Glasgow on sculpting wood.
Vessel Gallery YouTube channel >
Handymen at Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, November 2011 Review
"Sculptors Gordon Galsgow and John Ruszel fuse materials and ideas..." Read more >
The Curious Creations of Cyrus Tilton
Art: 21 Blog, October 2011 Review
"The Cycle, is no less suggestive in its satirizing of humankind’s conformist and consumerist instincts: we’re like locusts...." Read more >
Editorial: Features | Cyrus Tilton
Visual Art Source, October 2011 Review
"Art about realworld issues goes in and out of favor with artists. There are always some who preach to the politically correct artworld choir in the recondite grammar of art theory,
Read more >
The Cycle
East Bay Express, October 2011 Review
"Cyrus Tilton considers, provocatively, the plague of humanity..." Read more >
Oakland, "Portraits" at Vessel Gallery
Art Ltd. Magazine, September 2011 Review
"...the airy multi-story space—once a stable for Oakland fire department horses—was packed with an engaging array of paintings and sculpture, as well as photo and video. The result was an unusual grouping of well-crafted works that spanned from whimsical to melancholy, sometimes, curiously, within the same piece." Read more >
Here and Now and Then
East Bay Express, September 2011 Review by DeWitt Cheng
"Emergent Behaviors comprises figurative wall-mounted wire sculptures by Pamela Merory Dernham and paintings by Walter James Mansfield that they..." Read more >
Relay Points: One
East Bay Express, August 2011
"...his abstract drawings are meant to invoke and evoke eternal verities..." Read more >
HOT SPOT: Oakland Art Murmur
San Francisco Chronicle, August 2011
"Art lovers of all stripes troll the Uptown district for Oakland Art Murmur the first Friday of each month..." Read more >
Best of the Bay Area Winner 2011
San Francisco Magazine, July 2011 Issue
Vessel Gallery made San Francisco Magazine's top pick for Best of the Bay Area 2011!
Read more >
Portraits at Vessel Gallery
Art Enthusiast, July 2011
"Exploring pertinent, but disparate issues of the genre, artist Walter James Mansfield’s paintings simply entitled “Heads” are a highlight of the group exhibit because the subject matter engages so dynamically into the conversation by stripping portraiture bare."
Read more >
Face Time at Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, July 2011
"...the capturing of likeness and personality remains an open question for artists even in the digital age, with its controversies over identity and representation. Six local artists take on the challenge." Read more >
Get Your Art Murmur On
Diablo Blog, June 2011
"...for those who like their art served a little lower key, the event has just tacked on Saturday Strolls for perusing art in a quieter afternoon atmosphere. Ten galleries are located within a three-block stretch, so it’s hard not to enjoy a warm summer night or afternoon filled with local art and culture." Read more >
Artist Roundtable at Vessel Gallery
Spring is often a time of great productivity and creativity...learn from artists about their inspiration; hear what they have to say in a discussion on renewal and the recharging process of an artist. Vessel Gallery artists Bryson Bost, EMA, Luke Heimbigner, Walter James Mansfield, Mari Marks, and Cyrus Tilton come together to share their individual stories on what a typical work day in the studio may look like, if there is one. Learn when and where inspiration comes forth for these artists. Do artists ever get stuck in a rut? Spring is a time to begin anew. We'll hear this group of artists discuss how they invite inspiration into their work. Learn what gets them started - what gets them past a difficult passage in their work? How might each renew the effort in their
creative work?
William Harsh: "Morphologies" at Vessel Gallery
Art Ltd, January 2011
"Morphologies," with its echoes of the surrealist Roberto Matta, suggests a similar preoccupation with the mental states and metamorphosis. These works, however, have even deeper roots in modernist painting. Harsh, a former student of Philip Guston, has also studied Picasso, de Chirico, and Beckmann, and he synthesizes Cubism, Expressionism, Metaphysical Art and Surrealism in his depictions of collapsed ruins continually seeking to regroup and recover--not a bad metaphor for artmaking as psychic integration..." Read more>
Rhythmic Sequences at Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, December 2010
"Time is illusively embedded as well in the artworks of Sanjay Vora and Ani Kasten, combinations of abstract form and archaic-looking surfaces seemingly bleached by time and weather." Read more >
Painter William Harsh has Important Showing
Benicia, November 2010
"William Harsh’s “Powerful and Cryptic Oil Paintings” at Oakland Gallery." Read more >
Aftermath at Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, November 2010
"William Harsh makes a forceful case for aesthetic seriousness in Morphologies, a show of some three dozen paintings, prints, and drawings that suggests disciplined self-expression as a way out of the art world's current hothouse/funhouse mentality."
Read more >
First Friday Oakland Art Openings
ArtBusiness.com, November 2010
"The old surrealist theme of metamorphosis informs this Vessel Gallery show by painter William Harsh, sculptor Maru Hoeber, and jeweler Eve Singer." Read more >
Artist Talk with William Harsh led by Dickran Tashjian
Saturday, November 20, 4 - 5:00 PM
Dickran Tashjian is professor emeritus of art history at the University of California, Irvine. A scholar of the Machine Age, Dada, Surrealism and the American Avant-Garde, an authority on Joseph Cornell, Rene Magritte and Max Ernst, Tashjian will interview and direct an illuminating lively discussion with artist William Harsh.
FREE - We invite our collectors, art critics, art enthusiasts, fellow artists and ALL friends of Vessel to join, ask questions, and get to know this fascinating artist Bill Harsh.
Don't Miss: 'Augmented Realms'
San Francisco Chronicle, October 2010
"It starts with the attempt to portray a scene of nature, but things soon take their own course." Read more >
Augmented Realms
East Bay Express, October 2010
"These elegant, meditative works, with their sepia/umber palettes, suggest lost worlds accessible only through the artifacts that they once inspired." Read more >
Just Come Out! 2.0
Art Ltd. Magazine via You Tube, Summer/Fall 2010
Hear Owner / Curator, Lonnie Lee, speak about Oakland's vibrant Art Murmur scene >
Fall Preview, Northern California
Art Ltd. Magazine, September/October Issue 2010 Read more >
The Five-Point Weekend Escape Plan (in Oakland)
New York Magazine, September 2010
Read more >
Walter James Mansfield's Material World
East Bay Express, September 2010
"Mansfield fuses 1950s Abstract Expressionist painterly gesture and 1970s post minimalism to create complex contemporary landscapes and portraits." Read more >
Artists' Models at Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, August 2010
"In Penta, five artists examine structures composed of repeated/reflected geometric elements as found in nature and the human mind... " Read more >
Take Bart to Oakland Art Murmur Friday, Aug. 6
SFBART's blog, August 2010
" 'It’s exciting to talk about art and culture and what’s happening in Oakland... I see people who are very interested in art, art collectors, art professionals... I see families bringing kids, too. You don’t have a certain age range. It’s diverse. Very much like Oakland.' "
Read more >
Galleries We Love: Vessel Gallery
Handful of Salt, June 2010
"....there is a handful of smart galleries that have created environments that inspire, and make you feel better about the art they feature. Vessel Gallery, in Oakland, is one of those all-too rare places..." Read more >
Vessel Turns Up Volume on Oakland Art Scene
Oakland Tribune, May 2010
"Lee is among the growing number of dealers providing exhibition venues for the city's exploding population of artists. Her gallery is just the latest among those dotting the area between 23rd and 26th streets at Telegraph Avenue and Broadway injecting life into a city..." Read more >
Cyrus Tilton's Labyrinth at Vessel Gallery
East Bay Express, May 2010
"Tilton ... uses his anatomical knowledge and expert craftsmanship to good effect, but he also knows how to use material and process poetically: 'It's about knowing when to quit ... when to keep your hands off. ... Once you start ... to mold it like life, it dies.' " Read more >
Vessel Gallery
Oaktown Art, May 2010
"A small gallery space greets visitors on the ground floor, but upstairs is a different story. The second floor is expansive, and each piece of art is given lots of breathing room. Additionally, instead of packing several artists’ works into their space, they focused primarily on just one artist, whose pieces filled both floors. It was a somewhat refreshing viewing experience, almost restful compared to the chaos of smaller more eclectic galleries." Read more >
Oakland Art Murmur: East Bay's Free-Spirited Art Scene
Art Ltd. Magazine, May/June 2010
"There is a palpable sense of enthusiasm and energy surrounding Oakland Art Murmur and the Oakland art scene in general." Read more >
First Friday Oakland Art Openings
ArtBusiness.com, May 2010
" 'Cyrus Tilton presents his surreal kinetic (and static) sculptures, beautifully engineered as well as poetic and strange.' " Read more >
Art Meets Auto Row: Vessel Gallery forges a new era in Oakland's Garage District
Oakland Local, May 2010
" 'I'm very interested in the development of an artist, which takes time to evolve. My intention as curator is to show distinctive, quality art and artists with a very developed language and voice.' " Read more >
Oakland's Journey From Seedy to SIzzling
New York Times, April 2010
Oakland is coming into its own as a cultural destination, and the arts are having a significant economic effect. Read more >
Please check back regularly for more news and press information
