Saratoga News

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Among those visiting the current exhibit at the Gallery at Montalvo, including the interactive graffiti wall, were students from Noble School in San Jose (from left) Justin Rocca, Demesi Jackson, Kevin Yetman and Chad Krueger.

Graffiti comes to life at Montalvo gallery

By Shari Kaplan

A scribbled tag here, a color splotch there, and names and doodles everywhere--graffiti artists have left very prominent marks in the midst of the latest exhibit at the Gallery at Villa Montalvo, in Saratoga.

The artist and the gallery staff don't even mind.

They aren't bothered because the exhibit "Graffiti: Tenor of Time" includes an interactive area in which artist Peter Foley encourages visitors to try their hands at something he himself enjoys both creating and analyzing--graffiti.

A native of the Bay Area and holder of a bachelor's and master's degree in fine arts, Foley has been exhibiting since 1975. Over the decades, he has shown prints, mixed-media pieces, monotypes, assemblages and various constructions.

Foley's on-site project at Montalvo of boxed assemblages consists of pictographs (something like hieroglyphics), text, written notes, wooden sticks, maps and photos. Many of the elements are overlaid--sometimes in ways that hint at added meanings; at other times they appear random. In this way, Foley ensures an interactive and thought-provoking experience for the viewer.

"In some cases, the artist examines historic text or drawings and approximates them in his own handwriting. As such, he leaves his immediate markings on the past, just as early 20th-century tourists left graffiti on the walls of temples and caves," explains gallery curator Theres Rohan.

"Within the visual language of his assemblages, Peter travels from artifacts of urban archeology and common popular culture to issues of loss of the indigenous, issues of colonialism, modern history and global interfacing."

These ideas are evident in many pieces, including Serra Da Bodoquena, Zanzibar, The Martyr's Tale and Pleasure Dome. Foley combines seemingly incongruous elements including a vacuum-cleaner illustration, fragments of old maps, constellations diagrams, chalk sketches, photographs of primitive peoples and drawings and busts from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Tied, stick-like wooden frames also pop up in many of his pieces, most of which are dominated by warm earth tones like beige, orange, tan, brown and russet.

As for the interactive graffiti wall--which hopefully still has room for a few more would-be artists--it's taller than most people and almost as wide as the gallery. After sifting through a box of pencils, chalks and oil pastels in a palette of colors chosen by Foley, visitors can leave their own marks on the exhibit.

In the tenor of time since the exhibition opened, the wall has grown to include faces, food, hearts, flowers, trees, names, animals, insects, aliens, UFOs, military tanks, religious symbols and geometric shapes. It will no doubt include many more signs of the times by the time Foley sees it again.

The exhibit runs through June 28. The Gallery, located at 15400 Montalvo Road, is open Wednesday through Friday, 1-4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. and before Montalvo concerts . For more information, call 961-5813.

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