SALLY LARSEN


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bio & curriculum vitae



SALLY LARSEN: (born 1954, San Francisco CA) A Native American with Apache/Aleut roots, Sally Larsen lives and works in the city of her birth. Coming of age in San Francisco as psychedelia blossomed in the late 1960s, she found her way to Golden Gate Park where she intuitively sought the society of artists and musicians. Since the 1980s, she has exhibited her photographs, paintings, and video fresco installations in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Honolulu, Seattle, and Chicago. While drawn to cameras and computing, her vision is painterly and expressive. Music remains her Muse. Her recent, streaming digital video frescos combine her photographs with her recent paintings and her musical compositions. She has been published in monographs and surveys. An accomplished martial artist and an avid surfer, her philosophy reflects the layered cultural aesthetic of the Pacific Rim.


Sally Larsen surfing Kauai, photo by Jeff Walba

                Artist's Statement

                Selected Exhibitions & Video frescos



  • 2010      Henry P. Bosse put to music on Blu-ray, a work-in-progress featuring compositions by Claude Debussy, Ernest Bloch and Sally Larsen.


  • 2009      Fall: Personal Projections: Streaming digital video frescos, outdoor installation, Lincart Gallery - San Francisco, CA


  • 2009      Summer: New Work: Streaming digital video frescos, outdoor installation, Lincart Gallery - San Francisco, CA


  • 2008      The German Eye in America study center deployed online


  • 2008      From San Francisco to LA and Back: a streaming digital video fresco


  • 2007      DNA, the Diaspora of Native Americans: ongoing email performance


  • 2007      Initial photography for The German Eye in America installation.


  • 2006      Relations Indigenous Dialogue, group show, Institute of American Indian Art Museum, Santa Fe, NM (July-September)


  • 2006      Ringtones: Recent Paintings & C Prints, solo show, The Pyramid Annex, San Francisco, CA (February-August)


  • 2005      Romancing the Shadows, group show, The Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA (September-December)


  • 2004      Death: Artists Confront Mortality, group show, John F. Kennedy University Gallery,Berkeley, CA


  • 2003      Photography Exhibition, group show, Chambers Fine Art - New York, NY (January)


  • 2002      Feng Shui, group show, Chambers Fine Art - New York, NY (September-October)


  • 2002      Photography's Antiquarian Avant Garde, group show, Sarah Morthland Gallery - New York, NY (June)


  • 2002      Microcosm, group show, The New York Chinese Scholar's Garden, Chambers Fine Art NY (April-May)


  • 2001       Meditations, solo orotone exhibit, Chambers Fine Art - New York, NY (September)


  • 2001      The Big Bang, solo multimedia exhibit, Sacred Circle Gallery of American Indian Art - Seattle, WA


  • 2000      Mother Love, orotone exhibit, American Indian Community House - New York, NY


  • 2000      Surf Trip, video fresco, indoor installation, Track 16 Gallery - Santa Monica, CA


  • 2000      Streaming digital video fresco, outdoor installation, Linc Real Art Gallery - San Francisco, CA


  • 2000      Surf Trip, video installation, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts - San Francisco, CA


  • 1999      What is art for?, Y2K Time Capsule and performance, Oakland Museum - Oakland, CA


  • 1999      Folsom Street Fair in One Take, video fresco


  • 1998      Testing the Waters, group show, Perimeter Gallery - Chicago, IL


  • 1997      Hawaii, The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center - Honolulu, HI


  • 1996      Obsidian Land, solo orotone exhibit, Perimeter Gallery - Chicago, IL


  • 1996      Dealer's Choice, group show, Northern Indiana Arts Association - Munster, IN


  • 1996      Digital Photography, group show, Butler Institute of American Art - Youngstown, OH


  • 1995      The Gold Show, group show, Palo Alto Cultural Center - Palo Alto, CA


  • 1994       No Feathers Manifest Destiny Indicted, group show, Rockford College - Rockford, IL


  • 1993      Crystals of Time, solo orotone exhibit, Perimeter Gallery - Chicago, IL


  • 1992      Japan & Hawaii, solo orotone exhibit, G Ray Hawkins Gallery - Santa Monica, CA


  • 1991      From the White Room, solo orotone exhibit, Simon Lowinsky Gallery - New York, NY


  • 1990      Digital Image/Digital Photography, group show, A.C.M. Siggraph '90 - Dallas, TX


  • 1990      Recent Acquisitions & Gallery Artists, group show, G. Ray Hawkins Gallery, Santa Monica, CA


  • 1990      June Catalog, group show, G. Ray Hawkins Gallery - Los Angeles, CA


  • 1990      New Directions, group show, G. Ray Hawkins Gallery - Los Angeles, CA


  • 1989      Hsin-I, solo exhibit, Simon Lowinsky Gallery - New York, NY


  • 1989      Tunnels Point Transformer Print Series, IRIS inkjet prints developed in collaboration with Graham Nash and David Coons.


  • 1988      New From The Past, group show, Vision Gallery - San Francisco, CA


  • 1986      Open Studio - San Francisco, CA


  • 1985      SNAP/Photography '85, group show, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery , San Francisco, CA


  • 1983      Vatican Double Spiral orotone, and larger mosaic orotones, printed on Kodak glass plates using hand-applied gold leaf.


  • Vatican Museum Double Spiral Stairway. Photograph and orotone by Sally Larsen

                    GRANTS AND AWARDS

  •       2001      Artist in Residence Grant Award from Art21, Paul G. Allen Foundation, and Daybreak Star Arts Center, Seattle WA



  •                 SELECTED COLLECTIONS:

  •       Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York, NY

  •       Microsoft Corporation - Redmond, WA

  •       Los Angeles County Museum of Art - L.A., CA

  •       San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, SF CA

  •       Graham Nash Collection - Encino, CA

  •       Honolulu Academy of Arts - Honolulu, HI

  •       First Hawaiian Bank - Honolulu, HI

  •       Chapman & Cutler - Chicago, IL

  •       McKinsey & Company - Chicago, IL

  •       Rockwell Museum - Corning, NY

  •       Daybreak Star Arts Center - Seattle, WA


  •                 BIBLIOGRAPHY: Publications and selected Citations:

  •       2010  Photography plus book cover and frontis design for twenty Solo Zone Publishing Kindle editions.


  •       2009  Sally Larsen Works-in-Progress by Cristina Deptula at www.synchchaos.com.


  •       2009  Thread by Patrick Trefz (powerHouse Books 2009) includes first published reference to The German Eye in America project.


  •       2002  Mastering Digital Printing: Photographer's and Artist's Guide to Digital Output, by Harald Johnson; Muska & Lipman, Cincinnati.

  •       2002  Photography's Antiquarian Avant Garde: The New Wave in Old Processes, by Lyle Rexer; Abrams, NYC.

  •       2001  Plants used for religious purposes..., editorial by Heidi Dietrich, Queen Anne/Magnolia News, Seattle, 20 June

  •       2000  Water a word worth a thousand pictures; by Sally Larsen, a limited edition color jet book.

  •       2000  The Big Bang; by Sally Larsen, a limited edition color jet book.

  •       2000  In the Manner of Animals; photographs by Sally Larsen, -ine poems by Bart Alberti, Solo Zone publishing.


  •       1998  Western Waters; by Sally Larsen with a poem by Gary Snyder, a limited edition laser book.


  •       1997  Review, by Joan Rose; The Honolulu Advertiser, July 27.


  •       1997  Mana Manna Mania; by Sally Larsen; a limited edition laser book.


  •       1996  Obsidian Land, Photo Metro; Introduction by Jo Leggett; May.


  •       1996   Obsidian Land; by Sally Larsen; a limited edition laser book.


  •       1994  No Feathers: Manifest Destiny Indicted, Catalog by Rockford College; Essay: Donald Garfield.


  •       1994  Review, by Tina Wasserman; New Art Examiner; March.


  •       1993  JAPLISH, a view of contemporary Japan, by Sally Larsen; Pomegranate Press.


  •       1991  Photography; The New Yorker; Jan. 13.


  •       1991  Art in Review, by Charles Hagen; The New York Times; Nov. 22.


  •       1991  Sally Larsen: Absorbing & Reflecting on Visions of Life, by Neeli Cherkovski; The City; December.


  •       1989  Review, by Neeli Cherkovski; Photo Metro; November.


  •       1988  Micro Art, by Ann Hurley; The San Francisco Bay Guardian; Vol. 22: 36; June 22-29.


  •       1985  Bay Area Photography 1985, by Jim Jordan; Artweek; Vol. 16: 31; Sept 28.



  •                 CERTIFICATE OF INSTRUCTION:

  •       1994  Instructor: Tai Chi Chuan and weapons forms; Choy Kam Man Tai Chi Chuan Academy, San Francisco, CA

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