Small Works: Words and Letters
January 2 – February 28, 2026
Artis reception Friday January 2 5-8pm
Hieroglyphics to graffiti, Picasso to Brillo pad boxes – today words are wedded to art and artists are still pushing the boundaries in paintings, photographs, printmaking, sculpture, and ceramics.
Words are a very old feature of art. Recall ancient hieroglyphics and illuminated manuscripts. It might be said that our words grew out of the creation of art, even as words and art seemed to diverge many millennia in the past. Words returned to the canvass in the early 20th century when artists like Picasso and Braque incorporated letters and words from periodicals or labels into their paintings. The use of words exploded with the development of conceptional art when the idea behind the art began to have greater meaning. Pop Art took the use of language, from Brillo pad boxes and Campbell Soup cans, to another level. And today artists push boundaries by projecting words into paintings and photographs and even on to the sides of buildings. Street artists, too, rely heavily on text to amplify their works.
Art: Denise Suzuki (left) Joy Dellas (right)
Press Democrat article 1/2/26
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2025/12/30/new-santa-rosa-art-exhibition-explores-the-power-of-words-and-letters/
ABSTRACT February 6 – March 28, 2026
Art that does not attempt to represent external reality but seeks to achieve its effect using shapes, forms, colors and textures.
Sarah Amador, Amalia, Steven Baker, Enid Barnes, Joan Blumenberg, Bonnie Boren, Karen Boudrie, Bob Boyd, Tanya Braunstein, Wendy Brown, Jessie S. Buckley, Susan Callagy, CC Case, Nancy Coulson, Darcy Croshaw, Zann Cuellar, Alyse De Maria, Joy Dellas, Linda C. Donahue, Max DuBois, Linda Dunnivant, Simmon Factor, Laurie Beth Finkelstein, Emily Florence, Victor Hugo Garcia, Valerie Koppala Gardiner, Julia Grant, Peggy Grills, Danny Gutierrez, Lizette Guy, William Haigwood, Carolyn Hall, Pamela Heck, Hilary Hecker, Alissa Hirshfeld, Shannon Hogan, Judiyaba, Brian Kellogg, Barbara (Babette) Kemler, Karen Kurtovich, Sherrie Lovler, Linda Malone, Roger Mamer, Patricia Marina, Brian R. Martens, Pamela Miller, Gloria Naisbitt, Vicchi Oleski, Renée Owen, José Padilla, Oksana Pekker, Mimi Read, Connie Robeson, Duncan Russell, Janna Louise Salino, Michon Sardella, Dan Scannell, Dee Schweitzer, Vivian Sedney, Shinga Shell, Marinka Solman, Susandra Spicer, Denise Suzuki, Sara Tanenhaus, Joyce Terres, Rakshika Thakor, Mark R. Thomas, Merrill Vargo, LaMon Wade, Ericka Wotring, Lynn Zachreso
