The Black Rock Arts Foundation is proud to support the installation of Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito’s sculpture Ecstasy at Patricia’s Green in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, CA. This hopeful, figurative work will be on display, free to the public, from February 7, 2010 till June 18, 2010.

First displayed at the Burning Man festival in Nevada in 2008, Ecstasy is one of the eight monumental metal figures of the artists’ masterpiece, Crude Awakening. In Crude Awakening, these eight figures surrounded a 99-foot tall wooden oil derrick in gestures of prostration, worship and exaltation. Alone, Ecstasy embarks on a hopeful journey. Instead of throwing her head back in reverie to the oil derrick, she gazes wistfully into the open sky as she steps forward into an optimistic future, free of dependency on fossil fuel.

Through our Civic Arts Program, BRAF is pleased to further the evolution of this artwork’s message by exposing it to a new audience and community, and to return to the site of Patricia’s Green. In 2005, this location became the site of BRAF’s first public art project.

Working closely with the residents and business owners of the Hayes Valley neighborhood, BRAF established a model of community collaboration towards the curation and installation of public art. These community members continued to work on bringing art into their neighborhood, forming the Hayes Valley Art Coalition. The installation of Ecstasy at Patricia’s Green further affirms the success of this collaboration, and of the model of public, temporary art installation.

Join us in celebration of Ecstasy at the opening reception:

February 26, 2010
Patricia’s Green
at Octavia and Hayes Streets
San Francisco, CA
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Prior posts about Dan Das Mann and Karen Cusolito

photo: Gary Wilson