From the Depths: Inspiring Science and Art
Science and art installation will be last
new exhibit at 875 Howard Street
Exhibit
features original artwork by
Oakland-based painter Tiffany Bozic
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| Battle of The Deep, 45” x 35”, acrylic on maple panel © Tiffany Bozic , 2007 |
What would happen if the California Academy of Sciences’ marine invertebrate collections were explored through the eyes of a contemporary painter? Visitors can find out in From the Depths, an upcoming science and art exhibit at 875 Howard Street. Featuring large-scale paintings and sketches by local artist Tiffany Bozic, this exhibit will transport visitors into the depths of both the ocean and the imagination, and present an artist’s vision of the life-and-death drama that unfolds beneath the sea. The exhibit also includes photographs, preserved specimens from the Invertebrate Zoology collection, and artfully designed tanks with live fish.
This exhibit is the result of a year-long collaboration between Bozic and Dr. Rich Mooi, curator of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology at the Academy. Despite examining the museum collections from very different perspectives, they found common ground in their passion for discovery and understanding life. Nature’s ability to inspire both artist and scientist will form an important theme throughout the exhibit.
From the Depths will debut at an evening reception on Thursday, November 15 from 5 - 9 pm. Thereafter, it will be available for viewing every day from 10 am - 5 pm, until the Academy’s Howard Street facility closes on January 6, 2008.
Bozic is one of the first participants in the Academy’s Artist in
Residence program. Based in Oakland, her work often incorporates
richly pigmented acrylic paint on solid maple wood panels. She is said to be inspired by John James
Audubon and Ernst Haeckel, but dives more deeply into
the imaginary and darker aspects of the natural world. She has spoken
at art and design conferences and shown in galleries throughout the
For high resolution images or press inquiries, contact:
Stephanie
Stone at sstone@calacademy.org
Andrew
Ng at ang@calacademy.org
Listen to a podcast about the exhibit!
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Photo: ©billyocallaghan, 2007 |
Academy Lecture
From the Depths:
Creating a Science and Art Exhibit at the Academy
Tuesday, November
13 at 2 pm & 7:30 pm
For several months,
Academy curator Dr. Rich Mooi guided contemporary painter Tiffany Bozic through
the Academy’s vast collection of marine invertebrates. Despite examining the specimens from very
different perspectives, they found common ground in their passion for discovery
and understanding nature. Join Bozic and Dr. Mooi as they discuss their collaboration
and the resulting exhibit From the Depths, a science and art
installation on display starting November 15. A sneak preview of From the Depths will take place before the evening lecture, from 6:00 - 7:30 pm. Free for members, $8 non-members; California Academy of Sciences, 875 Howard
Street, San Francisco. Purchase tickets at the door or
call (415) 379-8000.
Opening Night Reception at Third Thursday
Thursday,
November 15 from 5 - 9 pm
Filled with clownfish,
cocktails, and conversation, the Academy after-hours is the place to be on the
third Thursday of every month. From the
Depths, a new science and art exhibit, will be unveiled at this event. Enjoy music and a cash bar featuring Francis Ford Coppola wine. $5 admission after 5 pm; free for first 50
Members of Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts. California Academy of Sciences, 875 Howard
Street, San Francisco. For more information, call (415) 379-8000 or visit www.calacademy.org.
In conjunction with From the Depths, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) encourages all Academy members to view Biotechnique, an exhibit of art inspired by biotechnology, and to attend the following YBCA-Academy programs. Visit www.ybca.org for details about Biotechnique.
BioTechnique Opening
Reception
Thursday, October 25 from 6 pm – 9 pm
Yerba Buena Center
for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco
$10.00 admission, free to first 50
California Academy of Sciences members
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| Species Reclamation 2000-2006 © Brandon Ballengée |
Technebiotics
Friday, November 2 from 2 pm – 6 pm
California College of the Arts, 1111 8th Street San Francisco
Enjoy
an afternoon of live demonstrations of different biological techniques: DNA
spooling, plant hybridization, cell extraction and more. Visitors to the
Academy’s table at Technebiotics will
be able to discuss the techniques used to study the Earth and
view invertebrate specimens with curator Dr. Rich Mooi. Tiffany Bozic will
describe her collaboration with Dr. Mooi and her experience seeing the
invertebrate collections from an artist’s perspective, which resulted in the exhibit From the Depths. Visitors can
also learn about the new Academy, which is scheduled to open in late
2008 in Golden Gate Park. Free admission
California Academy of Sciences Artist in Residence: Mission
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| Photo: ©billyocallaghan, 2007 |
Natural history museums contain the “raw materials” for studying and understanding the Earth and its processes. For 154 years, Academy scientists have explored the world, gathering over 20 million specimens that are housed in the museum’s collections. What would happen if these collections were interpreted by contemporary artists?
Beginning with the 2007 pilot project, From the Depths, the California Academy of Sciences Artist in Residence seeks to blur the lines between the arts and sciences. Through partnership and collaboration, artists from multiple disciplines are challenged to experience and interpret the collections in new and meaningful ways.
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| Photo: ©billyocallaghan, 2007 |
The Academy’s Research Division contains eight departments that are organized by taxonomic discipline: Anthropology, Aquatic Biology, Botany, Entomology, Herpetology, Ichthyology, Invertebrate Zoology & Geology, and Ornithology & Mammalogy. These departments and the Academy’s library and archives contain invaluable collections that will serve as the focus of the residency. The artist will explore the collections with an assigned mentor from a selected department culminating in a final exhibit and associated programming.
The opening of the new Academy building in Golden Gate Park in October 2008 provides a forum for artists to explore new ideas and new subject matter. The new Academy will be a place for artists to create dialogue about the issues facing the Earth and the sciences today.
The Academy is currently developing the Artist in Residence program and application process. If you wish to be added to the email list, contact Lindsay Irving at lirving@calacademy.org.
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| Photo ©Jack Dumbacher, 2007 |
About the Artist: Tiffany Bozic
Tiffany Bozic has spent the
majority of her life living with and observing the intricacies of nature.
Having grown up on a farm in Arkansas, she was inspired by the natural
world at an early age. Blending her external observations with the internal
world has led her to refine a distinct style. Her work often incorporates
richly pigmented acrylic paint on solid maple wood panels. She is said to be inspired by John James
Audubon and Ernst Haeckel, but dives more deeply into
the imaginary and darker aspects of the natural world. Bozic views the
making of art as a kind of therapeutic process - a way to make sense of the
world, of her relationship to life as it unfolds, of its power over us, and
perhaps most importantly, of our power over it. Currently based
in Oakland, California, she has shown in galleries throughout the
To view a selection of works featured in From the Depths, visit the photo gallery.
To view previous works by Tiffany Bozic, visit www.tiffanybozic.net.
Contact for information regarding the availability of paintings featured in From the Depths .
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Photo: ©billyocallaghan, 2007 |
About the Scientist: Dr. Rich Mooi
Dr. Rich
Mooi is a Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the California Academy of
Sciences. He completed his undergraduate and
graduate work at the University of Toronto, Canada, blending interests in
morphology and the origins of evolutionary novelty with analyses of animal
development and phylogeny. His specialty
is the evolution of echinoderms, the spiny-skinned animals that include the
sand dollars, sea urchins, and sea stars. With a strong fossil record as well as an almost unfathomable diversity
of body forms, the echinoderms became for him a rich source for studying major evolutionary principles.
His upbringing in a family that took natural history-packed camping
trips into remote parts of
For Rich, science and art are two faces of the same coin. Both are driven by inspiration taken from ideas that develop out of close observation of nature. Discoveries about life are always compelling, but when accompanied by careful renderings that express the beauty that so often underlies the discoveries, the messages are always more powerful.
For more information on Dr. Mooi, echinoderms, and the department of Invertebrate Zoology & Geology, visit /research/izg/MooiRich.htm.
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About Steinhart AquariumAn essential element of From the Depths is the collaboration between Tiffany Bozic and Steinhart Aquarium. Bozic felt it was important to incorporate into the exhibit live aquatic organisms alongside preserved specimens to demonstrate the wonder and beauty these animals possess in their living state. She spent many hours observing the animals in the aquarium and discussing their biology with aquarium staff.
Tiffany Bozic and Steinhart Aquarium curator Bart Shepherd enjoyed the opportunity to explore innovative ways of displaying organisms in artfully designed tanks, which reflect elements featured in Bozic’s paintings. They also selected organisms that will eventually make their home in the new Steinhart Aquarium in Golden Gate Park in 2008. As preparations for the move are underway at Howard Street, the live organisms and their unique tanks featured in From the Depths serve as important “prototypes” for what is to come in the new aquarium.
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Photo: ©billyocallaghan, 2007 |
The California Academy of Sciences was fortunate to work with local photographer Billy O’Callaghan on the documentation of the residency. His photographs on display in the From the Depths exhibit give a behind-the-scenes view into the collections and the collaboration.
To view a selection of low-resolution images from the exhibit visit the photo gallery.
For high
resolution images or press inquiries, contact:
Stephanie
Stone at sstone@calacademy.org
Andrew
Ng at ang@calacademy.org
View other works by Billy O’Callaghan
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Film
Associated with the exhibit From the Depths, the Academy engaged filmmaker Todd Bell of the Techtronic Rocket Society to create a short film of Tiffany Bozic during the residency. The film, “Little Things,” will be on display in From the Depths from November 15, 2007 to January 6, 2008.
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For high resolution images or press inquiries, contact:
Stephanie Stone at sstone@calacademy.org
Andrew Ng at ang@calacademy.org
