Redefining MediumThe BAMPFA SC Art Curatorial Subcommittee’s Fall 2025 digital exhibition, “Redefining Medium” showcases works from the BAMPFA permanent collection that explore unconventional uses and combinations of an assorted set of materials–ranging from q-tips to horsehair. Rather than adhering to rigid categories such as painting, sculpture, or photography, the selected art works distort these boundaries through their experimental and often hybrid forms, complicating traditional definitions of art and genre. We subsequently invite viewers to reconsider how they interpret and classify works of art, and to question the limitations of material artistic practice.  Miriam Schapiro United States, b. Canada, 1923–2015 Personal Appearance #2 1973 Collage and acrylic on canvas University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Harry W. Anderson, 1973.2 Miriam Schapiro’s Personal Appearance #2 embodies the artist’s venture into the practice of “femmage,” which she defines as the activities of collage and similar artistic techniques traditionally executed by women (Stiles, Selz 1996). Her assemblages re-conceptualize conventional methods of artmaking associated with women by taking the processes of sewing, cutting, appliqueing, etc., and combining them with paint. This effectively creates an entirely new medium out of both conventionally coded feminine and masculine art-making traditions. The title she bestows upon the piece, as well, further disrupts standard notions of media boundaries. Though it does not take on the form of a profile, it is still deemed a sort of self-portrait as Schapiro claims it to be particular to herself. In this sense, she employs “femmage” to represent herself rather than Western male customs of naturalist oil painting.  Didi Dunphy United States, born 1959 Decorative Samplers (Pink Stella Cruciform) 1996 Embroidery floss on Aida cloth, eyelet lace, wood, and metal hoop University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of Refusalon, 1997.15.3 Samplers, historically created by women and young girls as part of their domestic education, act as references for needlework designs, used to demonstrate an artist’s skill or teach patterns. In the case of pieces involving text and more illustrative designs, samplers as early as the 18th century also serve as records of their creator’s life and knowledge. In Decorative Samplers, Didi Dunphy calls on this legacy to highlight the practice and process behind women’s labor as art in its own right. Emblematic of Dunphy’s focus on “women’s work” and the practicality of joy in everyday life, the pink embroidery and lace trim combine traditionally feminine elements with a bold geometric pattern, striking a balance between playfulness and simplicity. Where the traditionally feminine skill of needlework is often dismissed as merely decorative, Dunphy subverts this assumption, asserting decoration as art.  Giorge Spaventa United States, 1918-1978 Torso 1956 Bronze University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of the Longview Foundation Torso is a messy, clawed-open piece. The body’s incompleteness is ambiguous—it is unclear whether it is unfinished or partially destroyed. In shaping the clay, wax, and plaster that would become his bronze works, Giorge Spaventa left visible traces of his hands. He sought to bring motion into his sculpture, drawing inspiration not only from European sculptors like Rodin and Giacometti but also from expressionist painters like de Kooning. His intentional use of fluidity and human touch in bronze sculpture pushed the medium beyond its traditional solidity.  Judith Linhares United States, b. 1940 A Stitch in Time 1974 Mixed Media on Paper University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of Paule Anglim Judith Linares blends her unique and surreal style in this mixed medium piece. The overall composition of the piece creates a dreamlike and mysterious scene. Linhares developed her artistic voice throughout the Bay Area and was inspired by rising feminist art movements in the 1970s. Her work often highlights women’s inner lives, personal symbolism, and emotional experiences. This piece reflects her early interest in experimenting with materials and pushing beyond traditional techniques, revealing how material choices can shape the meaning and atmosphere of an artwork.  Lee Mullican United States, b. 1919 Illustrated Man 1970-1972 Oil on canvas University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Bequest of Gertrud Parker Mullican, who spent most of his life on the West Coast, created the technique of striation, which creates straight lines with the edge of a printer’s knife coated in paint. His abstract style was likely influence by his time spent as a topographer in WWII. In his later years, the artist would be inspired by the tantric art of India, which uses abstract symbols to guide meditation. In this piece, Mullican uses vertical and horizontal lines that resemble bright stitches against a dark canvas. While most painters choose oil for its ability to blend, Mullican creates variations in light and color as if threading a tapestry.
Marko Aaron Presley Kennedy III Hairpiece Series #4 - Duchamps Tonsure 1973 offset printing, brown hair, clear adhesive tape, fingerprint, and stamp mark in purple ink on paper, two-sided University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of the Naify Family, 1995.46.301 Hairpiece Series #4 - Duchamps Tonsure is an artwork whose delightful peculiarity comes from both its humorous absurdity and its refusal to be constrained to a singular medium. The piece is a mixed media collage of sorts featuring a background of Duchamp's Tonsure photograph. Tonsure explores masculinity and religion, named for the exclusively male religious tradition in which part of a monk's head is shaven (Zapperi, Giovanna 2007). As part of the collage’s transformation into a new piece, the entire form has been rearranged to resemble a magazine ad which advertises bizarre pieces of hair belonging to celebrities. The artwork focuses on this theme of hair through its usage of body art, in the form of the shooting star shaved into the back of Duchamp’s head. Its most unusual feature is the small tuft of brown hair that has been taped onto the paper, looking as though it has been plucked directly off of Duchamp’s head. These alterations create a new sense of dimensionality within the piece, the hair bringing it into the three-dimensional world. It also creates a play on the theme of body art as originally considered within Duchamp's work, leading the viewer to question how far the extension of “body” reaches within art. Beyond the layering of mediums, one can begin to derive this work’s meaning by picking apart the layers of references to the main subject. Most notable is the work’s use of humor, whose usage in art was pioneered by Duchamp. Additionally, the work’s existence as an ironic advertisement can be interpreted as a reference to the anti-commercialist viewpoint that informs many of Duchamp’s most influential art pieces.  Erwin Wurm Austria, 1954 Outdoor Sculptures (Q-tip) 2000 C-print, ed. 5 University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of Robert Harshorn Shimshak and Marion Brenner, 2004.37.20 Outdoor Sculptures (Q-tip) provides a humorous and unique approach to the medium of sculpture as a whole. Artist Erwin Wurm poses this question of method through the guise of a Q-Tip laid solitarily across the pavement. Through his work, Wurm often focuses on mundane objects to bring larger musings into frame, using humor as a tool to discuss this. Works like Outdoor Sculptures (Q-tip) are inspired by Wurm's quest to determine how we can transform the mundane into sculpture. What is curious about this piece in particular is its existence as a sculpture within the format in which it is presented. When viewing this digitally, we interact with the work as a photograph, as opposed to experiencing the physicality of it in an in-person setting. In turn, we are exposed to an idea that Wurm regularly draws from, that of the potential of anything to be sculpture, perhaps even in its photographic form.  Andy Warhol United States, 1928-1987 Mask 1985 Photograph University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 2008.2.98 In Mask, Andy Warhol redefines the medium of photography by turning a ceremonial mask into a Pop-inflected portrait. The Pop Art influence is clear through the isolation of the object, the detachment from context, and the commercial-style atmosphere. These techniques distinguish this object as an image rather than an artifact. Rather than depicting his usual subjects of celebrities or consumer products, here Warhol is photographing an Indigenous mask using the same tenets of Pop Art that insert a relic into his visual vocabulary. Through this act of translating an object into a photograph, Warhol is complicating ideas of authorship, authenticity, and representation. Who has authorship over the image, the maker of the mask, or Warhol who photographs it? When an artifact is detached from its cultural context, does it stay authentic to its origins? When does representation and appropriation begin when objects are recontextualized in art? This work displays his broader ideas of breaking down boundaries between documentation, whether that be popular culture or an antique, showing that photography not only records but can reshape identity and meaning.  Dennis Beall Emblem V 1967 Color collotype print and etching Dennis Beall, an educator and artist formerly based in San Francisco, is best known for his abstract expressionist color lithographs. His process drew inspiration from his time spent in Japan while serving in the U.S. Navy and his later studies across the globe. Having traveled across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, his body of work finds its origins in a wide range of art across cultures. In his art, he often focuses on abstract line and shape manifested through printmaking. Here, using the techniques of color collotype print and etching, Beall has rendered a hand stretched open, five fingers extended upwards. In the center is a perfect circle containing a nude woman. As she stands shyly with her weight on one leg and gazing towards the viewer with a slight smile, it is possible that she is the ‘emblem’ spoken of in the title. What, exactly, she represents remains a mystery- part of the abstraction which Beall coveted. When one looks upon the print, they can make her into whatever symbol, or emblem, they so choose.  Man Ray Untitled 1968 Color lithograph on high-quality paper Man Ray — born Emmanuel Radnitzky in 1890 — spent most of his artistic career in Paris. His contributions to the Dada and Surrealist movements feature his innovative approach to sculpture, film, and most notably, photography. In this piece, which is also referred to as Monument, Man Ray pays tribute to the 18th-century French writer Marquis de Sade, whose philosophical works idealized freedom and sexual liberation. This lithograph is part of a collection of 150 pieces, and can be currently found in the archives of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.  Endre Tót Germany, b. Hungary, 1937–present Evergreen Idea 1973 black typewritten text and stamp mark in green ink on County Borough of Blackburn stationery, two-sided University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of Alice Hutchins Evergreen Idea is part of Endre Tót’s collection of “mail art” works, in which he uses simple, everyday objects to redefine how we interpret art. Throughout his career, Tót has used text to create conceptual art, focusing on the meaning of the work and the message of the final result. He explores concepts referred to as Nothing/Zero, Gladness, and Rain. Evergreen Idea plays into the former two of these three ideas. The direct use of “0’s” and the abrupt sentence towards the bottom of the page may serve to illustrate Tót’s careful use of restricted medium to convey an appreciation for life when he was grappling with censorship in Hungary during this time period.  Harold Keller Birth of Venus with a Yellow Submarine 1966 oil on canvas The Birth of Venus with a Yellow Submarine is part of a series of paintings by Harold Keller, each depicting the goddess Venus in a different but equally amorphous form, among highways and vehicles drawn with a more meticulous linework. In this work, the protruding yellow submarine, instead of the goddess herself, takes the main focus at the center of the painting. Many of Keller’s paintings depict themes and scenes from Greek mythology and biblical events, set against the backdrop of modern landscapes and highways. These landscapes are often specifically related to places significant to Heller’s life, such as Washington County and Saratoga Springs. His works combine the legendary with the everyday by placing fantastical events within commonplace settings, as well as weaving together the past and the present, blurring the line between the ordinary and familiar and the extraordinary and unknown.  Maria Porges Bomboozle 2003 Installation | Exterior: knitted and felted wool | Interior: cotton and polyester batting University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Gift of David Henry Jacobs This artwork was gifted to the BAMPFA by David Henry Jacobs in 2004, about a year after the installation piece was made. The artist, Maria Porges, is known to utilize organic shapes, and this specific work is arranged similarly to another earlier work of hers, Acts of Deception, where each object is placed on sets of shelves depending on its size, height, and overall compositional contribution to the piece.  Rosie Lee Tompkins United States, 1936-2006 Christmas Tree 1997 Glass jar, metal cap, glass knob, fabric, costume jewelry, seashell necklace, decorative trim, fabric cord, metallic cord, individual beads and faux pearls, glue, and other media University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Bequest of The Eli Leon Living Trust, 2019.72.42 Rosie Lee Tompkins’s Christmas Tree is one of five decorated bottles in the BAMPFA collection. Tompkins is mainly known for her inventive quilts, but this glass jar expands the traditions of textile art by transforming found objects into a layered sculptural piece. Drawing from her quilting, costume adornment, and even devotional imagery with a cross glued on the rear, Tompkins creates a hybrid object that cannot be simply classified. By applying techniques mainly associated with sewing and embellishment, such as appliques and fabric, Tompkins breaks down the distinction between craft and sculpture. Likewise, the barrier between domestic labor and artistic invention is collapsed by taking techniques and materials typically associated with the household handiwork of women and transforming that into a sculptural work that is seen within a fine art context. Christmas Tree redefines quilting not as a flat textile work but as a sculptural medium that can display ornament and personal expression.  Sky Hopinka b. 1984 Sunflower Siege Engine 2022 16mm transferred to HD video, color, stereo sound, 12:22 min. Edition of 3+ 1AP Commissioned by the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the San Jose Museum of Art. This piece reflects on the political landscape that has shaped Indigenous lives across generations. Hopinka weaves 16mm footage, digital video, archival images, and fragments of his own poetry into a meditation on land and ancestral return. The presence of Mohawk activist Richard Oakes during the 1969 occupation of Alcatraz through a laptop anchors the film’s dialogue between past and present forms of resistance. Through layered exposures, shifting textures, and a voice that moves between memory and landscape, Hopinka situates the personal within long histories of displacement while imagining the intimate, spiritual, and political work of returning home.
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