Punctum(s)
John Bankston
Jobi Bicos
Rebekah Goldstein
Bec Imrich
Nagi Lee
Quintessa Matranga
Steuart Pittman

September 4 - October 9, 2026
Opening reception September 4, 5-8pm

Nagi Lee
Dangling, 2026
Oil on canvas 
9 x 6.25 inches

Let’s look at a thing: we can get close, delve into material and texture and this or that mark in graphite or paint; we can step back… back… it is alone on its wall, so we can make it quite small relatively, see the whole thing against a field of white, in a room lit by sun and fluorescents.

In a story song, ‘Pigeon’ by Bill Callahan, the narrator is driving newlyweds in a limo, and, when given the opportunity, can’t resist offering advice:

When you are dating
you only see each other
And the rest of us
can go to hell

But when you are married,
you are married to the whole wide world

Step back a bit, or look at an angle, and other works come into view, by different artists. Seven in total, in loose community in these first two galleries.
I’m the sort who likes people well enough, while greatly appreciating physical/temporal space – I won’t turn away from a hug, but you’ll never catch me initiating one. Bringing together artworks and artists, it is tough to balance the needs of individual artists’ practices, individual works, against some potential whole. I usually prefer the works find their confidence before joining a chorus, and in a sense this exhibition is a version of this: I’m confident in these artists, these works, feel they will hold their walls. But the sway of a chorus is empowering: the constellation of these practices connects them to the whole wide world.
In the back room, a bit more work, a bit closer together. Joyful together, just maybe?

The same song, reflecting on the miracle of a marriage, and for me, of any community’s tenuous, fragile, brave weaving: 

But when I see people
about to marry 

I become something of a
plenipotentiary 

I just think it's good,
as     you     probably     can     tell 

When two atoms
from the Big Bang

Get back together
with the old gang[…] 

-Aaron

John Bankston courtesy of the Artist and Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA.
Steuart Pittman courtesy of the Artist and Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, CA.