Artists to Celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge in 2012

Written by Cheryl Haines Sunday, 25 December 2011 23:05

SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- In one of the signature events celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge in 2012, fifteen leading artists from the Bay Area and around the world will create on-site installations responding to the bridge as an icon, historic structure, and conceptual inspiration. Organized by the nonprofit FOR-SITE Foundation in partnership with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service, International Orange will occupy selected areas of all three floors and the spacious courtyard of the historic Fort Point building, dating from 1861 and nestled at the southern base of the bridge. International Orange will open on Memorial Day weekend, May 26–28, as part of the kickoff to the 75th anniversary and will remain on view to the public free of charge through October 2012. Featuring site-specific installations, live performance, interactive art experiences, and public programs, the exhibition will offer visitors new insights into the bridge, its history, and the unparalleled surrounding environment through the diverse work of fifteen leading contemporary artists.

Selected participants are Anandamayi Arnold, Mark Dion and Dana Sherwood, Bill Fontana, Doug Hall, Courtney Lain, David Liittschwager, Abelardo Morell, Cornelia Parker, Kate Pocrass, Jeannene Przyblyski, Allison Smith, Stephanie Syjuco, Camille Utterback, and Pae White.

“The Golden Gate Bridge is synonymous with San Francisco and it makes an indelible impression, not only on the millions who flock to see it each year, but also on those of us who see it daily,” said Lawrence Rinder, director of the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive and advisor to the FOR-SITE Foundation. “This is a great occasion to engage a diverse group of artists—all of whom create art that responds to place—to share their inspiration with the public, and, in turn, stimulate new appreciation for this emblematic structure.”

“Presenting International Orange inside a late-nineteenth-century fort within a military base-turned-national park, at the edge of a major urban center, adds layers of history and complexity that will inform the art and enrich the experience for tens of thousands of visitors” added FOR-SITE executive director, Cheryl Haines.


Works on view will include an immersive audio-visual piece by Bill Fontana capturing the intense vibrations and haunting sounds produced by the bridge; a split-screen video installation by Doug Hall showing the immense bridge span and tracking the progress of container ships passing underneath; a social sculpture in the form of a retail environment curated by Stephanie Syjuco and stocked solely with objects and artworks in the fantastic “international orange” color of the bridge; a monumental fog tapestry by Pae White; and a community-based initiative led by Allison Smith, who will collaborate with female veterans to create hundreds of feet of bunting out of military and surplus fabrics to adorn the interior courtyard of Fort Point.

Established in 2003 by San Francisco gallery owner and arts advocate Cheryl Haines, the FOR-SITE Foundation is dedicated to the creation, understanding, and presentation of art about place through commissions, artist residencies, and educational programs. Since 2008, FOR-SITE has broken new ground and provided a model for engaging the public through artistic collaborations on national park land. FOR-SITE’s projects in the Presidio include Andy Goldsworthy’s monumental Spire and Wood Line, and the acclaimed Presidio Habitats exhibition, for which artists, designers, and architects including Mark Dion, Ai Weiwei, Don Chadwick, and Jensen Architects created animal habitats throughout the park.

Pae White (b. 1963, Pasadena, California) will build upon her recent series of digitally-woven tapestries created from photographic imagery to develop a new piece for the exhibition. Contrasting the immateriality of an image with the physicality of fabric, White will work with Belgian loom experts to create a monumental tapestry based on a photograph of fog—one of the most iconic conditions at the Golden Gate Bridge and one which reflects and responds to changes in temperature, wind, and light. Based in Southern California, White has had her work presented internationally, at venues and fairs including SITE Santa Fe; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Whitney Biennial; the 53rd Venice Biennale; and neugerriemschneider, Berlin.

International Orange will offer interpretive materials and resources for the general public and for schoolchildren, including a visitor guide and map, ADA-compliant video station, program-related activities and talks, and public tours. Funding for the exhibition, and for all of FOR-SITE’s projects, comes from individual donors to the foundation.

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