Susan O'Malley's work is part of lone some, an exhibition seeking to inspire and provoke questions about what it means to experience loneliness, the exhibition's art works are featured on 25 independent public sites around the Bay Area.
I love you baby was conceived as part of My Healing Garden is Green, for this exhibition O'Malley found inspiration close to home. The artist wrote: "With a strained hand my mom wrote My Healing Garden is Green after she was diagnosed with a rare and terminal neurological disease called Multiple Systems Atrophy. Her handwriting was just one part of the loss. Soon she could no longer do many of the activities she loved, like tend to her garden, work, or walk independently. Everything was happening very rapidly, so I asked her to write down phrases she always says to me. I think she wrote me things both of us needed to remember. The notes she wrote to me comprise this exhibition." |
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Susan O'Malley
Susan O’Malley (1976-2015) was an artist and curator from the San Francisco Bay Area. From posters to pep talks, billboards to vending machines, her art uses simple and recognizable tools of engagement to connect people to one another. In her Advice from My 80-Year-Old Self project, she interviewed people of all ages and transformed their words into bold artwork that has been shared widely as a book, prints, and public murals. O’Malley’s artwork has been exhibited in public projects across the United States—including Montalvo Arts Center, Kala Art Institute, and Palo Alto Art Center in California; the Contemporary Art Museum in Houston; and the Parthenon Museum in Nashville—as well as in galleries and museums in the United Kingdom, Denmark, and Poland. Her installation Finding Your Center was recently featured at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and her project A Healing Walk is permanently installed at Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga, California. Learn more about Susan O'Malley at susanomalley.org. Photo courtesy of Daniel Garcia. |
Image Gallery
Conversation Series
CONVERSATION #5
(AUGUST 6, 2020) Meeting Where We Are On August 6, 2020, lone some participant Alyson Provax was joined by Christina Amini, steward of the Susan O’Malley estate and longtime collaborator of the artist, to discuss text based art in public space and meeting the people where they are. |
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Related Works
FESTIVAL
COME HEALING With COME HEALING, its 2013 outdoor Art on the Grounds exhibition, Montalvo invites you to be restored. On view are works by six national and international artists exploring the relationships between healing, wholeness, and place. Read More >> |
EXHIBITION
Happiness Is... From January to May 2013, the Montalvo Arts Center showcased artworks from three Lucas Artists Fellows and Guest Artists (Susan O'Malley, Leah Rosenberg, and Christine Wong Yap) in the exhibition Happiness Is... Through research-based work, participatory experiments and installation, the artists examined the complex emotions, conditions and actions involved in generating the elusive state of happiness. Read More >> |
COMMISSION
Susan O'Malley: A Healing Walk Examining the power of natural places to elevate and enrich human experience and health, Susan O’Malley’s A Healing Walk guides visitors through Montalvo’s forest trails with text-based signage reminding us to practice mindfulness and appreciate the healing effects of the countryside. Read More >> |
Past Events
LONE SOME CONVERSATIONS
Meeting Where We Are On August 6, 2020, lone some participant Alyson Provax was joined by Christina Amini, steward of the Susan O’Malley estate and longtime collaborator of the artist, to discuss text based art in public space and meeting the people where they are. Read More >> |
Related Press
Montalvo Displays Original Artworks Around Bay Area Examining The Issues Caused By Social Isolation
by BWW News Desk Throughout June and July, Montalvo Arts Center will present original artworks around the Bay Area for viewing on billboards and bus shelters, in a new public exhibition entitled lone some. In association with its 2019-2020 programming initiative, SOCIAL: Rethinking Loneliness Together, Montalvo will transform traditional advertising and commerce medium spaces into catalysts for conversation and connection. Read More >> |