/ WORK AVAILABLE BY
Sas Colby
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︎ Inquire
Sas Colby attended Rhode Island School of Design from 1957-59. While Colby has been headquartered in the California Bay Area since 1975, she spent much of the 1990s in Taos, NM, a time period pivotal to her work. With over five decades of creating, exhibiting and teaching experience, Colby’s practice has incorporated textile, collage, painting, and photography, and she is considered a pioneer in the the field of artist books. A friendship with Anaïs Nin and influences such as the work of Gertrude Stein are reflected in Colby's unusual use of text. Inspired by the spirit of Fluxus, Dada and Surrealism, images and words for her are a visual medium as well as a cognitive experience, and she imbues her objects with this reverence. Often, the intimate scale of a piece requires interaction from the viewer, such as careful looking, the turning of a page or the opening of a box.
Recent solo exhibitions include Stamp Collecting at Stellarhighway in Brooklyn, NY; Why the Bunny? at Oakopolis Gallery in Oakland, CA and Images of Compassion at The Magpie Gallery in San Francisco, CA; and, historically, at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA; The Aura Gallery in Santa Fe, NM; Mills College, Oakland, CA; The Photographers’ Gallery in London, UK; and, Washington Project for the Arts in Washington, DC. Group shows include those at Center for Book Art, New York, NY; San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA; Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA; the Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland, CA; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY; Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA; Gallery Miyazaki, Osaka, JP; The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FR. Colby’s work lives in the The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY; Rare Books and Special Collections of the Richard and Ronay Menschel Library, Rochester, NY; Cynthia Sears Artist's Book Collection, Bainbridge Island, WA; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France; The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; Jean Brown Archive/Getty Trust, Santa Monica, CA; and the McGill University Rare Book Library, Montreal, Canada. Recent press includes The New York Times, Fine Book Magazine, and The Berkeley Daily Planet. Colby was a frequent visiting artist at universities and conferences, and is presently a member of the Bay Area Women Artists Legacy Project.
Presentations:
︎ Stiching Desire, with Keith Smith (forthcoming)
︎ Stamp Collecting
Press:
︎ The Brooklyn Rail
︎ Collector Daily
︎ Inquire
Sas Colby attended Rhode Island School of Design from 1957-59. While Colby has been headquartered in the California Bay Area since 1975, she spent much of the 1990s in Taos, NM, a time period pivotal to her work. With over five decades of creating, exhibiting and teaching experience, Colby’s practice has incorporated textile, collage, painting, and photography, and she is considered a pioneer in the the field of artist books. A friendship with Anaïs Nin and influences such as the work of Gertrude Stein are reflected in Colby's unusual use of text. Inspired by the spirit of Fluxus, Dada and Surrealism, images and words for her are a visual medium as well as a cognitive experience, and she imbues her objects with this reverence. Often, the intimate scale of a piece requires interaction from the viewer, such as careful looking, the turning of a page or the opening of a box.
Recent solo exhibitions include Stamp Collecting at Stellarhighway in Brooklyn, NY; Why the Bunny? at Oakopolis Gallery in Oakland, CA and Images of Compassion at The Magpie Gallery in San Francisco, CA; and, historically, at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA; The Aura Gallery in Santa Fe, NM; Mills College, Oakland, CA; The Photographers’ Gallery in London, UK; and, Washington Project for the Arts in Washington, DC. Group shows include those at Center for Book Art, New York, NY; San Francisco Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA; Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA; the Gray Loft Gallery, Oakland, CA; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Arts & Design, New York, NY; Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA; Gallery Miyazaki, Osaka, JP; The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, FR. Colby’s work lives in the The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA; George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY; Rare Books and Special Collections of the Richard and Ronay Menschel Library, Rochester, NY; Cynthia Sears Artist's Book Collection, Bainbridge Island, WA; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; The National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Australia; The National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; The Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris, France; The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA; Jean Brown Archive/Getty Trust, Santa Monica, CA; and the McGill University Rare Book Library, Montreal, Canada. Recent press includes The New York Times, Fine Book Magazine, and The Berkeley Daily Planet. Colby was a frequent visiting artist at universities and conferences, and is presently a member of the Bay Area Women Artists Legacy Project.
Presentations:
︎ Stiching Desire, with Keith Smith (forthcoming)
︎ Stamp Collecting
Press:
︎ The Brooklyn Rail
︎ Collector Daily