Exhibition dates: October 21, 2004 – January 5, 2005
Joyce Hsu and Chen-Ju Pan - Casting Pebble, Flying Kite
Gallery 555
555 12th Street, Oakland, CA
Lobby. Hours 7am - 6pm.
located in downtown Oakland
Open and free to the public. BART, AC Transit and Wheelchair accessible.

Presented by the Oakland Museum of California Professional Services division
Professional Services Exhibition Archive

NaaRae, 1999; wood, aluminum, steel, backpack, helmet; 170” x 48” x 42”

Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) Off-Site presents Casting Pebble, Flying Kite at Gallery 555, 555 12th Street in Oakland, California. The exhibition features the large-scale sculpture of two Oakland artists, Joyce Hsu and Chen-Ju Pan. While different in aesthetic, each artist examines our response to cultural confusion created by globalization and technology.

The vastness of the world around us can seem overwhelming and trigger hidden vulnerabilities. According to Hsu and Pan, one way we respond is by impacting our natural surroundings through simple, yet meaningful gestures – tossing a pebble into the sea or launching a kite into the air. This reclamation process and its link to human vulnerabilities inspire the sculpture featured at Gallery 555.

Chen-Ju Pan spent her childhood on the island of Taiwan. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, Pan developed strong connections to the water, seeing it as a means for exploration and escape. Her intimate relationship to the water is expressed by her installation of imaginative water conveyances. Each vessel is constructed using rudimentary forms combined with a variety of textures. Her single-seated floats and kayaks are created with wood, metal, lace and chiffon.
Pan rejects the traditional notion that water is a nurturing life source. Instead, she sees it as a means of severance, explaining “it is paradoxically a separation of my self from reality. Hence the act of floating is not pleasurable; rather it is a state of helplessness. It is an admission of my own vulnerabilities. The admission is also a form of acceptance and a threshold for contemplation.”

Moogegae, 2001; low-density polyethelene, steel, paint, rivets; 36” x 64” x 28”

The sculpture of Joyce Hsu furthers this theme by illustrating the vulnerability of the human body and the perceived desire to control it through companionship. Her toy-like creatures are constructed to appear as the perfect companions. They seem friendly and innocuous. Yet their cuteness is an adorable disguise designed to mask inner power struggles, desire and weakness. *Please note: a portion of the exhibition will be removed by November 18 to accommodate holiday decorations. The parody between playfulness and aggression is a common thread throughout Hsu’s sculpture. Hsu explains, “My work is a display of my idiosyncratic way of trying to deal with some of our weaknesses as humans: our yearning for companionship, our dependence on machines and the need for materiality…all of which reveal our vulnerabilities.”

Chen-Ju Pan was born in Taipei and grew up in Hualien along the Eastern shore of Taiwan. After coming to the United States in 1994, Pan completed her undergraduate degree at Cal State Long Beach and went on to receive her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2001. Pan has exhibited at the First Street Gallery, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA; San Francisco Art Commission Gallery; Oakland Art Gallery; Mobius Gallery, Boston, MA; Works Gallery, San Jose; and other venues. Pan currently lives and works in Oakland.

Joyce Hsu was born in Hong Kong. She received a BFA from Mount Allison University, Canada, in 1996 and an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998. Hsu has exhibited at Art Center, Hong Kong; ParaSite Art Space, Hong Kong; Oakland Art Gallery; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose; San Jose Museum of Art; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco; New Langton Arts, San Francisco; Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco; and other venues. Hsu currently lives and works in Oakland.

Joyce Hsu and Chen-Ju Pan - Casting Pebble, Flying Kite is presented by the Oakland Museum of California in partnership with Shorenstein Realty Services. The exhibition is part of a changing exhibition series at Gallery 555 and represents an ongoing collaboration between the museum and Shorenstein to showcase contemporary artists. Gallery 555 is located on the lobby level of 555 12th Street in downtown Oakland.

Gallery 555 is managed by the Oakland Museum of California’s Professional Services Division. Professional Services, or P.S., is a museum department that shares the institution’s resources with the community by developing fine art and artifact exhibitions in public venues. For more information about Professional Services, please go to www.museumca.org/global/ps/index.html.

Oakland City Center is a focal point for commercial and government activity in downtown Oakland. For more information about Oakland City Center, go to www.oaklandcitycenter.com.