Sandow Birk & Elyse Pignolet
Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet: American Procession
May 26 to July 28, 2018
Reception: Saturday, May 26th 7-10pm
Track 16 Gallery is pleased to present Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet’s “American Procession,” a panorama of American icons and ideology. The project was executed on two seventeen foot long woodblock prints plus a “title page” woodblock print. Pignolet and Birk will also be exhibiting individual works including a new series of #metoo ceramics by Pignolet and lithographs and etchings by Birk.
Sandow Birk & Elyse Pignolet
American Procession, 2017
Three panel, offset relief woodblock, printed in 20 panels on gampi paper, backed with sekishu kozo paper, with hand-painted gold embellishment, presented as three scrolls in custom linen box.
Edition of 6 + proofs; edition 5/6
Overall dimensions: 48 x 462 inches
Printed by master printer Paul Mullowney, assisted by Harry Schneider, Erin McAdams, Keisha Mrotek
American Procession: Background/Inspiration
The “Procession of Princes” is an enormous mural on the exterior wall of the Dresden Castle in Germany. It depicts a mounted procession of the rulers of Saxony, with the earliest kings leading the parade. It was originally painted in the 1870’s to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the ruling family, and intending to visually convey the lineage of the rulers - that each succeeding monarch follows in the footsteps of those who came before him. The mural displays the portraits of 35 royals - as well as other figures – totaling nearly 100 figures. It was originally painted in the 1870s, but soon was deteriorating due to weather, and in the early 1900’s it was completely recreated on ceramic tiles. Today, at 335 ft. in length, it is considered to be the largest porcelain artwork in the world.
Concept
In Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet’s enormous print project “American Procession”, the image plays off of the Dresden mural and the concept of Heroism by depicting an imaginary parade of figures from American history. Beginning with the oldest in the back of the line and proceeding forward through time, the personalities are those who made significant contributions to their times – for better or for worse. The project often draws from lesser-known figures who impacted American history. The two seventeen foot long prints each represent opposing sides of the political spectrum spanning US history from the colonies to the present day, and offer a way to rethink how we arrived at the current state, with vastly different ideologies on the left and the right of the political spectrum.
The project consists of 3 enormous woodblock prints. Two measure 3’ x 17’ and a third central panel is 4’ x 6’. One long panel depicts Progressives from history marching to the right, while the other depicts Conservatives from history marching to the left. Both processions head toward confrontation and the central panel, which depicts a Triumphal Arch in ruins, amid the scattered debris of Americana – a police car, the Liberty Torch, bits of the Hollywood sign, an electric chair, a noose, a rural home, an old tire, while a helicopter and blimp hang over a smoke spewing power plant. The woodblocks were carved in sections by the artists in their Long Beach studio then the panels were printed using an offset printing press at Mullowney Printing studio in San Francisco.
Sandow Birk
The Horrible & Terrible Deeds & Words of the Very Renowned Trumpagruel, 2017
Lithograph
15 x 11 in. [sheet size]
Series of 11 prints
Edition 7 of 10
The suite of prints includes a paper portfolio.
Printed by masterprinter John Pusateri at the Auckland Print Studio
From Sandow - re: Dore illustrations that inspired “Trumpagruel"
The project started because I was invited to New Zealand by master printer John Pusateri at Auckland Print Studio, which he runs out of Unitec university in Auckland. He is actually from Pittsburgh, but he’s been in NZ for a decade or more where he’s been putting together a studio doing mostly stone lithography, which I was not too familiar with. He’s gathered quite a collection of some 20 or 30 stones from around the world over the years, including some really large ones, such as several which are around 100cm x 150cm or so. Big and heavy, but also old and gathered from Europe and the Americas and different places he finds them.
I have no training in print making but I have been working with printers on several projects over the past 15 years, by invitation. In this case, I arrived in Auckland with not much more than a folder of several ideas that might be possible inspirations, and an open mind. We did a test of random drawing marks on one of his stones for me to learn the method of drawing directly on the stone with pencils and crayons, and he etched and printed that so I could see the qualities of the darks that were possible, and the subtleties of line and tone.
From there I did the first drawing directly on the stone - it was the image of Trump in his bathrobe with the eel like monster fish. It was also sort of a test, but it came out great. John really knows how to tweak his etching process or his chemicals or whatever it is to get the nuances of the images into the stone. We were both pleased with it and that set off the idea of doing a series of them, based on the desire to complete some sort of unified project in the two months we had to work together in NZ.
The inspiration came from an old copy of “The Adventures of Gargantua and Pantagruel” that I had found in a local used bookshop here in Los Angeles more than 15 years ago. I bought it because it is full of the illustrations - more than 200 I’d guess - by Gustave Dore’. The line work and the looseness of them is really amazing, and the use of lights and darks is also really strong in his compositions. While I had only read bit of the huge volume of the tales of Gargantua, the general idea that there are two big baby giants traipsing around the country and laying wreck to everything due to their bumblings and ineptitudes seemed like a perfect parallel to our “president”.
Elyse Pignolet
He Said She Said (Bill Cosby), 2018
Ceramic with glazes
16 x 12.5 inches
Elyse Pignolet’s Blue and White Series (or Despicable Dicks Series)
This series uses the form and pattern of recognizable traditional porcelain wares and emblazons its surfaces with commentary on highly-charged issues for women - such as sexual harassment, cultural stereotypes and inequality.
The surfaces of Pignolet’s plates and vessels are adorn with a vast array of images and text that can be unapologetic, politically confrontational, improper and even rude. Inspired by traditional porcelain decoration, the vessels in Pignolet’s series contain recognizable patterns and motifs but upon closer inspection, we see that the traditional dragon motif is composed with politician Al Franken groping an unsuspecting sleeping woman, the popular Chinese Willow pattern has been reimagined as New York City’s Upper East Side and Central Park - one of the many locations of where hundreds of women have accused director James Toback of sexual misconduct, the Presidential Seal of the 41st President is ringed with boobs and buttocks. The familiar decorative presentation seems lighthearted and pleasing, upon further investigation exposes serious social issues.
While Pignolet was away from her ceramic studio during a residency the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland, she turned to the pen and made beautiful inspired studies for vases.
All these works were made in a short period of time in 2018. She was driven to express her frustration with our society. Politically driven work can be difficult for viewers to engage with or want to live with. Using the beautiful traditions of form, color, and pattern, Pignolet draws the viewer serenely toward her dark, devastating messages.
ELYSE PIGNOLET BIO & CV
Born in Oakland, CA, Elyse Pignolet is an American with Filipino heritage, living and working in Los Angeles. She attended California State University, San Francisco, studying Fine Arts. In 2001 she lived in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain, studying arts and Spanish language. She completed her BFA degree in ceramics at CSU Long Beach in 2007. Her studies included an intensive ceramics tour through Mainland China, and she also attended the International Ceramics Biennale in Korea. She was awarded a CSU Long Beach Travel Scholarship for Art, and traveled to Lisbon, Portugal to study traditional tile murals. She has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and South America.
Pignolet works primarily in ceramics and her work has been inspired by and dealt with various themes including social issues and topics from contemporary news articles. Often projects reflect the urban environment from where she lives and works. Her sculptures attempt to place the permanence and traditions of ceramics with the fleeting and transitory nature of the contemporary world.
She has created several bodies of work that contrast the extensive history of ceramics and the permanence of that material with the temporary nature of urban graffiti. The resulting works are hand-built sculptures that draw from the traditional calligraphies of the various cultures, urban architecture, combined with the lettering of contemporary urban writing to create abstract wall pieces. By placing some of these works in outdoor urban settings, they contrast strikingly with the existing graffiti and architecture.
Other ceramic projects have juxtaposed the brash nature of political news headlines with the subtle shapes of traditional ceramic forms.
Her works have been featured in several contemporary arts publications including the LA Weekly, Juxtapoz Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times.
Education:
2007 BFA, Ceramics, California State University Long Beach
2001 Resident of Barcelona, Spain – Spanish Studies
2000 – 2001 California State University Long Beach
1997 – 1999 San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA
Awards:
2019 Fellowship, Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Co Mayo, Ireland
Selected Exhibitions:
2018 “American Procession” - Track 16 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“American Procession” - Prographica/KDR Gallery, Seattle, WA
2017 “ American Qur’an (ceramic works) - Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art,
Eugene, OR
“America Qur’an (ceramic works) - Riverside Museum of Art, Riverside, CA
2016 “Fired Up: Monumental Clay”- Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
“Wood, Paper, Ink: Contemporary Woodcuts” - Sonoma State Univ., Sonoma
“Text and Image – Catharine Clark Gallery, San Franciso, CA
2015 "Off the Charts" - 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM
“West Coast Ink: Printmaking from Seattle to San Diego” – Sonoma State
“A Gathering of Angels” - Angels Gate Gallery, San Pedro, CA
2014 “New American Printmaking” - Union of Bulgarian Artists, Sofia University, Bulgaria
"New American Printmaking" – Union of Bulgarian Artists, - Plavno, Bulgaria
“MAC@20 Pt. 2” – McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
2013 “Baker’s Dozen V: Marginal Revolutions” – Torrance Art Museum, Torrance
“Faux Real” - Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
2012 "Welcome Back: New Lithographs" - Tamarind Press, Albuquerque, NM
“New Work” – Angels Gate Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
2011 “If These Walls Could Talk”, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"The Imprint of War: Responses in Print", Univ. of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, PA
2010 “Art Shack”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
“Contemporary Puppetry”, Art School of the Old Church, Demarest, NJ
“Highlights from the Collectors Circle”, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
“Elyse Pignolet: Urban Abstraction”, Cal State Fullerton Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA
2009 “On Paper”, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY
“Natura” – Angels Gate Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
2008 “Banned and Recovered”, SF Center for the Book, San Francisco, CA
“Summer Group Exhibition”, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2007 “Sk8 Deck the Halls”, Windup Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
“Urban Abstraction”, Koos Gallery, Long Beach, CA
“Don’t Fence Me In”, Little Bird Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Representation 2007”, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2006 “The Patriot Show 2: The Art of War”, Cricket Engine Gallery, Oakland, CA
“The Divine Comedy”, Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, CA
“The Divine Comedy”, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2005 “Inside Out”, L2Kontemporary Gallery, Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA
“Good Times”, Live Worm Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004 “New Media/Mixed Media”, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA
2003 “Visual and Cultural Communication”, Golden West College, Huntington
Beach, CA
Public Projects
2016 “Hey Rookie” Public Pool, ceramic tile mural, 400 sq. ft., San Pedro, CA
2009 “Avalon Lifeguard/Paramedic Headquarters”, ceramic tile mural, 200 sq. ft,
Avalon, Catalina Island, CA
2007 “The History of Los Angeles (Condensed)”, ceramic tile murals, 1000 sq. ft.
Hollenbeck Station, Los Angeles Police Department, East Los Angeles, CA
2004 “Metro Rapidway - Tarzana Station”, Metropolitan Transit Authority, L.A.
2002 “The Discovery of the City of Long Beach”, 2 ceramic tile murals, 600 sq.ft.
2003 “Flora and Fauna”, iron, cement, ceramic sculpture - with Thomas Barter
Bixby Knolls Park, Long Beach, CA
“Discovery Wells”, ceramic installation, 250 sq. ft – with Thomas Barter,
Discovery Park, Signal Hill, CA
2002 “Toy Car Pileup”, tile stucco, foam, concrete sculpture – with Thomas Barter
Corner of 1st St. and Broadway, downtown Long Beach, CA
Bibliography:
“February Gallery Shows Ponder Architectural Possibilities”, M. Upchurch, Seattle Times, Feb. 9, 2018
“An American Procession Marching Toward Confrontation”, Cy Musiker, KQED, Dec. 13, 2017
“A Fresh Take on the Qu’ran”, Michael A. Moodian, Huffington Post, Dec. 6, 2017
“Collaborative Arts: Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet”, Ellen Caldwell,
New American Paintings Blog, Sept. 21, 2011
“Art Lives in Shacks in Laguna”, by Richard Chang, OC Register, Oct. 23, 2010
“Laguna Art Shack”, by Roxana Vosough, Arts and Culture.com, June 20, 2010
“Shacking Up”, by Arrissa Turner, Modern Luxury, June 2010
“Exit Interview”, by Theo Douglas, The District, January 5, 2010
“Learning lessons from wars past”, LA Times, December 10, 2007
“Dante’s Inferno”, by Dave Shulman, LA Weekly Magazine, Oct. 28, 2005.
“Mural Captivate”, feature by Susan Gottlieb, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Jan. 24, 2003
“Southland Shall Rise Again”, feature by J. Fischer, San Jose Mercury News, Nov. 12, 2002
Film Project:
2004 – 2006 “Dante’s Inferno” – Art Director and Set Designer on independent feature film
Sandow Birk – BIO & CV
Los Angeles artist Sandow Birk is a graduate of the Otis/Parson's Art Institute whose work deals with contemporary life. Frequently developed as expansive, multi-media projects, past themes have included inner city violence, graffiti, social and political issues, travel, prisons, Islam, surfing, and skateboarding. He was a recipient of an NEA International Travel Grant to Mexico City in 1995, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1996, and a Fulbright Fellowship to Rio de Janeiro for 1997. In 1999 he was awarded a Getty Fellowship for painting, followed by a City of Los Angeles (COLA) Fellowship in 2001. One of his projects involved the rewriting and illustrating of the entire “Divine Comedy” into contemporary American English. A feature film of the project, “Dante’s Inferno", was released in 2007. He has was awarded an Artist Research Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. in 2007, and he was an Artist in Residence at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris in 2008, and at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Ireland in 2011. In 2014 he was named as a United States Artist Knight Fellow. His recently published mega-project “American Qur’an, is an illuminated manuscript of the entire Koran in English, in consideration of its relevance to contemporary life in America. His most recent works, “Imaginary Monuments” consider important documents in world history. Sandow Birk – CV
Education
1988 BFA (Painting), Otis Art Institute of Parson’s School of Design, L.A., CA
1986 - 1987 Escola de Artes Visuais Parque Lage and Museo de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
1985 Bath Academy of Art, Bath, England
1984 - 1985 American College in Paris/Parson’s School of Design, Paris, France
Awards
2018 Artist in Residence - Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
2017 Artist in Residence – Auckland Print Studio, Auckland, New Zealand
McKinney Visiting Artist - Indiana Univ. Bloomington
2016 Artist in Residence – Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
2016 Nominated for the Louisville Grawemeyer Award
2014 United States Artists - USA Knight Fellow
2014 Artist in Residence – University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
2012 Artist in Residence - Alila Villas Soori, Bali, Indonesia
2011 Artist in Residence – Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Ballycastle, Co. Mayo, Ireland
2010 Artist in Residence – Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
2008 Artist in Residence - Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
2008 Distinguished Artist of the Year, Long Beach, CA
2007 Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship, Washington, D.C.
2001 City of Los Angeles (COLA) Individual Artist Fellowship
1999 J. Paul Getty Fellowship for the Visual Arts
1999 Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation Grant
1998 The Basil H. Alkazzi Award (U.S.A.)
1997 Fulbright Scholarship to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
1995 Guggenheim Fellowship
1995 NEA U.S./Mexico International Exchange Scholarship to Mexico City
1994 Western States Art Federation/NEA Grant
Solo Exhibitions:
2019 "Sandow Birk - New Works" - P.P.O.W Gallery, New York, NY
2018 “Sandow Birk: Monumental” - Prographica/KDR Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Sandow Birk: Print Works” – Gus Fisher Gallery, University of Auckland, New Zealand
“Imaginary Monuments II” - Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"American Qur'an" - Sabeel Center, Chicago, IL
2017 “Sandow Birk: American Qur’an” – Schnitzer Art Museum, Eugene, OR
"Sandow Birk" - Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
2016 "The Depravities of War" - University of Anchorage, AK
“Sandow Birk” – University of San Francisco, CA
“Depravities and Monuments” – San Diego State University, Downtown Gallery, CA
2015 “Sandow Birk: American Qur’an” – Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
“Imaginary Monuments” – Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014 “American Qur’an” – Kittridge Gallery, Univ. of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA
“American Qur’an” – Koplin del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2013 “American Qur’an” – PPOW Gallery, New York, NY
“Divine Comedy” – ASU Library, Tempe, AZ
“American Qur’an” – I.D.E.A. Space, Colorado Springs, CO
2012 “American Qur’an – Recent Works” – Koplin del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Sandow Birk’s ‘Divine Comedy” – San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“American Qur’an” – Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA
“The 99 Names of God” – McKinney Ave. Contemporary, Dallas, TX
“Clusterfuck – The Motorbike World of Bali” – Deus Gallery, Canggu, Bali, Indonesia
2011 “Word of God: Sandow Birk’s American Qur’an” – The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA
“American Qur’an” (Recent Works), Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2010 “Dante’s Inferno” – Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR
“American Qur’an”, PPOW Gallery, New York, NY
“Sandow Birk – The Depravities of War”, Stadt Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany
“Depravities of War”, McKinney Ave. Contemporary (MAC), Dallas TX
“American Qur’an – Sura 36+37”, Faulconer Gallery, Grinnell College, Grinell, IA
2009 “Sandow Birk”, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany
“American Qur’an”, Koplin del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“American Qur’an”, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Sandow Birk”, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
"Sandow Birk: Death, War, and Deceit", Fullerton College, Fullerton, CA
“The Depravities of War,” School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
“The Depravities of War,” First Street Gallery, Humboldt State Univ, Eureka, CA
“The Depravities of War,” Koa Art Gallery, Kapi’olani CC, Honolulu, HW
“The Depravities of War,” Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada
“The Depravities of War,” Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
2008 “The Depravities of War,” Katzen Arts Center, American University, Washington, D.C.
“The Depravities of War,” Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
“The Depravities of War,” The Chocolate Factory, Phoenix, AZ
2007 “The Depravities of War,” Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“The Depravities of War,” Art Museum of Long Beach State University, CA
“Dante’s Inferno”, The Horse Hospital, London, UK
2006 “Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy”, Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, CA
“Sandow Birk - Lithographs”, Art Center of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo, CA
“Leading Causes of Death in America”, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“The Graphic Works of Sandow Birk,” Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center, Makawao, HW
“Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy”, South Texas Institute for the Arts, Corpus Christi, TX
2005 “Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“Contemporary Links: Sandow Birk”, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, C
“Dante’s Paradiso”, P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY
“Dante’s Paradiso”, Hearst Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Moraga, CA
2004 “Dante’s Purgatorio”, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003 “Dante’s Inferno”, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Incarcerated: Visions of New York”, Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, SUNY, New Paltz, NY
2002 “Maximum Security: Visions of NY in the 21st Century”, Debs & Co. Gallery, New York, NY
“In Smog and Thunder: Historical Works from the Great War of the Californias”
Sonoma Valley Art Museum, CA (catalog)
“Homefront: Posters from the Great War of California”, 111 Minna St. Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Home Front II”, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Stonewall and Beyond”, Advocate Gallery, L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, Hollywood, CA
2001 "Incarcerated: California Landscapes at the Millennium” Santa Barbara Contemp. Arts Forum, CA (catalog)
“Incarcerated: Visions of California in the 21st Century”, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2000 "Historical Works from the Great War of the Californias" Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
"Prisonation: California Landscapes at the Millenium " Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"Historical Works from the Stonewall Riots and Beyond" Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 "Carioca: A Year Among the Natives of Rio de Janeiro" San Jose Museum of Art, CA
"Historical Works from the Stonewall Riots and Beyond" Earl McGrath Gallery, New York, NY
"Sandow Birk: New Work", Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1998 "In Smog and Thunder - Historical Works from The War of the Californias" (Part I),
Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"In Smog and Thunder - Historical Works from The War of the Californias" (Part II),
Koplin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1997 "Carioca: A Year Among the Natives of Rio de Janeiro" Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
"Skatistas, Moleques, Mendigos (Skaters, Punks, Street Kids) -New Drawings from Rio de
Janeiro by Sandow Birk", Spruce Street Forum Gallery, San Diego, CA
1996 “Historical Paintings of The Great Battle of San Francisco” Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Sandow Birk - Recent Work", Michael Solway Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
1995 “The Rise and Fall of Los Angeles” - New Work by Sandow Birk, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"Chilangos - Drawings by Sandow Birk", Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas "La Esmeralda"
Centro Nacional de las Artes, Mexico City, D.F.
“Tales of the Cities” - New Paintings by Sandow Birk, Morphos Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994 “Skaters" - New Drawings by Sandow Birk, Koplin Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
“Asphalt Landscape - Recent Paintings by Sandow Birk", Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
1993 “Truce: Sandow Birk”, Julie Rico Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1992 “The Gates of Hell: L.A. Landscapes of the ‘90’s”, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA
“Sandow Birk”, Bess Cutler Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1990 “New Velvet - New Paintings by Sandow Birk", Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1989 “Velvet - Sandow Birk", Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions
2018 "Artists and their Books/Books and their Artists" - Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles
"Wrestling the Angel: A Century of Artists Reckoning with Religion"
- Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, NC
2017 "Imagen Angeleno" - Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA
"Sanctuary: For-Site Projects" - Ft. Mason Chapel, San Francsico, CA
"On the Edge: Art of California” - SFMoMA, San Francisco, CA
"Seen and Unseen" - Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
"After the Fact" - Lenbachhaus + Kunstbau, Munchen, Germany
"Book Arts in Southern California" - Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles, CA
"Liberty" - Koplin del Rio Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Juncture” – Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Dystopia” – Gregorio Escalante Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"Hear All - Activism Through Prints" - Whipple Fine Arts Center, Umpqua Comm. College, OR
"Et in Arcadia Ego" - Cal. Luthern Univ., Thousand Oaks, CA
"Bookworks/Artworks" - Marymount Univ., San Pedro, CA
2016 "Free Radicals: Remixing History through the Power of Print" - Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
“Systemic Equality” – Arcilesi Homberg Gallery, New York, NY
“"On War: The Richard Harris Collection" - Kunstraum C.G. Boerner Gallery, New York, NY
"Indestructible Wonder - Works from the Permanent Collection" - San Jose Museum of Art, CA
“L.A. Landscapes” – LAST Projects, Hollywood, CA
"Reflections: Home, Housing & Shelter" - Q Art Salon, Santa Ana, CA
"Surf Culture" - Golden West College Art Gallery, Huntington Beach, CA
“Wood, Paper, Ink: Contemporary Woodcuts” - Sonoma State Univ., Sonoma, CA
2015 "ARTillery: Contemporary Art Influenced by Weaponry" - Mesa Contemp. Art Museum, Mesa, AZ
“Off the Charts” – 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM
“And the Word is…” – The Gershman Y, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2014 "La Guerra che Verrá Non é la Prima (The War That Will Be is Not The First)
Museo di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, Revoreto, Trentino, Italy
“New American Printmaking” - Union of Bulgarian Artists, Shipka 6, Sofia University, Sofia, Bulgaria
"New American Printmaking" – Union of Bulgarian Artists, - Plavno, Bulgaria
"Hell is A Place We Make: Visions of Dante's Inferno" - Foster Gallery, Haas Fine Art Center,
Univ. of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
"Sleight of Hand: Painting and Illusion" - San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“MAC@20 Pt. 2” – McKinney Avenue Contemporary, Dallas, TX
"Off the Charts" - 516 Arts, Albuquerque, NM
"The Art and Soul of Surfing" - Huntington Beach Art Center, CA
"Takeover" - Gildar Gallery, Denver, CO
"Dirty Dozen" - Tresor Gallery, New Orleans, LA
"Resonating Images III", Wm. Roland Gallery of Fine Art, Cal. Luthern Univ., Thousand Oaks, CA
"Initial Public Offering: New Works from SJMA's Permanent Collection" - San Jose Museum of Art, CA
“West Coast Ink: Printmaking from Seattle to San Diego” – Univ. Art Gallery, Sonoma State, CA
"Prep School: Prepper and Survivalist Ideologies and Utopian/Dystopian Visions" - Torrance Art
Museum, CA
2013 “Kustom Kulture II”, Huntington Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA
“Side Effects”, Liliana Bloch Gallery, Dallas, TX
“Baker’s Dozen V: Marginal Revolutions” – Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
“Geographies of Detention – From Guantanamo to the Golden Gulag”, UC Riverside California
Museum of Photography
“Resonating Images II” – William Roland Gallery, Cal. Lutheran Univ., Thousand Oaks, CA
“Changing Perspectives of the Western Landscape” – Albuquerque Museum of Art and History, NM
"Bleak Beauty" - Prographica Gallery, Seattle, WA
"Sorrows of War" - Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
"Dialoguing with Sacred Texts: An Exhibit of Sacred Texts Past, Present, and Future"
-Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
"Faux Real" - Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
"Messin' with the Masters" - Mesa Contemporary Art Center, Mesa, AZ
2012 "Contemporary Painting, 1960 to the Present" - SFMOMA, San Francisco, CA
"Welcome Back: New Lithographs" - Tamarind Press, Albuquerque, NM
"The Chosen Ones" - San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, CA
"Morbid Curiosity: The Richard Harris Collection" - Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL
“Juxtapoz Turns 18”, Copro Nason Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2011 “Surf’s Up”, Palos Verdes Art Center, Rolling Hills Estates, CA
“Beyond Impressions”, Morono Kiang Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“Suggestivism”, Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, CA
“If These Walls Could Talk”, Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
"The Imprint of War: Responses in Print", Univ. of Pittsburgh Art Gallery, PA
“[Dis]Locating Culture”, Michael Berger Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
"Reconstructed World", Di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA
“Preview of Things to Come”, Prographica Gallery, Seattle, WA
2010 “COLA Exchange”, Akademie de Kunste, Berlin, Germany
“Art Shack”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
“Curiosities of the Curio”, Andi Campognone Projects, Pomona, CA
“Secret Drawings”, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
“The Rise of Rad: The Influence of the Urethane Revolution”, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
“Dark Wave”, IGM Art Gallery, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
“Real and HyperReal”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“Dante in Leiden”, Universiteit Leiden, Leiden, Netherlands
“Contemporary Puppetry”, Art School of the Old Church, Demarest, NJ
“Highlights from the Collectors Circle”, Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA
“The Divine Comedy” – Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette College, Salem, OR
"Revolución Grafica" - Universidad Autonima de Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico: Nov. 12 - Dec. 12
2009 “On Paper”, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY
“Hobos to Street People”, California Historical Society, San Francisco, CA
“Variations on a Theme”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“West Coast Drawing VII”, Davidson Gallery, Seattle, WA
“Islands + Ghettos”, Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK), Berlin, Germany
“Full Deck: A Short History of Skate Art”, Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek, CA
2008 “New Political Prints from TJ2LA”, Casa del Tunel Art Center, Tijuana, BCN, Mexico
“Freedom of Expression: Art in an Age of Uncertainty”, Sonoma State Univ., Sonoma, CA
“Looky See”, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA
“War and Empire”, Meridian Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Hobos to Street People: Artists’ Response to Homelessness from the New Deal to the Present”, CA
“Speaking to the Unspeakable”, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Islands + Ghettos”, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany
“Criminal: Art and Justice in America”, San Francisco State University Art Gallery, SF, CA (catalog)
“In the Land of Retinal Delights: The Juxtapoz Factor”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
“Sk8ology”, Ism Gallery, Long Beach, CA
“Some Paintings – LA Weekly Annual Biennial”, Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2007 “Drawing from History”, ASU Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ
“Emerging Wor(l)ds”, tina-b Contemporary Art Festival, Prague, Czech Republic
“Treasures of the West: Art from Desert Collections”, Palm Springs Museum of Art, CA
“Multiple Interpretations”, New York Public Library gallery, New York, NY
“Tradition/Collision”, Fosdick-Nelson Gallery, Alfred University, Alfred, NY
“The Landscape of War” San Jose Institute for Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
“Actor! Actor!” Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
“The California Files”, Wattis Institute, CCA, San Francisco, CA
“Art and Activism in the 20th Century: Selections from the Permanent Collection”,
Pomona College Museum of Art, Pomona, CA
“The Landscape of War”, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
“New Prints 2007”, International Print Center New York, NY
“Visual Politics: Art of Engagement”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“Otis: Ninety Years of Los Angeles Art”, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery (Barnsdall), L.A., CA
“Tracking and Tracing: Contemporary Acquisitions”, San Diego Museum of Art, S.D., CA
“Visual Alchemy”, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
“Politick”, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, CA
“Reality Effect”, Santa Ana College, Santa Ana, CA
“The ‘S’ Word – Spirituality in Contemp. Art”, Judson Gallery of Art, Los Angeles, CA
White Box Gallery, New York, NY
2005 “Prints: System, Style, and Subject”, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA
“Variations on the Picturesque”, Kitchener-Waterloo Gallery, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
“The Loyolas Collect”, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA
“New Old Masters”, curated by Donald Kuspit, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, CA
“The Other Mainstream: Selections from the Collection of Mikki and Stanley Weithorn”
ASU Art Museum – Nelson Fine Arts Center, Tempe, AZ
2004 "Dante and the Divina Commedia in the fine arts of the 20th century", City of Erlangen Museum,
Erlangen, Bayern, Germany
“100 Artists See Satan”, Grand Central Art Center, Santa Ana, CA (catalog)
“On the Edge” Pico Rivera Center for the Arts, Pico Rivera, CA
“Contemporary Velvet”, Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, CA and David Zapf Gallery, SD, CA
“The Political Landscape”, City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs, Barnsdall Gallery, L.A., CA
2003 “Surf Culture: The Art and History of Surfing”, Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HW
“Surf Culture: The Art and History of Surfing,” San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“Greenough Tribute”, International Surfing Museum, Huntington Beach, CA
“Hybrid: Digital Printmaking”, SFSU Fine Arts Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“Tainted Landscapes” Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.
“Terciopelo Negro 2” Instituto Cultural de Baja California, Tijuana, BC, Mexico
and Instituto Cultural, Mexicali, BC, Mexico
2002 “Surf Culture: The Art and History of Surfing”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna, CA
“Collection Highlights (Work from the Permanent Collection)”, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
“Unreal: Sandow Birk, Kim Keevers, Kathleen Gilje”, Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, MO
“Contemporary Collectors Exhibition”, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
“Terciopelo Negro”, Instituto Cultural de Baja California, Tijuana, BC, Mexico
“Velvet Cruise”, group show, Self-Help Graphics, Los Angeles, CA
“Bay Area Printmakers”, SFMOMA Artist’s Gallery, San Francisco, CA
“The Story Is In The Telling”, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
“The Multiple Road”, Patricia Correia Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
“Contemporary Collectors Exhibition”, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
2001 “Reconstructing Reality-Artists’ Response to Sept. 11”, Oakland Art Gallery, CA
“Travel Smart” and “Filing Cabinet”, DIRT Gallery, West Hollywood, CA
“Of Dreams and Dreamers”, Carl Hammer Gallery, Chicago, IL
"Capital Art - On the Culture of Punishment", Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA (catalog)
"Representing L.A.", Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX (catalog)
“Post-Landscape: Between Nature and Culture” Cal State Pomona Art Gallery, CA (catalog)
2000 "Representing L.A.", Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA
"Surf Trip" Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
"Velvet Painting", Andrea Schwartz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
"Made in California, 1900-2000" Los Angeles County Museum of Art, L.A., CA
"Fact or Fiction: Contemporary Art that Walks the Line", San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA
1999 "Drawing the Line", Scripps Gallery, Claremont College, Claremont, CA
"Surfin' Art" South Texas Institute for the Arts, Corpus Christi, TX (catalog)
"When Borders Migrate-Reflections on the 150th Anniversary of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo",
The Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, CA
"Courting the Muse - Contemporary Paintings, Historical Influences",
(catalog with essay by Nadia Novikoff), Main Gallery, CSUFullerton, Fullerton, CA
"Story Tellers", Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA
1998 "Contingent Reality", Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
"Skate Lore: California Skate(board)ing Index to Concepts, Forms, Life",
Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Center, CA
"When Borders Migrate-Reflections on the 150th Anniversary of the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo", San Francisco Arts Commission, CA
1997 "Lineas de Correspondencia", Galeria Jose Maria Velasco,
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, D.F., Mexico (catalog)
1996 "New Faces", Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA
"Drawn Conclusions", Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
"RE: Masters - New Images from Old Sources" (catalog),
Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CA
"Melody Makers", Gallerie Torta di Miele, Bologna, Italia
"Drawn from L.A. - Drawings by Contemporary Artists"
Armoury Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
"Mind-Eye-Hand-Heart" New Drawings, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA
1995 “It’s Only Rock’n’Roll” (Traveling museum show with catalog)
Phoenix Art Museum, AZ; Tacoma Art Museum, WA; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH;
Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame, Cleveland, OH; and others
"Quotations from the Source", Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA
“Social Engagement” -(catalog) Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, L.A., CA
1994 “California - The Cutting Edge”, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, CA
“The Night of the Masque”, Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, CA
“Crossing the Line: Civil Disobedience in the ‘90’s”
Delta Axis Contemporary Arts Center, Memphis, TN
1993 “Custom Grafix”, The Works Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA
“Kustom Kulture”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
1992 “East Meets West”, Speedway Gallery, Boston, MA
“I Thought California Would Be Different”, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
1991 “Contemporary Visions of the Virgin of Guadalupe”, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, CA
“The Edge of Night”, Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, CA
1990 “ ‘Heal the Bay’ Surfboard Invitational”, James Corcoran Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Public Projects
2017 "Gaffey Street Pool” – Assisting Elyse Pignolet, San Pedro, Ceramic Tile Mural,
Commissioned by the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Dept., 300 sq. ft.
2013 "Pacific Gateway", Co-Finalist with Elyse Pignolet for 20 public artworks
Colorado/4th St. Station, Expo Line, Los Angeles Metro (Est. Completion 2016)
2012 “Jazz in the Nation”, “Jazz in the City”, “Jazz in the Afterlife”, three ceramic tile murals,
in the lobby of the SFJAZZ Theatre, San Francisco, CA
2009 “Baywatch Avalon”, 200 sq. ft. ceramic tile mural at Lifeguard Headquarters, Avalon, CA
2006 “Dreaming of a Sunday Afternoon in Boyle Heights”, ceramic tile murals, 1000 sq. ft.
Hollenbeck Station, Los Angeles Police Department, East Los Angeles, CA
2004 “Metro Rapidway - Tarzana Station”, Metropolitan Transit Authority, L.A., CA
2002 “The Discovery of the City of Long Beach”, two ceramic tile murals, 600 sq.ft.
City Place Shopping Center, Long Beach, CA
Selected Public Collections:
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA
San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, CA
The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, CA
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
De Young Museum – Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA
Achenbach Graphic Arts Council, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, CA
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR
Spendhaus Museum of Woodblock Printing, Reutlinguen, Germany
New York Historical Society, New York, NY
New York Public Library, New York, NY
Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR
Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Eugene, OR
Cushing/Whitney Medical Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Harvard University Art Museum, Cambridge, MA
Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
Palm Springs Art Museum, CA
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA
Rene di Rosa Foundation – Napa, CA
Societa Dantesca (Dante Institute), Ravena, Italy
Museum Narodowe (National Museum), Gdansk, Poland
Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta, GA
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, Italy
University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN
Fidelity Investments Collection, NC
Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ
Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY
University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME
Pomona College Museum of Art, Claremont, CA
Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS
Selected Bibliography:
"L.A. Man"by Joe Donnelly, Rare Bird Books, Los Angeles, 2018
“Shows Ponder Architectural Possibilities" - Review by M.Upchurch, Seattle Times, Feb. 9, 2018
"Why this piece is more relevant than ever", by N.Piters, RealStyle website, June 27, 2017
"Our Institutions Will Not Save Us" - Eugene Weekly, Eugene, OR, Nov. 9, 2017
“A Roadmap to the Qur’an in English” - Review by J.Miles, L.A. Review of Books, Oct. 23, 2017
The Koran in English - by Bruce Lawrence, Princeton Univ. Press, 2017
To Hell and Back, by T.Smith and M.Sonzogni, Benjamins Publishing, Victoria Univ., New Zealand, 2017
“Carceral States” – catalog, Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College, 2017
“American Qur'an and The Depravities of War" - feature by B.Levy, Art in Print, Vol.7, No.3, Sept. 2017
"Juncture" - Art review, Wall Street Journal International, June 23, 2017
"’Depravities and Monuments’ at SDSU Downtown Gallery", review by L.Buscemi, Art Ltd. Magazine, Feb. 23, 2017
“S. Birk at SDSU Downtown Gallery", review by R.Gleaves, Art and Cake Magazine, Los Angeles, Feb. 4, 2017
"Reports of the Death of Religious Art Have Been Greatly Exaggerated", by Brent Plate,
Los Angeles Review of Books, Jan. 24, 2017
"American Qur'an" - Cover story, Eugene Weekly, Eugene, OR, Jan. 19, 2017
"American Qur'an" - Interview, Oregon Public Radio, Jan. 23, 2017
"Land of Smokes at LAST Projects" - Review by P.Quinn, artandcakela.com, Jan. 5, 2017
“Land of Smokes” – Review by H.C.Arnold, Artandarnold blog, Los Angeles, CA, Dec. 15, 2016.
“Artist’s Book Bridges Divide” – by K.Sawari, San Jose Mercury News, Dec. 14, 2016
Imagine si transtextualitate - by. T.L.Stiop, Univ. of Oradea Press, Oradea, Romania
"Mammoth Woodblock Prints at USF Gallery" - by S.Whiting, SFGate, San Francisco, Nov. 16, 2016
Rinascimenti - A Contemporary Tribute to Florence, show catalog, Lienart Press, Paris, 2016
Muslims and the Making of American, by Amir Hussain, Baylor Univ. Press, 2016
Cover Image: Le Monde Libertaire Magazine, No.1782. Paris, Oct.145, 2016.
"10 Best Artworks at EXPO Chicago 2016", by A.Goldstein, Artspace Magazine, Sept.24, 2016
Surfing: 1778-2015, by Jim Heimann, Taschen Books, Los Angeles, 2016.
"Sandow Birk's Fearlessly Political Art Takes On Islam's Holy Book" - by A.Nazaryan,
Newsweek Magazine, New York, June 1, 2016.
“Anthropology and Contemporary Art: Parody and Stereotypes in the Work of Sandow Birk”, by X. Andrade,
Íconos Magazine, No. 55, Quito, Ecuador, May 2016.
"Vertrauter Koran" - Neues Deutschland newspaper, Berlin, April 15, 2016
"Ein amerikanischer Koran" - Bento Magazine, Germany, April 14, 2016.
"Qur'an Transcribed by Hand Presents Parables..." - Review by Abe Ahn, Hyperallergic website, Feb. 23, 2016
“Remixing History” – Review by J. Hemming, Minnesota Daily, Minneapolis, MN, Feb. 26, 2016
"11 Artworks Depicting Love Gone Very, Very Wrong" - feature by C. Shafaieh, BlouinArtInfo - Feb. 11, 2016
"Sandow Birk's Fresh Take on the Qur'an" - feature by M. Moodian, HuffingtonPost - Feb. 12, 2016
“American Qur’an is an Old/New Masterpiece” – Book Review by G. Willow Wilson, The Washington Post, Jan. 22, 2016
"Prisonation - Sandow Birk" - Red Wheelbarrow Literary Magazine, Vol. 16, 2015 - Curpertino, CA
“American Muhammad: Interview with Artist Sandow Birk” – by W.Linebaugh, ‘Merica Magazine, Dec. 21, 2015
"Provoking Discussion, Not Riots" - Review by Z.Grewal, Salon - Dec. 13, 2015
"Sandow Birk: American Qur'an" - Review of Reviews: Art - The Week Magazine, Dec. 11, 2015
"Together at Last: American Qur'an" - D. Conwell, Open Access website, San Jose, CA - Dec. 12, 2015
“American Qur’an” – Book Review by D. D’Arcy, SF Chronicle, San Francisco, CA – Nov. 25, 2015
“Interpreting the Qur’an Challenges an Artist and His Audience” – Review by D.Walsh, Laguna Beach Independent, CA – Nov. 27, 15
“Know Your Street Art: Monumental Edition” – Review by J.Curiel, SFWeekly, San Francisco, CA – Nov. 18, 2015
“The Artistry of Modern Islam” – feature by A.Boessenkool, OC Register, Santa Ana, CA, Nov. 15, 2015
"Curiosity and War Led Artist to the Koran" - B.Woolsey, Los Angeles Times, CA, Nov. 9, 2015
"American Qur'an, Ungkapan Kekaguman Seorang Ateis" - Republika, Jakarta, Indonesia - Nov. 6, 2015
“Bringing the Qur’an to Life in American” – by Ken Chitwood, Publishers Weekly, New York, Nov. 5, 2015
“Real History in Real Time” – feature by Liz Goldner, Artillery Magazine, Los Angeles, Nov. 2015
“Best Books of 2015”, Publishers Weekly, New York, Oct. 15, 2015
"Exhibitions Where Moral Force Trumps Market Force", by Holland Cotter, New York Times, Sept. 7, 2015, NY
"Words of Monumental Importance" - by K.Chun, SF Chronicle, San Francisco, CA, Oct. 20, 2015
“The Qur’an in 114 Paintings”, by C.Reid, Publishers Weekly, New York, Oct. 30, 2015
“The All-American Qur’an”, by Tasbeeh Herwees, feature, Good Magazine, Aug. 2015, Los Angeles, CA
Gardner’s Art through The Ages – 15th Edition, by Fred S. Kleiner, New York, NY, 2015
“Artillery” – Review by Lynn Trimble, Phoenix New Times, July 16, 2015. Phoenix, AZ
"Garble" - Review by David Roth. Squarecylinder.com, Jan. 28, 2015. San Francisco, CA
New American Paintings, No. 115, Jan. 2015. Open Studios Press, Boston, MA
"An Artist's Qur'an for Contemporary America" – Feature, Casey Lesser, Artsy.net, Oct. 6, 2014. New York, NY
"Dante's Urban American Vernacular: Sandow Birk's Comedy" - Dante Studies #131, Dante Society of America, 2013
“Good Oil on Art in Dallas”, by Ute Junker. Australian Financial Review, June 27, 2014
"A Personal View of Islam's Holy Text", by T.Knapp, Intelligencer Journal, Millersville, PA, Oct. 24, 2013
"American Qur'an", by Clare Hurley, World Socialist Web Site, New York, NY, Sept. 28, 2013
"9 Must-See Exhibits in NYC", Campus Mercante website, New York, NY, Sept. 20, 2013
"Dante: The Most Vivid Version", by R.P. Harrison, New York Review of Books, NY, Oct. 3, 2013
"Complex Edifice - A Window into Prison Design", by Christopher Hawthorne, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 1, 2013
"The Detained Life", by Joy Shannon, Inland Empire Weekly, Riverside, CA, July 18-24, 2013
"Geographies of Detention", by C.Gudis and M.McGarry, The Design Observer Group, July 11, 2013
Corrections and Collections - Architectures for Art and Crime, by Joe Day, Routledge Press, New York, 2013
Inferno Revealed - From Dante to Dan Brown, by D. and M. Parker, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2013
365 Surfboards You Gotta Ride, by Ben Marcus, MVP Books, 2013
"Seeing Jazz with Muralists Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet," by L.Blumenfeld, Blouin Artinfo, Feb. 8, 2013
“As Open as the Genre It Celebrates”, by N. Chinen, New York Times, Jan. 26, 2013
“Panel Discussion – American Qur’an”, by Bret Wright, Colorado Springs Independent, Jan. 9, 2013
New American Paintings, No. 103 – Open Studios Press, Boston, MA, Dec. 2012
“God, War, Politics at the MAC”, review by C.Copeland, Glasstire - Texas Visual Art, Dallas, Dec. 3, 2012
“Capturing the SF Valley”, review by A.Walker, LA Weekly Magazine, Los Angeles, Nov. 6, 2012
"Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet", review, Art In Print Magazine, Vol 1, No. 5, Jan. - Feb. 2012,
Bilder erzählen Weltgeschichte"(Pictures Tell World History), by Helge Hesse, Lektorat Sachbuch Pub., Munich, 2012.
"American Qur'an: Sandow Birk," Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Oxford Univ. Press, Aug., 2012
"In the Studio: Sandow Birk", by Clayton Campbell, Artvoices Magazine, New York, Aug. Sept., 2012
"PUSH-Print: 30 Artists Explore the Boundaries of Printmaking", by J.Berger, Lark Publishing, NYC, 2012
“Birk’s Monument to the Constitution”, by Alexis Coe, LA Weekly Magazine, Los Angeles, Aug. 7, 2012
"Boont Fish in a Barrel", Illustration, Argonaut, Vol. XXX, No. 4538, San Francisco, CA June 2012
"Sandow Birk/Elyse Pignolet", Feature, The Yak Magazine , Issue #35, Seminyak, Bali, Indonesia, May/June 2012
“Sandow Birk - American Qur’an: New Suras”, review by Shana Nys Dambrot, Art Ltd. Magazine, May 2012
“Three of Another Kind: This Artweek in L.A.” by Bill Bush, Huffington Post website, Feb. 20, 2012
"An American Take on the Quran", review by M.Morain, Des Moines Register newspaper, Iowa, Feb. 10, 2012
“Death Comes to Town”, by P.Morehart, Chicago Journal, Feb. 1, 2012
"Notes from the West", feature, The Surfer's Path Magazine, Issue 88, London, Feb. 2012
"Deep Cuts", review by A.Weltner, New Times SLO, Vol. 26, No. 28, San Luis Obispo, CA, Feb. 9 2012
"Works on Death at CCC", by M. Peteliki, Chicago Sun-Times, Jan. 24, 2012
"24 Hours Project", Cabinet Magazine, Issue 44, New York, NY, Winter 2011-2012
"Notes from the West- S.Birk in Ireland", Surfer's Path Magazine, London, Issue 88, Feb/Mar. 2012
"(Dis)Locating Culture", by E.Pasquini, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Washington, .D.C., July 2011
Islam, Modernity, and the Human Sciences, by Ali Zaidi, Palgrave MacMillan Publishers, New York, NY
"New Artists, New World", Brut Magazine, Vol 023, Seoul, Korea, Issue 4, 2011.
"Becoming Part of American Fabric", by Zeeba Anarwala, Islamic Horizons Magazine, Plainfield, IN, June/July 2011
"Islamic Art Exhibit", review by Kurt Shaw, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, May 8, 2011
"Don't Cry for Me, Art Chicago", BadAtSports.com, Chicago, May 2, 2011
“A Cardboard Dante: Hell’s Metropolis Revisited”, by Ronald de Rooy, Metamorphosing Dante – Appropriations,
Manipulations, and Rewritings in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries, Verlag Turia + Kant Publishers, Berlin, 2010
“Monument to the United Nations”, artparkjournal #1, Byron Bay, NSW, Australia, April 2011
“An Artist’s View of the Qur’an”, review by M.Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 14, 2011
“Something to Believe In”, C, O’Toole, Carnegie Magazine, Pittsburgh, PA, Spring 2011
“Faith of Our Artists”, review by M. Fallon, Utne Reader, Minneapolis, MN, Feb. 23, 2011
“Sandow Birk: American Qur’an”, Submit Magazine, Vol. 3, Portland, OR, Fall 2010
“Suggestivism Titillates Them All”, review by Stacy Davies, OC Weekly Magazine, Santa Ana, CA, Feb. 10, 2011
“Sandow Birk: American Qur’an”, review by Holland Cotter, New York Times, New York, Sept. 16, 2010
"Sandow Birk", review, Journal of Art and Christianity, Issue 64, UK, Winter 2010
“American Artist Sandow Birk”, interview, The 7th Day Weekly, Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 2, 2010
“This Illuminated American Life”, feature, The Morning News, New York, NY, Nov. 1, 2010.
“Vom Kreislauf der Zerstorung”, by Otto Paul, Sudwest Presse newspaper, Stuttgart, Germany, Sept. 15, 2010
“Die Rache der Bauern fallt aus Reutlingen”, by C. Marquart, kultur magazine, Stuttgart, Germany, Sept/Oktober 2010
“Chelsea’s Big Openings”, by H. Halle, Time Out NY Magazine, New York, NY, Sept. 8, 2010
“Monster Out of the Box”, feature by Joe Donnelly, Surfers’ Journal Magazine, San Clemente, CA, Summer 2010
“A Cardboard Dante”, essay by R. de Rooy, “Metamorphosing Dante”, Turia und Kant Publishers, Berlin, 2010.
“Personal Mediations on the Koran”, feature, Arts & Leisure, New York Times, Aug. 28, 2009
“Artist’s illustrations a new take on Koran”, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 20, 2009
“Sandow Birk - American Qur’an”, review by T. DeCarlo, The Brooklyn Rail magazine, New York, Nov. 2009
“Painter mixes Qur’an verses, American life”, Gillian Flaccus, San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 14, 2009
“The Art of Sandow Birk”, feature – interview, Blisss Magazine, Orange County, CA, Nov. 2009
“Of Epic Proportions”, by R.Schoenkampf, OC Riviera Magazine, Dec. 21, 2009
“Snips and Snails”, by Doug Harvey, LA Weekly, Sept. 10, 2009
“History in Print”, review by J.Oshiro, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Honolulu, HW, July 26, 2009
“«Калі людзі бачаць «Вызваленне Багдада», дык смяюцца» “, Nasva Niva newspaper, Minsk, Belarus, June 23, 2009
“Trash to Treasures”, review by W. Holden, New Times, June 18, 2009, Phoenix, AZ
“The Madness of War”, review by R. Pincus, San Diego Union Tribune, May 17, 2009
“Depravities of War”, feature by M. Tanner, Art Ltd. Magazine, Nov/Dec. 2008
“’Criminal’ at SFSU Fine Arts Gallery”, review by D.Chang, Artweek Magazine, May 2008, Volume 39
“Featured artist”, Harper’s Magazine, NY, April 2008
“Pageant of the New Old Masters”, review by Theo Douglas, The District magazine, Long Beach, CA, July 2, 2008
“Some Paintings’ exhibition is singularly diverse”, review by C.Knight, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 25, 2008
“Inferno”, cover illustration, Harper’s Magazine, NY, Aug. 2006
“The Art of Politics”, by Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, DC, May 15, 2006.
“Some Paintings” by Doug Harvey, including cover illustration, LA Weekly Jan. 11, 2008. Vol. 30/No.8
“Confronting the Art of Engagement”, R. Tierney, The Examiner, Washington, DC, May 12, 2006.
“Artistry Imperfect”, by Joanna Shaw-Engle, The Washington Times, DC, April 22, 2006.
“Visual Politics”, review by David Buuck, Artweek, Feb. 2006
“Ripped Open,” review by Scott Saul, ArcCA Magazine, Sacramento, CA, Feb. 2006.
“A Season in Hell – Sandow Birk’s Inferno”, Juxtapoz Magazine, Issue #61, S.F., CA, Feb. 2006
“SJ Exhibit Reveals Power”, by K.Baker, San Francisco Chronicle, Dec. 26, 2005.
“Sandow’s Inferno”, by Dave Shulman, LA Weekly Magazine, Oct. 28, 2005
“Dante’s Paradiso”, Zyzzyva Magazine, San Francisco, Spring 2005
“Sandow Birk’s Divine Comedy”, review, The Economist magazine, New York, Nov. 2005
“Dante, Dude”, review by J. Gantz, The Providence Phoenix newspaper, Providence, RI, Sept. 2, 2005
“Best Books of 2004 – Dante’s Inferno”, review on National Public Radio, Washington, D.C., Dec. 2004
“Modern Inferno”, review by D. DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, May 5, 2004
“Dante’s Inferno”, review by K.Strassel, Wall Street Journal, New York, May 7, 2004
“How real can it get?”, review by R.Nilsen, The Arizona Republic newspaper, May 30, 2004
“Check Out the Parking Lot,” review by R.Solnit, London Review of Books, Vol. 26, No. 13, July 8, 2004
“Hot Artist”, “Who’s Hot” issue, Rolling Stone Magazine, New York, Aug. 2004
“Author of the Week: Sandow Birk: Dante’s Inferno”, feature, The Week Magazine, May 14, 2004
“Dante’s Inferno by Sandow Birk”, book review by K.A. Strassel, The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2004
“Modern ‘Inferno’ sends big names to Hell”, review by D.DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer, May 5, 2004
“Birk’s witty, angry ‘Inferno’”, review by D.Kipen, San Francisco Chronicle, April 20, 2004
“Our Place in the World”, review by D. Pagel, Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, March 25, 2004
“The Up-the-River School of Painting”, feature, Orion Magazine, Great Barrington, MA, May-June 2004
“Viewpoint”, essay by Alison Bing, Artweek Magazine, Vol 35, # 2, March 2004
“Be All That You Can Be”, interview by Marcia Tanner, Cabinet Magazine #10, New York, Spring 2003
Art and Celebrity, by John Walker, Pluto Press, London, 2003
“The Art of the Wave”, Review by T. Ryan, Honolulu Star Bulletin, Jan. 27, 2003
Illustration, Harper’s Magazine, New York, March 2003
“Murals Captivate” feature by S.Gottlieb, L.B. Press-Telegram, Jan. 24, 2003
“The Real Thing”, by Ann Landi, ARTnews, cover story, June 2002
City by the Bay – San Francisco in Art and Literature, Edited by A. Chappell, SFMOMA, 2002
“Southland Shall Rise Again”, feature by J.Fischer, San Jose Mercury News, Nov.12, 2002
“Sandow Birk”, review by K.Johnson, New York Times, Oct 18, 2002
“This War Never Happened” –Interview byP.Maliszewski, McSweeney’s Quarterly #8, Summer 2002
“The Rampart Verdict” by C.Rappleye, LA Weekly, Sept. 6, 2002
“Double Take”-by Kerman, Riverfront Times, St. Louis, MO, Aug. 21, 2002
“The North and the South”, feature by L.Hom, SF Weekly, June 19, 2002
“It Was War!”, review by P.Henley, Sonoma Index-Tribune newspaper, June 25, 2002
Making Political Geography, John Agnew, Arnold Publishing, London, UK, 2002
“California Dreamscapes with Prisons”, book review by D.Kipen, SF Chronicle, Dec. 12, 2001
“No Warning Shots Fired” by M.Housley, JUXTAPOZ Magazine, Sept-Oct. 2001
“Art Comes of Age in L.A.” review by R.Chang, O.C. Register, Show sec., Nov. 4, 2001
“On Prisons and Painting – A Conversation with Sandow Birk”, by L.Gipe, Santa Barbara Independent, Aug. 16, 2001
“City, Too, Benefits From Grants”, review by Holly Myers, Los Angeles Times, Calendar, June 7, 2001
“Portrait of the Artist: Stars of LA’s Burgeoning Art Scene”, photos by NJ Roy, GQ, (April 2001
“Prisonation”, review by J.Rosenberg d’art international magazine, Vol.4,No.2 Toronto, Spring 2001
“Capital Art”, review by C.Roth, Artweek, April 2001
“Innerspace,” by Mark Housley, Comet Magazine, Vol. 2, No.1, Berkeley, CA, Spring 01
“Reinventing the Landscape”, by H.M. Sheets, ARTnews, March 2001
“The Drawing Center Wants You”, by C. Noonan, American Artist, Vol. 65, Issue 706, May 2001
Capital Art on the Culture of Punishment, Ed. By M Botey and P.Perez, Smart Art Press, 2001
New American Paintings, No.31, Open Studios Press, Wellesley, MA, Dec. 2000
Representing L.A. Gordon L. Fuglie, Frye Art Museum, Univ. of Washington Press, Seattle, WA
"A Brush with the Past", feature, The Guardian newspaper, London, England, Sunday Dec. 2, 2000
"Art of War" Cover Story, by Scott Timberg, New Times Los Angeles, Sept. 27, 2000
"Sandow Birk-Pick of the Week", by Peter Frank, L.A. Weekly Magazine, Vol.23-No.1,Nov23-30, 2000
"The Great War" by Josh Kun, SF Bay Guardian, Oct 4, 2000
"In Smog and Thunder" Book Review, by Jennifer Joseph, SF Bay Guardian, May 31, 2000
"SF and LA Decide to Have an Extremely Uncivil War", by A. Gumbel, London Independent June 16, 2000
'"A Portrait of Sandow Birk", by Tyler Stallings, JUXTAPOZ Magazine, No. 28, Sept. 2000
'"The Unbearable Burden of Lightness", Review by R. Schoenkopf, OC Weekly, Aug. 18, 2000
'War of the Californias", by Mallard Fillmore, Orange County Register, Opinion Section, Pg. 9, June 9, 2000
"Smog vs. Fog", Review by Robert L. Pincus, San Diego Union-Tribune, Arts Section, Page 1, June 11, 2000
Understanding Art,, Harcourt College Publishers, Fort Worth, TX, 2001
"Laying Bare the Uncertain Underside of the Truth", Tessa De Carlo, New York Times, Arts & Leisure, April 9, 2000
"History and Art Merged", review by Sara Wolf, Show Section, OC Register, Sunday April 23, 2000, Pg. 27
"Portfolio: Sandow Birk", Rubén Ortiz-Torres Poliester Magazine Summer 1999, Vol.7,No.25, Mexico City, D.F.
Leeteg of Tahiti - Paintings from the Villa Velour, by John Turner, Last Gasp Press , San Francisco, CA, 1999
"What's Up Manhattan", B. Fasching-Gray Shout Magazine, Sept. 1999, New York, NY
Painting As Language , by Jean Robertson & Craig McDaniel, Harcourt Brace College Pub., Fort Worth, TX, 2000
"Pop Against Art" Essay-Review by Greil Marcus, Speak Magazine, Summer 1999, San Francisco, CA
"Artworld: Awards", Art in America, New York, March 1999,
"It's Relative", Review by Rebecca Schoenkopf, OC Weekly Magazine, March 12, 1999, Vol. 4, No.27
"The Art Academy", by Michal Reed, ARTWEEK Magazine, Vol. 30, #3, March 1999.
"Velvet Underground - The Roots of Velvet Painting", by Andrew Asch, OC Register newspaper, CA, Feb. 15, 1999
"Architect of War -Sandow Birk Paints a Future Past", by R.Schoenkopf, OC Weekly, Vol.4, No. 21, Jan 29,1999
"Works on Paper: Sandow Birk", Zyzzyva Magazine, San Francisco, Vol.XIV, No.3, Winter 1998
"L.A. to Z: Artist Sandow Birk", by Erika Lenkert, Los Angeles Magazine, December 1998
Most Art Sucks - Five Years of Coagula by Matt Gleason, Smart Art Press November 1998
"War of the Californias", Review by Ross Anderson, Panik Magazine, Nov. 1998, Issue 6, No.1
"The LAM with The Surprise Inside", Review by Rebecca Schoenkopf, OC Weekly Magazine, Nov. 6, 1998
"Sandow Birk at Koplin Gallery", Review by Holly Meyers, Art Issues Magazine, Nov.-Dec., 1998
"Sly Scenes Picture a California Engulfed in Civil War.", Review by Claudine Isé, Los Angeles Times, Oct 16, 1998
"Sandow Birk at Koplin.", Review by O. Clark Jr., ArtScene Magazine, Los Angeles,Vol.18, No. 11, Sept. 1998
"The Landscape of Disturbance", by Fredrick Turner, The Wilson Quarterly, Washington, D.C., Spring 1998
"Flotsam and Jetsam of the Calif. State of Mind", Review by Greil Marcus, New York Times, March 30, 1998
"When Borders Migrate", Review by Glen Helfand, San Francisco Bay Guardian , Feb. 4, 1998
"When Borders Migrate", Review by Colin Berry The Herald , San Francisco, CA, Jan. 29, 1998
"A Couple of Views" Review by Cathy Curtis, Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, Nov. 4, 1997
"Sandow Birk - Connected to the Canvas", cover story by Andrew Asch, Orange County Register, Nov. 9, 1997
"Laguna Museum Bounces Back" Review by Rebecca Schoenkopf, OC Weekly Magazine, Nov. 7, 1997
"God is Brazilian", feature by Jamie Brisick Surfing Magazine, Nov. 1997
"Salada - Carioquês" anonymous, Trip Magazine, São Paulo, Brazil, Vol. 10, #57, 1997
"A Perigosa Verdade (The Dangerous Truth)", by Vavá Ribeiro, Trip Magazine, São Paulo, Brazil,Vo.10,#56, 1997
"Sandow Birk at Spruce Street Forum", Review by Eric Matthies, Giant Robot Magazine, Issue #9, Winter 1997
"Rock Once Removed", Review by Tony Madejczyk, Charlotte Herald newspaper, Charlotte, NC, July 18, 1997
"Deadpan Humor Enlivens Rock Exhibit", Review by D. Menconi, The News & Observer, Raleigh, NC, July 25, '97
"Líneas de Correspondencia", Review by Josué Ramírez, El Laberinto Magazine, Mexico City, D.F., July 1997
(“Correspondence Lines, an Artistic Bridge between Mexico and the U.S.")
Review by Héctor León Diez, La Cronica de Hoy newspaper, Mexico City, July 1, 1997
"Airborne - Sandow Birk at Spruce Gallery", Review by Robert Pincus, San Diego Union Tribune, June 19, 1997
"Sandow Birk at Catherine Clark" (cover story), Review by M. Tanner, ARTWEEK Magazine, March 1997,
"Sandow Birk - Drawings" feature of artwork, Zyzzyva Magazine, San Francisco, Vol XIII, No.1, Spring 1997
"Sandow Birk at Catherine Clark", Review by Harry Roach, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Dec. 18, 1996
"Postmodern Unbound - Appropriationism for the Way Too Serious", OC Weekly review, Nov. 8-14, 1996.
"Not-So-Fresh Take on the Old Masters", Review by Cathy Curtis, Los Angeles Times, , Nov. 12, 1996
"Sandow Birk - The Color of Urban Decay" by Dina Dominguez, Axcess Magazine, Aug/Sept., 1996
"Sandow Birk", feature by Jamie Brisick, Juxtapoz Art Quarterly, San Francisco, July 1996
"Sandow Birk - L'Artiste Anti-Hollywood", feature , Trip Surf Magazine, Paris, France, May 1996
"A Little Slow on the Draw" - Review by Cathy Curtis, Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, April 16, 1996
"Sandow Birk - Traversing the Spectrum", Profile, Tracks Surfing Magazine, Sydney, Australia, Jan. 1996
"The Golden Land - In the Name of Progress", Review by Doree Dunlap, OC Weekly Magazine, March 8-14, 96.
"Sandow Birk - Drawings" feature of artwork, Zyzzyva Magazine, San Francisco, Vol. XII, No.1, Spring 1996
"Paint By Fate- Sandow Birk", Profile by Jamie Brisick, Surfing Magazine, April 1996.
"It's Only Rock'n'Roll-Rock'n'Roll Currents in Contemporary Art", Museum Catalog,
Essay by David S. Rubin. Prestel Publications, 1995.
“Framed in Controversy", Review by Cathy Curtis, Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, Oct. 17, 1995
"Sandow Birk's Art Span", Review by Alfred Jan, Artist Writer Magazine, San Francisco, June 1995
"Successful Artists and Dealers", by Alan Bamberger, Art Calendar Magazine, San Francisco, May 1995
"Men of Irony - Sandow Birk at Morphos", San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, April 9, 1995
"Social Engagements", Pick of the Week, Review by Peter Frank, L.A. Weekly Magazine
“Birk’s Best”, Review by Susan Kandel, Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, Sept. 29, 1994
“Surfin’ the ‘Hood, The Art of Sandow Birk”, by John Gunnin, Art? Alternatives Magazine, NY, Spring 1994
“Historical Violence”, Review by Susan Kandel, Los Angeles Times, April 2, 1993
“Los Angeles, Prophet and Loss”, by James Scarborough, Art Press 184 International Magazine, Paris, Oct. 1993
“L.A. Aftermath - The Graphic Response to the L.A. Riots", by Eric La Brecque, Print Magazine, Sept./Oct. 1993
“Art ‘n’ the Hood - Paintings Of and By the Street Youth of LA”, Hope Urban, VISIONS Art Quarterly Winter, 1993
“Birk and Ocampo: City Beat”, Penny Miller, COAGULA Art Journal, Summer, 1993
“Kar Kulture: ‘Kustom Kulture’ at Laguna Art Museum", James Scarborough, Artweek Magazine, Aug. 15, 1993
“High and Low Culture in La-La Land”, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Wingspan Magazine, Tokyo, Japan, August, 1993
“Ten to Watch in 1993”, staff writer, Details Magazine, January 1993
“The More Things Change... Sandow Birk Looks Back to the Present”, C. Curtis, Los Angeles Times,, Sept. 17, 92
“Bad Boys/Good Boys - Sandow Birk and the Killing of Los Angeles”,
J.M.S. Willett, cover story, VISIONS Art Quarterly Magazine, Fall 1992
“Peering Through the Gates of Hell - Artist Chronicles Urban Landscapes with Historical Twist”,
by Zan Dubin, Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, Sept. 4, 1992
“Dream Deferred - The Mean Streets as Seen by Sandow Birk”, Frances Lam, URB Magazine, July 1992
“In the Heroic Tradition - Sandow Birk”, Bolton Colburn, Surfer’s Journal Magazine, Fall 1992
“Sandow Birk at Bess Cutler Gallery”, staff writer, L.A. Style Magazine, April 1992
“New Velvet - Sandow Birk at McGrath Gallery”, Lesa Sawahata, EXPOSURE Magazine, December 1990
“Sandow Birk’s Velvets”, Review by Suvan Geer, Los Angeles Times, Calendar Section, Sept. 1, 1989
