AMY TRACHTENBERG
Biography
AMY TRACHTENBERG was born in 1955 in Pittsburgh, PA. The artist's work spans a multidisciplinary practice grounded in painting that includes sculpture, installation, public commissions, and collaborative works in theater and literary zones. Utilizing a range of techniques, Trachtenberg's work references textiles and found objects erasing divides between painting and sculpture. Beyond their abstract leanings, the tension between politics and poetics is the driving force combining the primacy of color, the handcrafted, and the celebratory function of pattern and ornament.
Trachtenberg’s work has been exhibited at Anglim Gilbert Gallery, The Luggage Store, Brian Gross Fine Art in San Francisco, The San José Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and The Monterey Museum of Art. Her work is represented in multiple collections including, The Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, The Achenbach Collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The San José Museum of Art, The Crocker Museum, Sacramento, The De Menil Collection, New York, and The Haitian Embassy, Paris. Trachtenberg has created site-specific installations, including the ceramic tile passenger platform for BART in Silicon Valley, California, the façade at the C.G. Jung Institute in San Francisco, and the interior of Hillview Branch Library in San Jose, California
Trachtenberg’s work has been exhibited at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, The Luggage Store and Brian Gross Fine Art in San Francisco, The San José Museum of Quilts and Textiles, and The Monterey Museum of Art. Work has been shown and is held in the collections of The Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, The Achenbach Collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The San José Museum of Art, The Crocker Museum, Sacramento, The De Menil Collection, New York, and The Haitian Embassy, Paris where she lived for six years. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she has been represented by Catharine Clark Gallery since 2021.
Amy Trachtenberg
Twice promised,2015-2024
Acrylic,oilstick,andcoloredpenciloncanvas
72x60inches
$25,000.00
Aluminum,
31
$6,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg Sirsasana,2024
Wood,casein,andcanvasonpaintedwoodplatform 28x37x30inches
$8,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
At dusk we go down to the river because it shows us the way to the sea,2024
Acrylicandenamelonlinenmountedoncanvas
99x63inches
$30,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Can't get you out of my head,2024 bronze
231/2x41/2x21/4inches
$7,200.00
Amy Trachtenberg
I was hungry for you and it was your world,2024
Acryliconcanvasmountedoncanvas
46x29inches
$10,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg Archive, 2024 disassembledbrasandmetalzippers 137x40x7inches
$22,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Zero to Infinity I,2024 rubber,metal,andzippersonwoodpanel 141/2x111/2x4inches
$3,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Zero to Infinity II,2024 rubber,metal,andzippersoncanvas
141/2x111/2x4inches
$3,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Zero to Infinity III,2024 rubber,metal,andzippersonwoodpanel 141/2x111/2x4inches
$3,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg Devotion,2019
Enamel,oil,shellac,embroiderythread,studiodropcloth,fakefur,bicycle tiresandcanvas. 69x54inches
$19,000.00
acryliconwoodpanel
12x6incheseach
12x121/2inchesoverall
$3,500.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Salt the Pleasure,2024
Acrylic,mica,foamrubber,brass,andclothon canvas
65x54inches
$18,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg Stripes/Sutras,2012
CollageofpigmentprintsonKozopapermountedonwoodpanels
Sheet:50x42inches
Framed:571/2x50inches
$16,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg Foragers,2024
acrylic,pastel,andcoloredpenciloncanvas
1021/4x1021/4x2inches
$25,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Routine,2006-2024 acrylic,newsprint,andpaperoncanvas 11x14inches
$3,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Scent of Metal,2024
acryliconcanvasmountedoncanvas
471/2x45inches
$14,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Sister of Time,2024
acryliconlinenmountedoncanvas
28x27inches
$6,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
After Midnight,2024
acryliconcanvasmountedoncanvas
303/4x20inches
$6,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Everything is at least three things: the one you see, the one you think you know and the one you remember,2024 humanhair,magnets,soil,andsteelcart 36x40x21inches
$15,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg Aubade Lament I,2024 paper,cloth,oil,enamel,andacryliconragboardmountedonwoodpanel 101/2x201/2inches
$5,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg Aubade Lament II,2024 paper,cloth,oil,andacryliconragboardmountedonwoodpanel 111/4x201/5inches
$5,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Double Take,2019 pigmentprintonKozopapermountedonlinen 45x32inches
$8,500.00
Amy Trachtenberg
If Water Has Memory,2024 acrylicandtaronwoodpanel
48x48inches
$16,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Waiting for the Barbarians,2016 Acryliconcanvas
48x69inches
$18,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
Say Alabaster, Say Paradise,2024
Acrylicandenamelonlinenmountedoncanvas
841/2x63inches
$25,000.00
A pleasure you suffer, an ailment you enjoy,2017-2024 pigment,polymermediumsandcoloredpencilongessoedcanvas 65x54inches
$24,000.00
Amy Trachtenberg
One too many mornings I,2024 MixedMediaCollageonpaper
Sheet:8x131/2inches
Frame:113/4x17inches
$3,500.00
Amy Trachtenberg
One too many mornings II,2024 MixedMediaCollageonpaper Sheet:8x131/2inches Frame:113/4x17inches
$3,500.00
AMY TRACHTENBERG
Born in Pittsburgh, PA, 1955
Lives and works in San Francisco, CA
EDUCATION
1972 California State University Long Beach Summer School of Dance
1973-77 BA California State University Sonoma, Hutchins School of Liberal Studies
1976-81 Diplôme d’arts plastiques L’Ecole nationale supérieure des Beaux- Arts de Paris, France Honors
1977 La Escuela de Bellas Artes, Madrid Spain
1981-82 Worked in the studio of Sheila Hicks, Paris France
SOLO E X H I B I T I O N S
2024 Listening Chamber, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2022 The violet June of autumn, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2019 Covered in Sky, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017 Waiting for the Barbarians, Right Window, San Francisco, CA
2014 From Here to Timbuktu, 555 California Street Plaza Gallery, SF, CA
2013 From India to the Planet Mars, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2012 Vacilando, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2007 Recent Work, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2006 Ricochet, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2004 The Weatherhead Series, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2003 Suspended Passage, The LAB, San Francisco, CA
1992 Paramour, Turn of the Century Fine Arts, Berkeley, CA
1991 Amy Trachtenberg, Show and Tell, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 California Jewish Open, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
Exquisite Mummies, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, CA Curated by Isabelle Sorrell
2023 Taboo, ICA SF LABA BAY AREA , San Francisco, CA
Paule Anglim Archive Room, 500 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA
Sobremesa, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2021 Break and Bleed, San José Museum of Art, San José, CA Open Field, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2019 Fundamental Complications, Root Division, San Francisco, CA
2018 Artists’ Annual, KALA Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
2016 Acoustic Habitats/Graphic Scores Center for New Music, San Francisco, CA
Dumbball: David Ireland and His Circle, Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The Sound of Blue, 500 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA
Welcome to the Left Coast Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 Found/Made, San José Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San José, CA Possibilities of Paper: Selected Work by Lucas Artists Fellows (2005-2015), Project Space Gallery at Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
2014 The Possible/ Minimum Dwelling: Making and Unmaking the Body (co-created with Jerome Waag) Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
2012-13 Local Color, San José Museum of Art, San José, CA
Making Place Public, Sculpture on the Grounds, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA Unruly, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
2011 Factor XX, Los Gatos Museum of Art, Los Gatos, CA
2010 Tomorrow’s Legacies, Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, CA
Gesture, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2009 Art on Market Street, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
2008 Group Show, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2007 In the Fullness of Time, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA Gallery Artists, Brian Gross Fine Art, San Francisco, CA
2006 Black & White, Holland Tunnel Art, Brooklyn, NY
2004 Poetry and its Arts: Bay Area Interactions 1954-2004, California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA
2002 No War Show, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 Bodies Changed; The Natural History of Market Street, San Francisco Art Commission Art in Transit at the Millennium, San Francisco, CA
1998 Towards the Millennium, New Painting from Northern California, Monterey Museum, CA
Three person show, Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco, CA Body of Memory, Downtown Artists Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
1997 Anti-Pesszimizmus, Gallery Jozsef Nador, Budapest, Hungary
1993 Group Show, Show N Tell, San Francisco, CA
1992 Telling Stories/Artists Books, Mills College, Oakland, CA
New Work, Show N Tell, San Francisco, CA
1983 Tendances de la Peinture Abstraite, Paris, Grenoble, Montpellier, Toulouse, France
PUBLIC WORK: LONG-TERM INSTALLATIONS & COMMISSIONS
2021 Verdigris Façade Jung Institute of San Francisco with Trachtenberg Architects
2020 Ecstatic Voyaging BART Station, Milpitas, CA Commissioned by VTA and BART
2016 Sun Sea Counterpoint 2016 Commissioned by Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
2013 Clearing, Ashland Youth Center, San Leandro, CA Alameda County Arts Commission with architect Mallory Cusenbery
2012 Counterpoint : Creekside Studio Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA with landscape architect Jeffrey Miller
Sleeping Beauty II, Neiman Marcus, Walnut Creek, CA
2010 4 Songs of Motion, UCLA Olive View Mental Health Center, Los Angeles
County Civic Art
2006 Groundwork Hillview Library, San José Public Art Program, San José, CA
2002 The Atrium Project Children's Hospital Oakland Outpatient Clinic, Oakland, CA
1999 Bodies Changed; The Natural History of Market Street, San Francisco Art Commission Art in Transit at the Millennium, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED PUBLIC & PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Achenbach Collection, Fine Arts Museums, San Francisco, CA
Addis Group, Berkeley, CA
Alameda County Public Art Collection
Allergan Corp., Irvine, CA
BART/Bay Area Rapid Transit, CA
Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA
Children's Hospital Oakland, Oakland, CA
Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Crowell & Moring LLP, San Francisco, CA
De Menil Collection, NY and Paris, France
Philip Glass, New York, NY
Goods Inc., Heidelberg, Germany
Haitian Embassy, Paris, France
Howe-Lewis International, Palo Alto, CA
Long Meadow Ranch and Winery, Saint Helena, CA
Los Angeles County Civic Art Collection, Los Angeles, CA
Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
Neiman Marcus Group, Dallas, TX
Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, CA
City of San Francisco Civic Art Collection, San Francisco, CA
San José Museum of Art, San José, CA
City of San José, San José, CA
Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles, CA
Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Valley Transit Authority, Santa Clara, CA
GRANTS/AWARDS/RESIDENCIES
Cultural Equity Individual Artists Grant, San Francisco Arts Commission, CA
Montalvo Arts Center, Lucas Arts Residency, Saratoga, CA
InCahoots Printmaking Residency, Petaluma, CA
Third Intl. Symposium of Contemporary Art, Angouleme, France
2008 Year in Review Award, Public Art Network, Americans for the Arts, New York, NY
Opera America, NY
AiA Award of Honor, Santa Clara Valley, CA
AiA East Bay Design Award. REACH Ashland Youth Center, Alameda County, CA
California Arts Council, CA
KALA Arts Center, Berkeley, CA
Marin County Arts Guild, Marin, CA
Mesa Refuge Residency, Point Reyes, CA
The Nichols Foundation, NY
Opera America, NY
Peter S. Reed Foundation, NY
Prix Albert Rocheron, Paris, France
Salon des Jeunes Artistes Francais, Paris, France
LITERARY PUBLICATIONS/POET COLLABORATIONS/ COVER ART
Beauty: Alex Katz Carter Ratcliff and Jarrett Earnest, Karma, New York
Groundwork Solnit, Rebecca and Burger, Mary, ORO Editions
Civil Bound Myung Mi Kim Omnidawn Press
Dear Reader Robin Tremblay McGaw Ithuriel’s Spear
Win These Posters and Other Unrelated Prized Inside Norma Cole Omnidawn Press
The Encyclopedia Vol. 2 F-K edited by Tisa Bryant, Miranda Mellis, and Kate Schatz, Image and text
New Goose, Poems by Lorine Niedecker Rumor Books
HAARP Vol.1 #3 Hexagon Press Berkeley Art Museum& Pacific Film Archive.
Harvard Review 33 Harvard University edited by Christina Thompson, Image and text
Viz. Inter-Arts: Event, A Trans- Genre Anthology edited by Roxanne Power Hamilton, Image and text
Zzyzzyva 10th anniversary We Address with poet, Norma Cole , Image and text
Mirage edited by Kevin Killian and Dodie Bellamy
Aerial 8 / Barrett Watten, Cover
Five Fingers Review, SKIN edited by Patricia Dienstfrey, Natural History of Market Street, Image and text
VOLT edited by Gillian Conoley, Image and text
Markzine Deb Marks image text The Games with poet, Carla Harryman , Image and text
Chain image text The Games with poet, Carla Harryman , Images avec edited by Norma Cole, image text
River of Fire, Crisis in the Commons, Chapter with image and text The Pumping Station
SELECTED DESIGN: THEATER/OPERA/DANCE
2018 ECHO/riding the rapids Sara Shelton Mann, choreographer Dock’11, Berlin, Germany and ODC, San Francisco
2007 Sub Rosa Artifact, Graphic score commission performed by Rovaté ODC , San Francisco, CA
2004 Very Rainy Night & Lexington Avenue, two plays by Frank O'Hara, directed by Mac McGinnes Poet’s Theater, Small Press Traffic, San Francisco, CA
Pamela Z Voci ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA
2003 Performing Objects Stationed in the SubWorld, by Carla Harryman, directed by
Jim Cave The LAB, San Francisco, CA
2000 A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil, opera by Erling Wold/Max Ernst, directed by Jim Cave, ODC Theater, San Francisco, CA, produced by Opera America and Paul Dresher Ensemble
1997 The Butterfly by Bijan Mofid, directed and translated from Farsi by Zara Houshmand with Darvag Iranian Theater Company, San Francisco, CA
1995 Goya's L.A , by Leslie Scalapino, directed by Carla Harryman, New Langton Arts, San Francisco, CA
A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil, opera premiere by Erling Wold/Max Ernst, directed by Jim Cave, The Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, ODC Dance Company, choreography by KT Nelson, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
1992 Thicket, by Susan Griffin, directed by Mary Forcade, Life on the Water and Climate Theater, SF, CA
1991 Hunger, by Peter Mattei, directed by Mary Forcade, Magic Theatre, San Francisco, CA
The Magic Flute, by Mozart, Spreckels Performing Arts Theater, Rohnert Park, CA
1990 Gianni Schicchi, Puccini, directed by Marvin Klebe, Cinnabar Theatre, Petaluma, CA
Bluebeard's Castle, Bartok, directed by Marvin Klebe, Cinnabar Theatre, Petaluma, CA
Emperor of Atlantis, opera by Victor Ullman, originated in Terezin Concentration Camp, directed by Ann Woodhead, Cinnabar Opera Theatre, Petaluma, CA
1978 Summer Festival of Opera & Contemporary Music, Chartres, Dijon, Vezelay, France
SELECTED TEACHING/EVENTS/TALKS
2019 Youth Artist Mentorship Program at Southern Exposure SF, CA Interdisciplinary Symposium at California Institute of Integral Studies San Francisco, CA with Pireeni Sundaralingam
2016 Sound of Blue at 500 Capp St, SF
2015 SFAI : In Conversation with Connie Lewallen and Gay Outlaw on David Ireland’s 500 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA.
Groundwork: By Any Means Necessary: Crocker Art Museum/ Kingsley Crocker Lecture
2010 Americans for the Arts: Curriculum Webcasts
2008 SOTA High School of the Arts, San Francisco, CA visiting artist Creative Writing Dept. Provoking the Ripple Effect: with artists Susan Schwartzenberg American Evolution: Arts in the New Civic Life, Americans for the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Coexistence Through Art with Youssef Ismail Panel Islamic Networks Group and Jewish Community Relations Council of Silicon Valley at Jewish Community Center of Silicon Valley, Los Gatos, CA
Found in Translation on Paros non-site collective with artist Elliot Anderson, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA
Public Histories: Susan Schwartzenberg, Barbara Goldstein, Amy Trachtenberg City Lights Books, San Francisco, CA
The Right to the City: Public Space as Commons Panel with Chris Carlsson, Christopher Ratcliff, Carmen Rojas Crisis of the California Commons Conference, Berkeley City College, Berkeley, CA
2005 Hellenic International Studies in the Arts: Mass College of Art, Paros, Greece Drawing, Painting and Art Theory
1998-05 VALA /Visual Arts Literary Arts: Teaching and arts curriculum development Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond Public Schools
1993 I.O.U. Poet's Theater with Carla Harryman, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Robinson, Megan D. “Artist Manifest Connection at The Contemporary Jewish Museum.” Art&Object. June 26, 2024. <https://www.artandobject.com/news/artists-manifest-connection-contemporary-jewishmuseum>
Tracy, Marc. “San Francisco Jewish Museum Has a Blank Space for Dissenting Artists.” The New York Times. June 6, 2024. < https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/arts/design/sanfrancisco-jewish-museumblank.html>
Robinson, Megan D. "Artists Manifest Connection at The Contemporary Jewish Museum” Art and Object.com, June 26,2024 <https://www.artandobject.com/news/artists-manifest-connection-contemporaryjewish-museum>
Hotchkiss, Sarah, "At CJM, Jewish Artists Explore ‘Connection’ During a Time of Division” KQED.org June 7, 2024.
Angel, Arielle “Controversy at Contemporary Jewish Museum” On the Nose :Jewish Currents Podcast May 2, 2024.
The Back Room. “Leading and Following: Amy Trachtenberg and Jeffrey Miller in Conversation” Small Press Traffic March 12, 2024. <https://www.smallpresstraffic.org/the-back-room-article/leading-and-followingamy-trachtenberg-and-jeffrey-miller-in-conversation>
2023 Wilson, Emily. ‘"In ‘Sobremesa,’ a chain of artists serves up China dumplings, doughy ducks, plum branches," 48 Hills. March 6, 2023. <https://48hills.org/2023/03/in-sobremesa-catherine-clark-galleryart-sf-tables/>
Roth, David. ‘"Of Ducks and Dumplings," Square Cylinder. March 1, 2023. <https://www.squarecylinder.com/2023/03/of-ducks-and-dumplings/>
2021 Roth, David. ‘"Listening to Threads," Square Cylinder. August 15, 2021. <https://www.squarecylinder.com/2021/08/listening-to-threads/>
King, John. "BART'S New Stations Have Grand Ambitions," San Francisco Chronicle. June 20, 2020. < https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/BART-s-new-South-Bay-stations-have-grand15353908.php#photo-19577619>
2019 Roth, David Claudia La Rocco Amy Trachtenberg Covered in Sky Catalogue Editions Michel Eyquem. Porges, Maria. “Amy Trachtenberg @ Luggage Store,” Square Cylinder. July 19, 2019. <https://www.squarecylinder.com/2019/07/amy-trachtenberg-luggage-store/>
Paull, Laura J. “Weekly Summer Has Landed in the Bay Area, Bringing New Art With It” 2016 Roth, David Square Cylinder Dumbball at Anglim Gilbert Gallery February 16, 2016 Roth, David Square Cylinder David Ireland Remembered at SFAI and Anglim Gilbert
2013 Roth, David Square Cylinder February 6 "Amy Trachtenberg at Brian Gross"
Curiel, Jonathan SF WEEKLY January 23 "Photo Negative: Two Exhibits Reconsider Historic Images"
Tremblay-McGaw, Robin X Poetics February 24 "From India to Planet Mars: Amy Trachtenberg"
2011 O'Malley, Susan, Factor XX catalogue, Los Gatos Museum of Art
2009 Solnit, Rebecca and Burger, Mary Groundwork, ORO Editions
Baker, Kenneth San Francisco Chronicle, September 15, “Amy Trachtenberg at Brian Gross”
Cheng, Dewitt Art Ltd. West Coast Art and Design, October “Amy Trachtenberg at Brian Gross”
Hamilton, Roxanne Power, ed., Viz. Inter-Arts: Event, Trans- Genre Anthology
2004 Baker, Kenneth San Francisco Chronicle, July 17 “Amy Trachtenberg at Brian Gross”
2000 Kosman, Joshua San Francisco Chronicle, March 14, “Fevered Dreams”
1998 Cseko, Kristina Budapest News, February, “Art From S.F. to Budapest”
1995 Chang, Ching San Francisco Bay Times, January 9, “Ernst Opera”
Harvey, Dennis San Francisco Bay Guardian, January 15, ”A Little Girl Dreams of Taking the Veil”
Sizenski, Liz San Francisco Weekly, January 18, “Ecstasy's Revolution”
Kosman, Joshua San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, “Surrealist Ernst Novel Inspires Dreamy Opera”
Boone, Charles P – Form, Spring,“Max Ernst Opera,”
1991 Brady, Lee San Francisco Bay Guardian, October, “A Grim Fairy Tale”
Winn, Steven San Francisco Chronicle, October 31, “Playwright Puts It All Out on the Table”
1990 Bammer, Richard Courrier, January 19, ”Perrault, Ravel, Bartok”
Schiller, Karla Argus Courrier, February 2, “With Bartok Season Begins on Sublime Note” Bammer, Richard
1989 Reveaux, Tony Artweek, November 29, “Amy Trachtenberg at Show N Tell,”
Butterfields,“Art Against AIDS” catalogue
“Line and Form,” Hatley Martin Gallery, catalogue by Robert F. Johnson catalogue
1988 “National Invitational Collage Show,” Santa Rosa Jr. College Gallery, catalogue
1982 “Tendances de la Peinture Abstraite, European Invitational”; Paris, Grenoble,Sens, Montpellier, Toulouse, France; catalogue by Gerard Xuriguera catalogue