Rose D’Amato and Young Joon Kwak

On August 7, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) unveils two newly commissioned installations by California-based artists, Rose D’Amato and Young Joon Kwak. On view through December 15, these projects represent the latest installments in two ongoing exhibition series at BAMPFA: a mural created by D’Amato for the Art Wall; and an immersive sculptural installation by Kwak that is part of MATRIX, the museum’s signature contemporary art series. Both projects mark the artists’ first solo museum exhibitions.

Art Wall / Rose D’Amato: Mission Chevrolet is based on the recently exposed Mission Chevrolet Service billboard—a historic hand-painted sign in San Francisco, where she is based—to memorialize and celebrate this formerly hidden emblem of community and artistic labor. A second-generation sign painter and pinstriper, D’Amato reframes the sign’s design through the techniques of its creation, as well as the service it advertises, to question the boundary between the hand- and machine-made, while establishing an art history that is inclusive of the care, knowledge, and creativity inherent to the manual labor that fuels our world.

MATRIX 285 / Young Joon Kwak: Resistance Pleasure premieres a series of new works by the Los Angeles–based artist. In a group of three sculptures, Kwak combines fragmented body parts to suggest a series of movements throughout the space. Each sculpture is made from the artist’s own body and those of their friends and collaborators. Cast using a mixture of resin, metal, and other synthetic and organic materials, the works are covered in rhinestones and crystals. With its darkened walls and reflective black floor, the space is illuminated by two new neon pieces and accompanied by a musical score. Through this choreography of bodies, Resistance Pleasure transforms the gallery into a kind of dance club, a communal space in which hope, loss, healing, and protest can be experienced all at once.

Sponsorship
Art Wall / Rose D’Amato: Mission Chevrolet is curated by Claire Frost, Art Program Senior Project Manager at Stanford Health Care and former BAMPFA Curatorial Associate. 

The Art Wall is made possible by major funding from Frances Hellman and Warren Breslau.

MATRIX 285 / Young Joon Kwak: Resistance Pleasure is curated by Anthony Graham, Senior Curator.

The exhibition is part of BAMPFA’s ongoing MATRIX series of contemporary art exhibitions. Founded in 1978, MATRIX provides artists with an experimental platform to make and show new work. 

MATRIX exhibitions are made possible by a generous endowment gift from Phyllis C. Wattis.

About Rose D’Amato
Rose D’Amato (b. 1991, Whittier, CA) is a pinstriper and painter living and working in San Francisco, CA. As a second generation sign maker she is drawn to decorative folk arts, hand-lettering, and the iconic imagery tied to her upbringing and direct experience pinstriping and lettering on lowriders. She is motivated by her intention to learn and implement techniques of handmade modes of production and by doing so explore her artistic lineage. She attended the San Francisco Art Institute and received a BFA in painting in 2016 and  afterwards apprenticed and worked at New Bohemia Signs. D’Amato continues to work independently as a painter and has been the Adjunct Professor of Hand lettering at CCA since 2019. Currently, she is the Headlands Center for the Arts Tournesol Awardee for 2023-2024 and an SFMOMA 2024 SECA finalist.  She is currently working towards upcoming projects at SFMOMA, UC Santa Barbara, Charlie James Gallery and House of Seiko.

About Young Joon Kwak
Young Joon Kwak (b. 1984, Queens, New York) received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2007, an MA from the University of Chicago in 2010, and an MFA from the University of Southern California in 2014. Kwak is the founder of Mutant Salon, a roving beauty salon and platform for collaborative performances and installations with their community of queer/trans/POC artists and performers. Kwak is also lead performer in the electronic-dance-noise band Xina Xurner. Their work has been shown in solo exhibitions at Arko Art Center, Seoul (2022); Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles (2021); Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles (2021, 2017, 2016, 2014); Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (2018); and Walter Phillips Gallery, Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada (2018). Group exhibitions and performances include those at Hauser & Wirth, New York (2021); Antenna Space, Shanghai (2019); CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2019); 47 Canal, New York (2018); Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City (2018); Museo de Arte de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá (2018); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2016); The Broad, Los Angeles (2016); and Le Pavillon Vendôme–Centre d’Art Contemporain, Clichy, France (2016).

About BAMPFA
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) ignites cultural change for a more inclusive and artistic world. BAMPFA has been uniquely dedicated to art and film since 1970, with international programming that is locally connected and globally relevant. It holds more than 25,000 artworks and 18,000 films and videos in its collection, with particular strengths in modern and contemporary art and historical Chinese painting, as well as the world’s largest collection of African American quilts. As part of the University of California, Berkeley, BAMPFA is committed to artistic diversity through its robust slate of art exhibitions, film screenings, artist talks, live performances, and educational programs that shed new light on the art of the past and connect our audiences with leading filmmakers and artists of our time. BAMPFA sits on the edge of campus and downtown Berkeley, where it welcomes visitors from across and beyond the Bay Area in a repurposed building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.