January 14 – March 31, 2004
Artist Reception: January 14, 5 – 8pm
Kurt Steger: (R)evolution
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

Kurt Steger, Navigator l (forefront), 1999, wood, string, cloth, paint, 62 x 62 x 76"

Kurt Steger, Untitled, 2003, wood, tar, 103 x 14" (each)

The Oakland Museum of California is pleased to present Kurt Steger: (R)evolution. Steger, a woodworker and furniture maker by trade, began his career as a sculptor ten years ago. A self-taught artist, he extracts his concepts from the American Arts and Crafts movement, Japanese woodworking, aboriginal and African art, and artists Martin Puryear, Andy Goldsworthy and Eva Hesse.

The mixed media sculptures presented in (R)evolution include suspended objects, freestanding work and wall pieces. The grouping incorporates a diverse range of media, including wood, concrete, tar, paper, cloth, rope, wax and metal.

Steger’s deft craftsmanship clearly asserts the manmade status of the objects, yet his sculptures often echo forms found in nature. Their origin is not necessarily indicative of the Northern California landscape we know today; rather certain pieces elicit ancient undertones. Witness and Little Wing recall totem poles. Adrift and Navigator I suggest forms reminiscent of timeworn instruments and seafaring vessels. By comparison, Neophyte appears otherworldly in its structure, seemingly borrowed from a science fiction fable.

Reflecting on the organic qualities of his work, Steger has stated, “As an artist it is impossible not to bring the outside world into your studio. Though my hands create the sculpture, nature and time will change them determining their ultimate outcome.”

Although some of Steger’s work appears quite “at home” in the outdoors, its placement in Gallery 555 allows us to look at the work in a different way. Situated in an office building, the sculptures remain protected from external elements, existing for the duration of the exhibition in a sheltered space.
Born in Oakland, Steger currently resides in Grass Valley, California, working out of his 3,500 square-foot, converted dairy barn studio. Kurt has exhibited at the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA; Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopol, CA; Sonoma County Museum, Santa Rosa, CA; Sonoma Museum of Visual Art, Santa Rosa, CA; Exploding Head Gallery, Sacramento, CA; B. Sakato Garo, Sacramento, CA; and other venues.

In 2003, Steger was selected to participate in the For-Site Foundation’s artist-in-residency program located in Nevada City, California. Co-founded by San Francisco gallery owner Cheryl Haines, the foundation’s focus is the creation, understanding and exhibition of new art about place. As part of his residency, Steger was invited to create a site-specific piece for the foundation’s land in Nevada City.

Steger also has collaborated with artists of other disciplines. Dancer Mariann Reagan, composer Jay Sydeman and poet Steve Sanfield incorporated Steger’s sculpture in a performance entitled “Ode to Ogatha, The Healer Collaboration.”
Steger is represented by Julie Baker Fine Art in Grass Valley, 530.273.0910, www.juliebakerfineart.com.

Organized by the Professional Services division of the Oakland Museum of California.