Ruth Chase is a multi media artists whose work explores what it means to be a woman and the struggle to understand all that entails. She creates large intimate paintings on canvas, public art, and videos that celebrate female identity while challenging harmful stereotypes.
The 38 page exhibition book printed on luster finish archival-paper gives you the opportunity to view and share the entire exhibition of works in BLUR, signed by the artist herself.
$35 Pick up at Gallery
$40 Includes Shipping
BLUR Exhibition Book – Gallery Pick Up
Softcover
8 x 10”
Archival-Paper
38 Pages
Printed on 100% recycled paper
Luster finish
Signed by Ruth Chase
The Granucci Gallery
314 W. Main St., Grass Valley, CA
Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 5 PM
$35.00
BLUR Exhibition Book – Ruth Chase – Includes Shipping
Softcover
8 x 10”
Archival-Paper
38 Pages
Printed on 100% recycled paper
Luster finish
Signed by Ruth Chase
$40.00
BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between
Ruth Chase is a multimedia artist whose work speaks to the value of people to their community—working with themes of belonging, visibility, and what it means to be a human. Ruth is a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute whose artistic practice is inquiry-based and engages community bridge-building. She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the City of Los Angeles for Art in Action and a grant to an individual artist from the Carl Jacobs Foundation. She was granted a residency at the Millay Colony for the Arts in NY, published in Professional Artist Magazine, Catapult Art Magazine, and Huffington Post, and has taught at the Crocker Art Museum. Ruth was a featured artist on the Dead Files TV program and was awarded an Artist in Residence at Nevada County Arts for Artist Activating Communities through a grant from the California Arts Council for three consecutive years. Her film BELONGING screened at the 18th Annual Nevada City Film Festival and Wild & Scenic Film Festival. Ruth received the Legendary Female Artist of Venice, exhibited in The Crocker Kingsley, the Museum of Northern California Art, and the Diego Rivera Gallery at the San Francisco Art Institute.
Center for The Arts | The Granucci Gallery 314 W. Main St., Grass Valley, CA Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 5 PM No appointment required
Ruth Chase BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between August 6 — September 11, 2021
The Granucci Gallery is excited to present BLUR: Unraveling the Feminine, Masculine, and Everything In-between, the gallery’s first solo exhibition of artist Ruth Chase’s work. On view from August 6 – September 11, 2021, this exhibition consists of portraits and figurative paintings, video, an art film, and a public engagement piece. The show is a collaboration between Ruth and more than sixty volunteer participants. There will be a public reception from 5-7 pm onFriday, August 20.
Ruth’s work is fueled by collaboration. Using video and paint, Ruth challenges traditional roles prescribed by society, exploring feminine and masculine traits that embody all genders rather than being defined by one’s outward appearance. The work presents contrasting viewpoints, encouraging the viewer to come to their own conclusions. The exhibition is a gaze into a broader experience of being human and ever-evolving.
Motherhood opened a world within Ruth, both painful and empowering, inspiring her to depict on canvas the complexity of the mother/daughter relationship. Experiencing her daughter’s adolescence awakened memories within her, causing a deep reflection on how our childhood shapes us as women and the role vulnerability plays in our development. Her studio paintings capture fragile moments taken from her daughter’s selfies. Other paintings in the show come from images sent in by men and women looking at the masculine-feminine spectrum.
Because collaboration is essential to her work, Ruth began conversing with people on Zoom to generate a sense of community and escape the isolation of 2020. Thirty conversations took place over a year; Ruth spoke with people worldwide who shared their insights on many topics beyond the initial question of what it means to be a woman. The conversations encompassed health issues unique to women, feminine empowerment, insecurities, teen pregnancy, motherhood, and balancing masculine and feminine energies. Often the conversation gravitated to gender and sexual identity, challenging cultural norms, and working around rigid stereotypes.
Ruth presents her subject matter in an accessible exhibition that is neither definitive nor a statement about feminism but rather a glance into the lives of everyday people and their thoughts and feelings about women.
Ruth paints in acrylic on canvas, blurring the lines with drips and intersecting patterns, shapes and edges. Gray is a dominant color to represent gender neutrality, allowing the viewer to bring more of themselves to the work without being drawn into commercial stereotypes of the feminine. The paintings are created by layering several thin washes of color to impart a sense of history, experience, and emotional complexity.
Her video work informs the paintings and delivers a broader perspective. The art film is a collage of moments that allow the viewer to connect with unlikely perspectives, finding a sense of belonging with someone they may see as “other.”
Participants include Michelle Amador, Eileen Bryant Archibald, Karla Kaizoji Austin, Be Boggs, Adrienne Boudreaux, Catharine Bramkamp, Adrian Card, Mira Clark, Brooke Condon, Colleen Graham, Brynn Farwell, Elma Jella’, Beatriz E. Ledesma, Gabi Markham, Chandra Merod, Luciano Mota, Nona, Michelle Litton Ogaidi, Rey Otis, Cassie Robertson, Steve Roddy, Aqueila M. Lewis-Ross, Shōkai Sinclair, Kim Stewart, Dana Divird Stevens, Valerie Hiestand Stuart, Andie Thrams, Tia Tuenge, Casey Louis Travis, Melody Be Watson, Nicole Weaver, Jen Rhi Winders, and Carolyn Crist Wright.
“Speaking of art school….impressions, stories and remembrances as told by alumni and faculty of the San Francisco Art Institute”. This series is about perpetuating the culture and legacy of the San Francisco Art Institute through recorded interviews.
Now in Year Three, Belonging manifests as HOME, and elicits perspectives on cultural identity from our less represented populations. Ideas of “home” are being explored through the lens of art salons, our gold country history, our recovering native population, and our recent immigrants. Critical bridge building tools are emerging through creative practices, as we meet. Saturday Morning Question ran from 2017 – 2020.
Women are an essential part of any community, yet their sense of belonging is often tied into gender roles, not always satisfying their sense of belonging. Mother, sister, partner, we all have women in our lives. I AM HERe is intended to mirror the voices of how men and women view women’s unique sense of belonging against the backdrop of our rural community. Lead artist Ruth Chase has sought to examine her own sense of belonging over the course of a year by asking questions through social media and taking her personal journey alongside the community. Now, the public is invited to share their own stories about themselves or the women in their lives by participating in the public art installation.
In 2015 Ruth Chase created sketches for “No Vacancy”, filmed at The Holbrooke Hotel in Grass Valley, CA. for a TV reality program called The Dead Files on The Travel Channel.
Sketch Artist Ruth Chase on Dead Files
MEETING AMY ALLEN Amy was freaking trip, in all the best ways. An incredibly interesting, strange, distant, focused person, the real deal. Sitting with her was like being with someone who was hallucinating, my guess is that she was reading spirits and energy the whole time. As we sat in a hotel room to film the scene, sitting across the table from each other, it felt like she was reading me, or the room around me, her eyes were darting back and forth, over and around me, but never looking at me, even when I spoke to her. I loved every minute of it. After our scene together, I then sat to draw what she described both on camera and off. Texting her photos of the progress to make sure the image was matching what she saw. The hardest thing about drawing a quality piece was all the distractions that took me away from being in my own place of channeling. Though I wouldn’t have wanted to mix in with the energy there, so I guess it worked out for the best.
NO VACANCY
Retired NYPD homicide detective Steve DiSchiavi and physical medium Amy Allan investigate paranormal activity at a small-town hotel in Grass Valley, California. Their separate investigations take harrowing turns as Steve uncovers the hotel’s history of destructive fires and scandalous violence, while Amy comes face-to-face with the deranged dead during her overwhelming walk.
