Petaluma Arts Center showcases metal’s many forms

Petaluma serves as home base to internationally renowned metal work artists, including Mark di Suvero, whose work is displayed globally and in San Francisco’s Chrissy Field, and David Best, who’s known for constructing towering temples at Burning Man.

The Petaluma Arts Center will seek to highlight the Bay Area’s involvement in metal works with “Metalworks: Cast, Forged and Welded,” opening March 19 and running through May 1, featuring 35 works that showcase 10 local artists’ interpretations of the often basic medium as it’s turned into complex creations.

Exhibit curator Satri Pencak said the exhibit will give attendees a chance to see the artistic potential contained in the element. With pieces ranging from complex to minimalistic, the exhibit will showcase the different properties of metals and various finishes, as well as the materials, processes, ideas and designs.

“The interesting thing about metal is it can take so many different forms,” Pencak said. “It’s like water, it can take so many different states, as well as be combined.”

Pencak was herself a metal sculptor in college and has always loved the medium, which she said isn’t often used in art.

“What excites me is seeing people getting to know how metal works,” Pencak said. “I’m most looking forward to people’s reactions.”

The exhibition will kick off with an opening reception from 4-7 p.m. March 19, followed by a talk featuring Pencak and the artists from 7-8:30 p.m. March 24 at the center.

Featured artists include Matt Devine, a Petaluma-based sculptor whose downtown studio will be showcased on a tour that’s part of the exhibition from 6-8 p.m. March 31. Devine, who’s been a sculptor for about two decades, makes a living by showing his artwork globally, at locations including Australia, Mexico, San Diego and, closer to home, in Santa Rosa.

Devine and his wife moved to Petaluma about a year ago, and he’s looking forward to showcasing his creative space. He’s working on about a dozen commissions right now and attendees will have the opportunity to see all different forms of his artwork in different stages of progression.

“I actually enjoy giving small studio tours, it’s a good way to meet people and show people the back side of the art world,” Devine said. “Most people just see it in a gallery or in their home, so I like to be able to show people the actual process and what it takes. What people are always kind of blown away about when they come to my studio is seeing what’s involved in actually fabricating sculptures and the amount of machinery, tooling and space you need to do it properly.”

Pencak said she hopes the exhibit will have a large impact, with unique pieces including “Spike,” a work composed of 235 railroad spikes held together by magnets.

“I think there are some pieces that will be jaw dropping,” Pencak said. “I would like people to be inspired by the pieces and then go out and see and appreciate the way metal works.”

For more information, visit petalumaartscenter.com. The gallery is open from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Thursday through Monday, with extended hours from 11 a.m.–8 p.m. on March 28 and April 25.

(Contact Faith Gates at argus@arguscourier.com)