Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts (Stanford: Lomita Dr. & Museum Way; 650/723-4177; www.stanford.edu/dept/ccva) • Experiments in Navigation: The Art of Charles Hobson (thru July 6) Peruse one of the thirty artist’s books that Hobson published over a 20-year period. The books explore themes of classical mythology, astronomy, surrealism, shipwrecks, and love affairs of famous historical figures, among other topics. • Spared from the Storm: Masterworks from the New Orleans Museum of Art (thru Oct 5) Includes 80 paintings, drawings and sculptures by several influential artists spanning the 17th through the 20th century, including Giordano, Monet and Picasso. • Richard Diebenkorn, Artist, and Carey Stanton, Collector: Their Stanford Connection and Richard Diebenkorn: Abstractions on Paper (July 23-Nov 9) Includes an assortment of drawings, paintings and prints by renowned American artist Richard Diebenkorn from the collections of Carey Stanton, a fellow Stanford alum, and others. • Splendid Grief: Darren Waterston and the Afterlife of Leland Stanford Jr. (thru June 21, 2009) Contemporary artist Darren Waterson interprets and examines the Stanford family's grief and mourning surrounding the death of their only son, Leland Stanford Jr., for whom the university was built. Wed-Sun, 11-5, Thurs ‘til 8pm.Wed-Sun, 11-5, Thurs ‘til 8pm.
Palo Alto Art Center (Palo Alto: 1313 Newell Rd.; 650/329-2366; www.city.palo-alto.ca.us/artcenter) • Nathan Oliveira: The Painter’s Bronzes (thru Sept 7) This is the first exhibition to survey bronze works by Oliveira, a renowned artist and former studio art professor at Stanford. • Timothy Berry: More Missing Magic (thru Sept 7) Berry’s suggestive drawings and gold leaf and tar paintings address themes of fear and deception. Tues, Wed, Fri, Sat, 10-5pm; Thurs, 7-9; Sun, 1-5.
The San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (San Jose: 560 S. First St.; 408/283-8155; www.sjica.org) • Lift Off (thru June 14) The 4th annual San Jose State MFA exhibition features the works of up-and-coming young artists. • Night Moves (thru June 14) Artist Ray Beldner uses language from homeless signs to make poetic neon versions that reflect humanity’s shortcomings and vulnerabilities. • Brendan Lott: Memories I’ll Never Have (thru Aug 2) By pulling photographs from the Internet and sending jpegs to China where the images are reproduced as oil paintings, Lott challenges notions of art and technology, authorship, globalization and outsourcing. • Crater Bay Area (thru Aug 2) This unique, contest/interactive exhibit invites artists and nonartists alike to sketch a ten-food scale model of the moon using either traditional drawing materials or digital tools in 30 minutes. All drawings will be put on display for the duration of the exhibit, and on August 1, the winners will be announced and each will receive a prize: a plot of land on the moon itself. Tues-Fri, 10-5pm; Thurs ‘til 8; Sat, 12-5.
San Jose Museum of Art (San Jose: 110 S. Market St.; 408/294-2787; www.sjica.org) •Fred Spratt: Color and Space (thru July 6) Spratt’s monochromatic square and rectangular works respond to Minimalism, an extreme form of non-representational art that emerged in the late 1960s, creating vivid interaction between color and space. • Robots: Evolution of a Cultural Icon (thru Oct 19) This exhibit shows the evolution of robot iconography in art over the past 50 years. Tues-Sun, 11-5.
San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles (San Jose: 520 S. First St.; 408/971-0323; www.sjquiltmuseum.org) • Beyond Knitting: Uncharted Stitches; Pun Intended: The Appliqued Wit of Dorothy Vance; and In Javanese Moonlight: Sha Sha Higby (thru Aug 24) See avant-garde artists use cutting-edge knitting techniques to create sculptures of exceptional beauty and quirkiness; Vance’s clever and charming folk art quilts, each of which juxtapose folk art, politics and pop culture; and Higby’s intricate performance art costumes, constructed with materials like wood, gold leaf and silk. Tues-Sun, 10am-5pm; open late for South First Fridays.
San Mateo County History Museum (Redwood City: 220 Broadway; 650/299-0104; www.sanmateocountyhistory.com) • Gabriel Moulin’s Photos of the San Francisco Peninsula: Town & Country Homes 1910-1930 (thru Nov 9) See the glory days of the Peninsula elite through the lens of one of California’s premier photographers. Tues-Sun 10-4.
