MARCI WASHINGTON A Spell to Break the Spell
JULY 13 - SEPTEMBER 7, 2024
Rena Bransten is pleased to present a solo exhibition of recent works on paper by San Francisco based artist Marci Washington.
Embracing gothic tropes and macabre imagery, Washington evokes a sinister albeit seductive world, her characters, still lives, and landscapes rendered in rich saturated colors all cloaked in deep, velvety black.
Drawing from 19th century gothic fiction, as well as horror movies and fairy tales, Washington is interested in building a fictional narrative with connections to history as well as to the present, a process she describes as “illustrating a novel that doesn’t exist.” If it did, it would probably be a lot like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, or Turn of the Screw - novels which function as social commentary as well as haunting epics of supernatural romanticism.
Washington states, “Emerging from a deep spell, the sleeper awakens. Shaking off the dirt of the grave, a new spell is cast. Reaching between two realms in places where the veil is thinnest, drawing upon an old knowledge and a power long suppressed, the dead are raised and spirit summoned. Life stirs in the darkness, plants bloom in the night, and a way forward is found.”
Marci Washington grew up in the Bay Area and received her BFA and MFA from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, CA. She has been the recipient of awards from both the Anderson Ranch Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation and has been awarded residencies at Yaddo and AS220. Her work has been shown nationally as well as in the UK and Japan.
Marci Washington A Spell to Break the Spell Installation View, 2024 Rena Bransten Gallery (opposite and following two pages)
Marci Washington Graveyard, 2021
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 24 x 18 inches
Framed: 27 x 21 inches
$4,700
Marci Washington Graveyard (detail)
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 18 x 24 inches
Framed: 21 x 27 inches
$4,700
[opposite: detail]
Marci Washington Weave Your Web, 2019
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 60 x 32 inches
Framed: 62.5 x 35 inches
$8,350
[opposite: details]
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 23 x 29.5 inches
Framed: 26 x 32.5 inches
$5,700
[opposite: detail]
Marci Washington Drag, 2020
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 10 x 13 inches
Framed: 21 x 27 inches
SOLD
[on right: detail]
Marci Washington Portrait, 2020
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 24 x 30 inches
Framed: 27 x 33 inches
$5,700
Marci Washington
The Gates, 2019 Watercolor, gouache on paper Paper: 18 x 24 inches
Framed: 21 x 27 inches
$4,700
Marci Washington From a Deep Well, 2015
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 13.5 x 17 inches
Framed: 16.5 x 20 inches
SOLD
Marci Washington
The Portal, 2020 Watercolor, gouache on paper Paper: 18 x 20 inches
Framed: 21 x 22.5 inches
SOLD
Marci Washington
The Clairvoyant, 2020 Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 42 x 32 inches
Framed: 45 x 35 inches
$7,350
[opposite: detail]
Marci Washington
The Bridge, 2021
Watercolor, gouache on paper
Paper: 18 x 24 inches
Framed: 21 x 27 inches
$4,700
MARCI WASHINGTON CV
EDUCATION
2008 MFA, California College of the Arts
2002 BFA, California College of the Arts
GRANTS / AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
2013 AS220 Artist in Residence, Providence, RI
2010 Six Talent Foundation Fellowship, Anderson Ranch Arts Center
2009 Yaddo Artist Residency, Saratoga Springs, NY
2007 Murphy & Cadogan Fellowship, San Francisco Foundation Berman Fellowship, Anderson Ranch Art Center
2006-2008 Graduate Scholarship
1999-2002 Marion Brobeck Scholarship
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Marci Washington: A Spell to Break the Spell, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2015 Volta, Rena Bransten Projects, New York, NY
2013-14 Sleeping Spell, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011 Marci Washington: New Work, Leeds College of Art, Leeds, Yorkshire, UK
For Forever I’ll Be Here, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009 Dark Mirror, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Unknown Futures, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018 Into the Woods, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2017 Take Over, Alter Space, San Francisco, CA
2016 Pretty Creepy, Paul Booth Gallery, New York, NY
2015 Encounters, Gallery Momo, Tokyo, Japan
2014 Reigning Cats and Dogs, Rena Bransten Projects, San Francisco, CA
2013 Make, curated by Nigel Peake, Espace TILT, Renen, Switzerland
Tear it Out, Issues, Oakland, CA
The Blood is the Life, Everhart Museum, Scranton, PA
Wildness Between LineS, Leeds College of Art, Leeds, Yorkshire, UK
2012 The Bridge, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011 Momentum, LeBasse Projects LA, Los Angeles, CA
Bitches Brew, Park Life Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 Secret Drawings, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2009 Decline and Fall, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Tract Elements, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
2008 We = Trouble, Secret Project Robot, Brooklyn, NY
Cream – From the Top, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA
Dreamscapes, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA
MFA Exhibition, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2007 Au Revoir Auf Wiedersehen, Motel, Portland, OR
1st Anniversary Benefit, Park Life, San Francisco, CA
Immediate Future, San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA
In the Shadow of this Fading Light, We Waited, Giant Robot, San Francisco
Us and Them, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA
2006 American Mythologies, Irwin Art Center, California College of the Arts, Oakland
Guest Artists, Receiver, San Francisco, CA
Night Swim, Junc, Los Angeles, CA
Under the Crooked Bough, Receiver, San Francisco, CA
2005 Four Squared, Motel, Portland, OR
Ghosts Gather at Night, The Rhys Gallery, Boston, MA
Friendless Outsiders, Unknown, Salt Lake City, UT
Daydreaming, Uno, Los Angeles, CA
2004 Hounds Tooth and Herring Bone, Here, Bristol, UK
2002 BFA Exhibition, Center Gallery, California College of the Arts, Oakland, CA
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Art Net, “10 Contemporary Artists to Watch,” March 2015
“For Forever I’ll Be Here - The Art of Marci Washington,” published by Gingko Press, May 2014
Juxtapoz Magazine, “Influences,” November 2013
Propeller Quarterly Feature by Shea’la Finch, May 2010
Aorta Magazine, Interview with Melanie Maddison, May 2010
Juxtapoz Magazine, Interview with Kristin Farr, April 2010
New American Painting, Book #85, Curated by Dominic Molon, 2009
Dark Arts Compiled by Juxtapoz Magazine, 2009
Artslant Review of Dark Mirror by Petra Royale Bibeau, April 2009
Shotgun Review of Dark Mirror by Brady Welch, April 2009
KQED Gallery Crawl - Video Interview, April 2009
New American Painting Book #73, Curated by Alma Ruiz, 2007
Fecal Face Interview with John Trippe, December 2007
SF Weekly Review of Under the Crooked Bow by Sharon Mizota, February 2006