Curated by Ginny Parsons
Deborah Sullivan and Charlie Sullivan
Styrous and Tom White
Janet Koike and Ed Holmes
The K Gallery at Rhythmix Cultural Works presents Coupled, a group exhibition of artists who are married or intertwined. Do couples influence each other’s art work? How much of our world view comes from who we live with? Using clay, photography, painting, sculpture and interactive installation, each “coupled” artist tells their unique story.
About the Artists
Deborah has made clay sculptures for a long damn time. She recently started a series of ink paintings and decorative glass. But clay is her favorite. She and Charlie met when they worked at Scotts Seafood in San Francisco. He waited tables and she bartended. They just celebrated 25 years of marriage. She can’t believe he’s put up with her for so long.
Charlie repurposes found and discarded items, combining them with lenses and mirrors to create emotionally inspired freestanding sculptures and hangings. Everyday items are rearranged in a playful balance and are built to be viewed in the round to encourage shifting perspectives. In addition to being an artist, Charlie also teaches 5th grade at Otis School.
Tom emigrated to California in the late 60’s from El Paso, Texas and taught at UC, Santa Barbara and then UC, Berkeley. He finally settled in Jingletown in Oakland where he has lived for the last 30 years. Trained as a painter, Tom then moved on to butohdrawing, an interface of drawing, painting, video and performance. He is a Professor Emeritus at the California College of the Arts (CCA).
Styrous has been involved with Jingletown in Oakland for more than 25 years. Always engaged in the arts, he first studied music, then worked as a dancer and producer, and most recently, Styrous has been expressing himself in photo de/re-construction and nontraditional printing surfaces. His work is represented in the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles and the archives of the Textile Arts Council of the M.H. de Young Museum. Styrous and Tom have been together for 42 years. Married in 2008, they have collaborated on many projects over the years.
Ed has been doodling with photos, films, video, and slapstickers since way back. His EXTREME !! amateur approach has shown up on the walls of the Modem Gallery in Crockett, Men’s Art Show in Sausalito, SF Car Art Show, Oakland Library and Art Motel in SF. Ed has curated Veterans Art shows at K Gallery and Bridgehead in Alameda and JAS in Jingletown. His contribution to public art has been slapstuck from here to just about everywhere.
Janet graduated with a BA Art in 1976. In the 80’s she created Koike Textiles, a hand printed fabric fashion design business. Janet turned to tap dance then taiko in the 90’s, joining San Jose Taiko. In 1999 she formed Rhythmix Ensemble and in 2007 she opened Rhythmix Cultural Works. She has spent the last 10 years trying to figure out how to engage people in the arts. With her presentation of Island City Waterways in 2016, Koike created a multidisciplinary art journey, as a vehicle for the community to experience art together.