The Sonoma State University Library is showing Street Refuge: Works by Donna Larsen from January 24 to November 23, 2022. Larsen’s street art combines large-scale prints with a wheat-pasting technique to adhere her printed designs to a public surface using a paste made of cooked starch and water. These wheat paste installations easily disintegrate from the wear and tear of urban activity and weather. In this way, Larsen’s pieces are made with temporality in mind: creating fleeting moments of aesthetic refuge in unexpected places while constantly being remade by changes to the public sites onto which they are placed—via demolishments, building renovations, or even subsequent coverings by other artists’ works.
The exhibit is full of joyful offerings: from luscious pagodas to resplendent waterfalls to prancing deer. Drawing inspiration from the outdoor building sites where the artwork was originally installed, these street-turned-studio works have been reproduced to full-scale and reformatted for display at the Library Art Gallery. Evoking the gritty spirit of the street, the raw collage of layers will transport viewers to spontaneous, urban encounters of exuberance. The showing is located in the Library Gallery on the second floor of the Jean and Charles Schulz Information Center.
The reception will be April 21, 2022 from 4-5:30, COVID permitting. RSVP to library@sonoma.edu or call 707.664.2397 for a reception parking pass. Parking $5 all other times.
For inquiries, contact library@sonoma.edu