33 Bartlett Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 641 8100   info@jerrybarrish.com
Open by appointment 



Artist Statement

I collect found objects for assemblage/constructions on the beaches, bayshore, roadways, and recycling centers near San Francisco.  I usually only pick up plastic objects—belonging to the lowest caste in the hierarchy of debris.  I have become enthralled working with this material, and continue to be inspired by it, using a hot glue gun almost like a welding torch—allowing a spontaneity reminiscent of my experiences with copper and steel almost 50 years ago.

Sometimes I set out to make an image and actually search for the pieces to complete the idea, but more often it's the found object that dictates what I'm going to do.  The completion of the preconceived vision is a much more structured way to work and gives me a sense of command over the materials.  But inspiration and freedom come from letting this discarded stuff of our society provide the image itself. 

My natural bent as a storyteller becomes obvious with the figurative nature of subjects.  There's a sense of magic when a piece is completed—sometimes I don't understand how it happened.  But, not unlike the editing process from my filmmaking days, it's just a question of the order of things. 
 
Capturing gesture, form, and movement to bring life to this refuse is the essence of my art.
                                                                  – Jerry Ross Barrish, San Francisco, 2023



Chronology

Residence:  Pacifica, California
Born:  San Francisco, California
Education:  San Francisco Art Institute, B.F.A. 1974 & M.F.A. 1976
Additional Study: Apprentice to sculptor, Charles B. Johnson, 1969-70


Institutional Collections

Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley, California
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
de Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California
di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, Napa, California
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California
Museum of Art & History @ McPherson Center, Santa Cruz, California
The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota
Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California
University of Arizona Memorial Student Union, Tucson, Arizona
University of California Davis, Nelson Gallery, Davis, California
University of California Santa Cruz, Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, Santa Cruz, California


Public Art Commission


2015          San Francisco, California. "Bay View Horn," The San Francisco Shipyard, Public Art Walk, bronze, 15-feet. 
                 Commissioned by San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (OCII.)


Selected Solo Sculpture Exhibitions

2024           Tuleste Factory, New York, N.Y.
2024           Vargas Gallery, Mission College, "Spring Fever," Santa Clara, California
2023           M. Stark Gallery, "Jerry Ross Barrish: Protagonist," Half Moon Bay, California
2016           Transmission Gallery, Oakland, California
2016           Smith Andersen Editions, "Nuts & Chews," Palo Alto, California
2015           Studio Gallery, "Plastic Man," San Francisco, California
2015           Mendocino Art Center, Nichols Gallery, Mendocino, California
2014           South Dakota Art Museum, "Cast & Crew," Brookings, South Dakota
2014           Loveland Museum, "Cast & Crew," Loveland, Colorado
2014           Loft at Liz's, "Every Sculpture Tells a Story," Los Angeles, California
2013           Skyline College Art Gallery, "Cast & Crew," San Bruno, California
2012           Jazz Heritage Center, Lush Life Gallery, San Francisco, California
2009           SculptureSite Gallery, "Empathy," San Francisco, California
2008           Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, California
2008           Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California
2008           Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, California
2007           Schleswig-Holstein-Haus, Schwerin, Germany “Ein Amerikaner in Schwerin”
2003           Dominican University of California, San Marco Gallery, San Rafael, California
2003           Sierra College, “About the Ark,” Rocklin, California
2002           South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota,  “Dames”  (traveling)
2002           University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota, "Dames"
2002           San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Embarcadero Museum Store, Exhibition window
2000           Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California
2000           American River College, “Plastic/Plastik,” Sacramento, California
1999           Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, California
1998           Bradford Smock Gallery, San Francisco, California
1997           Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, Colorado
1997           San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery, Fort Mason
1996           Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, California
1995           Dominican College, San Marco Gallery, San Rafael, California
1995           Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo, California
1992           Claudia Chapline Gallery, "Introductions," Stinson Beach, California
1992           Community College of Southern Nevada, North Las Vegas, Nevada
1991           LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), Los Angeles, California
1992           Wilder Gallery, Los Gatos, California
1990           Palo Alto Junior Museum, Palo Alto, California
1990           Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, California
1990           Daniel Eastland, San Francisco, California
1990           Coastal Arts League Museum, Half Moon Bay, California


Selected Group Sculpture Exhibitions

2024          M.K. Contemporary Art, Santa Cruz, California, "Shelter From the Storm"
2024          Gualala Arts, Gualala, California "You Made That With Plastic? Turning Trash into Treasures"
2024          Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, California, "In Flux: Recalibrating the Unknown"
2024          Museum of Sonoma County, Pac Rim Sculptors Juried Show, Santa Rosa, California, "A Question of Balance"
2023          The deYoung Open 2023, San Francisco, California 
2023          Epperson Gallery, Crockett, California, "Artists/Curators"
2023          The Randall Museum, San Francisco, California, "Cumulative View" with Ellen Little and Tiffany Schmierer
2022          Ruth's Table, San Francisco, California, "A World Without Plastic Imagined"
2022          De Young Museum, San Francisco, California, "Pictures of People" (virtual)
2021          International Sculpture Center, Kaneko, Omaha, Nebraska, "Little Sculpture Show"
2021          Gear Box Gallery, Oakland, California, "Posies: a Pocketful"
2020          South Dakota Art Museum, "50 Works for 50 Years: Collections Retrospective" 
2020          San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, "Under Our Covers: It's Not What It Seams" 
2019          Veterans Show, "Honoring America's Veterans at TPG Global" curated by SFMOMA Artists Gallery
2019          Alumni Show, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California, "ECHOES, From Here to There"
2018          Pacific Rim Sculptors, Peninsula Museum of Art, Burlingame, California, "Sculpture Now" 
2017          San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, "California Sculpture Slam Biennial Exhibition"
2015          Studio Gallery, San Francisco, California
2013          Ruth Bancroft Gardens, Walnut Creek, California "Sculpture in the Gardens"
2006          Santa Cruz County Bank, Santa Cruz, California, “Unleased”
2006          Thomas Mann Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, “Martini Squared 2”
2006          Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa, Arizona, “Purrrfection”
2005          Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California, “Nature as Muse, Selections from the Permanent Collection”
2005          George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco,  “Sculpture”
2005          Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Rosa, California, “Contemporary Expressions, RE-FUSED”,
2003          San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery, Fort Mason, San Francisco, “25th Anniversary Exhibition”
2003          Oakland Museum City Center Sculpture Court, Pacific Rim Sculpture Group Invitational, “Shaping Possibilities”
2003          d.p. Fong Galleries, San Jose, California, “The Narrative Figure”
2002          San Jose Museum of Art, “Is the Medium the Message?  Contemporary Art from Permanent Collection”
2002          Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, California, “A Portrait of My Father”
2001          Mesh Gallery, Sebastopol, California, “Trash”
2000          University of California Santa Cruz, Cowell College, Santa Cruz, CA, “The New Millennium Readymade, Even”
2000          Euphrat Museum of Art, De Anza College, Cupertino, California, “Animals”
2000          Koret Gallery, Palo Alto, California, “Environmental Perspectives:  Beauty & the Beast”
1999          University Art Museum, Berkeley, California, “Fragments of the World, From Collage to Readymade”
1999          Zenith Gallery, Washington DC, group humor show
1999          di Rosa Preserve, Napa, California, “Angels & Apparitions: Masque for Millennium”
1998          Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa, Arizona, "Stable Environment, Art of the Horse"
1998          Melting Point, San Francisco, California, "Ensemble Modern:  Barrish, Forakis, Honig”
1998          d.p. Fong Galleries, San Jose, California, "Toys in Contemporary Art II”
1997          The Jewish Museum San Francisco, "L'Chaim:  A Kiddish Cup Invitational"
1997          Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California, "Hello Again!  A New Wave of Recycled Art & Design"      
1997                (traveling) Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, California
1997                (traveling) McAllen International Museum, McAllen, Texas
1998                (traveling) Vancouver Museum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
1996          Oakland Museum of California Sculpture Court, "Bay Area Sculptors Group: The Figure," Oakland, California
1996          San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery, "Refound,"  Fort Mason, San Francisco, California
1996          Oakland Museum of California Sculpture Court, Oakland, California "Re-in-CAR-Nation"
1996          State Capitol Conservation Fair, Sacramento, California, Recycled Art Exhibit
1995          Galeria Mesa, Mesa, Arizona, "Reassembly Required"
1995          Contract Design Center, San Francisco, Calif., Pacific Rim Sculpture Group Juried Exhibit
1995          State Capitol Conservation Fair, Sacramento, California, Recycled Art Exhibit
1994          Capp Street Project, San Francisco, California"Old Glory, New Story:  Flagging the 21st Century"
1994                (traveling) Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, California
1994          Works/San Jose, California, "Dancing on the Continuum:  Survey of Bay Area Contemporary Sculpture"
1994          Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, California, "Jazz:  JoeSam, George Frayne, Jerry Barrish"
1994          Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, California, Miniature Invitational
1993          Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, “68th Annual Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition”
1993          Associated Artists of Winston-Salem, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, "Earth Art”
1993          San Mateo County Arts Council, Belmont, California, "Assemblage & Collage"
1993          Wiseman Gallery, Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, Oregon, “Barrish & Shuey"
1993          Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History, Lewiston, Idaho, "Earth Vision"
1992          Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa, Arizona, "Déjà Vu:  The Recycled Object in Art"
1992          California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California, "California Small Works"
1992          Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, California, "Found Object as Art"
1992          The University of Arizona, Student Union Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, "Earth Day"
1992          Arizona State University, Memorial Union Fine Arts Lounge, Tempe, AZ, "Transformations:  Barrish & Grossman"
1992          Modesto Jr. College Art Gallery, Modesto, California, "Wolfe, Norman & Barrish"
1992          Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, Oregon, "Barrish & Totman"
1991          Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, California, Miniature Invitational 
1991          Ohio State University at Mansfield, The Pearl Conard Gallery, Mansfield, Ohio
1991          Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, “The Florida National”
1991          The Jewish Community Museum, San Francisco, California, Purim Invitational
1990          Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, California, Small Works Annual Juried Exhibition
1990          San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, California
1990          Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, California, "Artists & Environmental Crisis"
1989          California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California, "California Small Works"
1989          The Arts Council of San Mateo County, Belmont, California, "Bay Arts"
1989          San Francisco City Hall Rotunda, San Francisco, California, "The Art of Recycling"  

Sculpture Awards

2002          Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in Review, High Points:  “Dames” exhibit at South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota
2000          Third Place Award,  UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, “The New Millennium Readymade, Even” 
1999          Honorable Mention, Arts on Fire III, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California
1993          Group Show Award, Art Bank, Foster City Art Gallery, Foster City, California
1993          Honorable Mention, Coastal Arts League Annual Juried Competition, Half Moon Bay, California
1989          Award Winner, "California Small Works," California Museum of Art, Luther Burbank Center, Santa Rosa, CA  


Selected Lectures and Guest Presentations


2021               International Sculpture Center, Vimeo, Conversation with Jerry Barrish and LynnVerschoor,
                                                former Director of South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota
2020               Osher Lifelong Learning Institute with San Francisco State University, "Plastic Man," online mini-course 
2019               Works & Conversation.  Richard Whittaker. A Conversation with Jerry Barrish: Persistence
2006               Eye on the Arts, That Man May See, de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
2006               Lincoln High School Alumni  Wall of Fame, San Francisco, California
2004-present   Artistic Director, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California
2003-2005       President, Art Guild of Pacifica, Pacifica, California
2002-2005       Cultural Arts Commission, City of Pacifica, California
2002               Guest Lecturer, Art Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota
1998               Juror, Coastal Arts League 14th Annual Juried Competition, Half Moon Bay, California
1995               Juror, "New & Reused," San Francisco Women's Gallery, San Francisco
1990               Guest Lecturer, "Art & Artists of San Francisco," San Francisco State University, San Francisco


Catalogs available


Jerry Ross Barrish: Protagonist. M. Stark Gallery, Half Moon Bay, California. Essays by Paris Cotz, MA and Marianna Stark, January 2023 - March 2023

Jerry Ross Barrish, Assemblage Found Objects. Loveland Museum/Gallery & South Dakota Art Museum, June 2014 - February 2015.

Art Drecko: Mad Asssemblage of Jerry Ross Barrish
, Fresno Art Museum & 
Take Two: Jerry Ross Barrish, Museum of Art & History @ McPherson Center, Santa Cruz, CA, November 2008 - April 2009. Foreward by Phil Linhares, with essays by Susan Hillhouse, Jacquelin Pilar.

Dames. South Dakota Art Museum, 2002. Foreward by Fred Martin, San Francisco Art Institute


Selected Bibliography

Corbin, Mary. "Plastic Man speaks: A moment with sculpture artist Jerry Barrish." 48 Hills, June 15, 2023, illus.
Marcus, Naomi. "Jerry Barrish had a knack for rustling..." San Francisco Senior Beat, March 17, 2023, illus. 
Cotz, Paris. "Junk is a Dirty Word." M. Stark Gallery, First Edition, 2023, p. 8, illus. 
Held, John Jr. Review: "Jerry Barrish: Fabricating Human Interaction." SFAQ, March 10, 2016, illus.
Cheng, DeWitt. Review: "Jerry Ross Barrish, Santa Cruz and Fresno, California." Sculpture, September 2009, publication of International Sculpture Center, illus.
Grande, John K. Review: "Jerry Barrish, Schwerin, Germany." Sculpture, March 2008, publication of International Sculpture Center, illus.
Constantinou, Marianne.  “After career springing others, bondsman sculpts himself a new life.”  San Francisco Chronicle, November 23, 2004, illus.
Roukes, Nicholas. Artful Jesters, Innovators of Visual Wit and Humor. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 2003, illus.
Roche, Harry.  “Focus: Jerry Ross Barrish.”  Sculpture, a publication of International Sculpture Center, May 2001, illus.
Shreve, Jenn.  “One Man’s Treasure.”  San Francisco Metropolitan, September 13, 1999.
Roche, Harry.  "Jerry Ross Barrish."  San Francisco Bay Guardian, September 2-8, 1998, illus.
Workman, Bill.  "Picking Up Where Litterers Leave Off."  San Francisco Chronicle Peninsula, March 14, 1997, illus.
Hunter, Chris.  "Finding art in flotsam."  Pacifica Tribune, January 29, 1997, illus.
Huston, Johnny Ray.  "Body Parts."  SF Weekly, San Francisco, January 3-9, 1996, illus.
Warner, Sally.  Making Room for Making Art.  Chicago:  Chicago Review Press, 1994, illus.
Cohn, Terri.  "The Gluers."  Diablo Arts, Walnut Creek, March-May, 1994, illus.
Alaks, Kathleen.  "This Art‘s a Real Find."  Daily Courier, Grants Pass, OR, January 9, 1992, illus.
Hunter, Chris.  "Barrish Recycles Trash into Art."  Pacifica Tribune, December 5, 1990, illus.

BLOG SECTIONS

Information

33 Bartlett Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 641 8100   info@jerrybarrish.com
Open by appointment 



Artist Statement

I collect found objects for assemblage/constructions on the beaches, bayshore, roadways, and recycling centers near San Francisco.  I usually only pick up plastic objects—belonging to the lowest caste in the hierarchy of debris.  I have become enthralled working with this material, and continue to be inspired by it, using a hot glue gun almost like a welding torch—allowing a spontaneity reminiscent of my experiences with copper and steel almost 50 years ago.

Sometimes I set out to make an image and actually search for the pieces to complete the idea, but more often it's the found object that dictates what I'm going to do.  The completion of the preconceived vision is a much more structured way to work and gives me a sense of command over the materials.  But inspiration and freedom come from letting this discarded stuff of our society provide the image itself. 

My natural bent as a storyteller becomes obvious with the figurative nature of subjects.  There's a sense of magic when a piece is completed—sometimes I don't understand how it happened.  But, not unlike the editing process from my filmmaking days, it's just a question of the order of things. 
 
Capturing gesture, form, and movement to bring life to this refuse is the essence of my art.
                                                                  – Jerry Ross Barrish, San Francisco, 2023



Chronology

Residence:  Pacifica, California
Born:  San Francisco, California
Education:  San Francisco Art Institute, B.F.A. 1974 & M.F.A. 1976
Additional Study: Apprentice to sculptor, Charles B. Johnson, 1969-70


Institutional Collections

Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive, University of California, Berkeley, California
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California
de Saisset Museum, University of Santa Clara, Santa Clara, California
di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, Napa, California
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California
Museum of Art & History @ McPherson Center, Santa Cruz, California
The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California
San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California
South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota
Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California
University of Arizona Memorial Student Union, Tucson, Arizona
University of California Davis, Nelson Gallery, Davis, California
University of California Santa Cruz, Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, Santa Cruz, California


Public Art Commission


2015          San Francisco, California. "Bay View Horn," The San Francisco Shipyard, Public Art Walk, bronze, 15-feet. 
                 Commissioned by San Francisco Redevelopment Agency (OCII.)


Selected Solo Sculpture Exhibitions

2024           Tuleste Factory, New York, N.Y.
2024           Vargas Gallery, Mission College, "Spring Fever," Santa Clara, California
2023           M. Stark Gallery, "Jerry Ross Barrish: Protagonist," Half Moon Bay, California
2016           Transmission Gallery, Oakland, California
2016           Smith Andersen Editions, "Nuts & Chews," Palo Alto, California
2015           Studio Gallery, "Plastic Man," San Francisco, California
2015           Mendocino Art Center, Nichols Gallery, Mendocino, California
2014           South Dakota Art Museum, "Cast & Crew," Brookings, South Dakota
2014           Loveland Museum, "Cast & Crew," Loveland, Colorado
2014           Loft at Liz's, "Every Sculpture Tells a Story," Los Angeles, California
2013           Skyline College Art Gallery, "Cast & Crew," San Bruno, California
2012           Jazz Heritage Center, Lush Life Gallery, San Francisco, California
2009           SculptureSite Gallery, "Empathy," San Francisco, California
2008           Museum of Art and History, Santa Cruz, California
2008           Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, California
2008           Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, California
2007           Schleswig-Holstein-Haus, Schwerin, Germany “Ein Amerikaner in Schwerin”
2003           Dominican University of California, San Marco Gallery, San Rafael, California
2003           Sierra College, “About the Ark,” Rocklin, California
2002           South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota,  “Dames”  (traveling)
2002           University of South Dakota, Vermillion, South Dakota, "Dames"
2002           San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Embarcadero Museum Store, Exhibition window
2000           Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California
2000           American River College, “Plastic/Plastik,” Sacramento, California
1999           Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, California
1998           Bradford Smock Gallery, San Francisco, California
1997           Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, Colorado
1997           San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery, Fort Mason
1996           Ebert Gallery, San Francisco, California
1995           Dominican College, San Marco Gallery, San Rafael, California
1995           Coyote Point Museum, San Mateo, California
1992           Claudia Chapline Gallery, "Introductions," Stinson Beach, California
1992           Community College of Southern Nevada, North Las Vegas, Nevada
1991           LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions), Los Angeles, California
1992           Wilder Gallery, Los Gatos, California
1990           Palo Alto Junior Museum, Palo Alto, California
1990           Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, California
1990           Daniel Eastland, San Francisco, California
1990           Coastal Arts League Museum, Half Moon Bay, California


Selected Group Sculpture Exhibitions

2024          M.K. Contemporary Art, Santa Cruz, California, "Shelter From the Storm"
2024          Gualala Arts, Gualala, California "You Made That With Plastic? Turning Trash into Treasures"
2024          Museum of Northern California Art, Chico, California, "In Flux: Recalibrating the Unknown"
2024          Museum of Sonoma County, Pac Rim Sculptors Juried Show, Santa Rosa, California, "A Question of Balance"
2023          The deYoung Open 2023, San Francisco, California 
2023          Epperson Gallery, Crockett, California, "Artists/Curators"
2023          The Randall Museum, San Francisco, California, "Cumulative View" with Ellen Little and Tiffany Schmierer
2022          Ruth's Table, San Francisco, California, "A World Without Plastic Imagined"
2022          De Young Museum, San Francisco, California, "Pictures of People" (virtual)
2021          International Sculpture Center, Kaneko, Omaha, Nebraska, "Little Sculpture Show"
2021          Gear Box Gallery, Oakland, California, "Posies: a Pocketful"
2020          South Dakota Art Museum, "50 Works for 50 Years: Collections Retrospective" 
2020          San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, "Under Our Covers: It's Not What It Seams" 
2019          Veterans Show, "Honoring America's Veterans at TPG Global" curated by SFMOMA Artists Gallery
2019          Alumni Show, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California, "ECHOES, From Here to There"
2018          Pacific Rim Sculptors, Peninsula Museum of Art, Burlingame, California, "Sculpture Now" 
2017          San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, "California Sculpture Slam Biennial Exhibition"
2015          Studio Gallery, San Francisco, California
2013          Ruth Bancroft Gardens, Walnut Creek, California "Sculpture in the Gardens"
2006          Santa Cruz County Bank, Santa Cruz, California, “Unleased”
2006          Thomas Mann Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana, “Martini Squared 2”
2006          Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa, Arizona, “Purrrfection”
2005          Triton Museum of Art, Santa Clara, California, “Nature as Muse, Selections from the Permanent Collection”
2005          George Krevsky Gallery, San Francisco,  “Sculpture”
2005          Museum of Contemporary Art, Santa Rosa, California, “Contemporary Expressions, RE-FUSED”,
2003          San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery, Fort Mason, San Francisco, “25th Anniversary Exhibition”
2003          Oakland Museum City Center Sculpture Court, Pacific Rim Sculpture Group Invitational, “Shaping Possibilities”
2003          d.p. Fong Galleries, San Jose, California, “The Narrative Figure”
2002          San Jose Museum of Art, “Is the Medium the Message?  Contemporary Art from Permanent Collection”
2002          Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, California, “A Portrait of My Father”
2001          Mesh Gallery, Sebastopol, California, “Trash”
2000          University of California Santa Cruz, Cowell College, Santa Cruz, CA, “The New Millennium Readymade, Even”
2000          Euphrat Museum of Art, De Anza College, Cupertino, California, “Animals”
2000          Koret Gallery, Palo Alto, California, “Environmental Perspectives:  Beauty & the Beast”
1999          University Art Museum, Berkeley, California, “Fragments of the World, From Collage to Readymade”
1999          Zenith Gallery, Washington DC, group humor show
1999          di Rosa Preserve, Napa, California, “Angels & Apparitions: Masque for Millennium”
1998          Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa, Arizona, "Stable Environment, Art of the Horse"
1998          Melting Point, San Francisco, California, "Ensemble Modern:  Barrish, Forakis, Honig”
1998          d.p. Fong Galleries, San Jose, California, "Toys in Contemporary Art II”
1997          The Jewish Museum San Francisco, "L'Chaim:  A Kiddish Cup Invitational"
1997          Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California, "Hello Again!  A New Wave of Recycled Art & Design"      
1997                (traveling) Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, California
1997                (traveling) McAllen International Museum, McAllen, Texas
1998                (traveling) Vancouver Museum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
1996          Oakland Museum of California Sculpture Court, "Bay Area Sculptors Group: The Figure," Oakland, California
1996          San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Rental Gallery, "Refound,"  Fort Mason, San Francisco, California
1996          Oakland Museum of California Sculpture Court, Oakland, California "Re-in-CAR-Nation"
1996          State Capitol Conservation Fair, Sacramento, California, Recycled Art Exhibit
1995          Galeria Mesa, Mesa, Arizona, "Reassembly Required"
1995          Contract Design Center, San Francisco, Calif., Pacific Rim Sculpture Group Juried Exhibit
1995          State Capitol Conservation Fair, Sacramento, California, Recycled Art Exhibit
1994          Capp Street Project, San Francisco, California"Old Glory, New Story:  Flagging the 21st Century"
1994                (traveling) Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, California
1994          Works/San Jose, California, "Dancing on the Continuum:  Survey of Bay Area Contemporary Sculpture"
1994          Claudia Chapline Gallery, Stinson Beach, California, "Jazz:  JoeSam, George Frayne, Jerry Barrish"
1994          Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, California, Miniature Invitational
1993          Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California, “68th Annual Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition”
1993          Associated Artists of Winston-Salem, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, "Earth Art”
1993          San Mateo County Arts Council, Belmont, California, "Assemblage & Collage"
1993          Wiseman Gallery, Rogue Community College, Grants Pass, Oregon, “Barrish & Shuey"
1993          Lewis-Clark Center for Arts & History, Lewiston, Idaho, "Earth Vision"
1992          Arizona Museum for Youth, Mesa, Arizona, "Déjà Vu:  The Recycled Object in Art"
1992          California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California, "California Small Works"
1992          Long Beach Arts, Long Beach, California, "Found Object as Art"
1992          The University of Arizona, Student Union Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, "Earth Day"
1992          Arizona State University, Memorial Union Fine Arts Lounge, Tempe, AZ, "Transformations:  Barrish & Grossman"
1992          Modesto Jr. College Art Gallery, Modesto, California, "Wolfe, Norman & Barrish"
1992          Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, Oregon, "Barrish & Totman"
1991          Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, California, Miniature Invitational 
1991          Ohio State University at Mansfield, The Pearl Conard Gallery, Mansfield, Ohio
1991          Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, “The Florida National”
1991          The Jewish Community Museum, San Francisco, California, Purim Invitational
1990          Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, California, Small Works Annual Juried Exhibition
1990          San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, California
1990          Gallery Route One, Pt. Reyes Station, California, "Artists & Environmental Crisis"
1989          California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, California, "California Small Works"
1989          The Arts Council of San Mateo County, Belmont, California, "Bay Arts"
1989          San Francisco City Hall Rotunda, San Francisco, California, "The Art of Recycling"  

Sculpture Awards

2002          Argus Leader, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in Review, High Points:  “Dames” exhibit at South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota
2000          Third Place Award,  UC Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, “The New Millennium Readymade, Even” 
1999          Honorable Mention, Arts on Fire III, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California
1993          Group Show Award, Art Bank, Foster City Art Gallery, Foster City, California
1993          Honorable Mention, Coastal Arts League Annual Juried Competition, Half Moon Bay, California
1989          Award Winner, "California Small Works," California Museum of Art, Luther Burbank Center, Santa Rosa, CA  


Selected Lectures and Guest Presentations


2021               International Sculpture Center, Vimeo, Conversation with Jerry Barrish and LynnVerschoor,
                                                former Director of South Dakota Art Museum, Brookings, South Dakota
2020               Osher Lifelong Learning Institute with San Francisco State University, "Plastic Man," online mini-course 
2019               Works & Conversation.  Richard Whittaker. A Conversation with Jerry Barrish: Persistence
2006               Eye on the Arts, That Man May See, de Young Museum, San Francisco, California
2006               Lincoln High School Alumni  Wall of Fame, San Francisco, California
2004-present   Artistic Director, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, California
2003-2005       President, Art Guild of Pacifica, Pacifica, California
2002-2005       Cultural Arts Commission, City of Pacifica, California
2002               Guest Lecturer, Art Department, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota
1998               Juror, Coastal Arts League 14th Annual Juried Competition, Half Moon Bay, California
1995               Juror, "New & Reused," San Francisco Women's Gallery, San Francisco
1990               Guest Lecturer, "Art & Artists of San Francisco," San Francisco State University, San Francisco


Catalogs available


Jerry Ross Barrish: Protagonist. M. Stark Gallery, Half Moon Bay, California. Essays by Paris Cotz, MA and Marianna Stark, January 2023 - March 2023

Jerry Ross Barrish, Assemblage Found Objects. Loveland Museum/Gallery & South Dakota Art Museum, June 2014 - February 2015.

Art Drecko: Mad Asssemblage of Jerry Ross Barrish
, Fresno Art Museum & 
Take Two: Jerry Ross Barrish, Museum of Art & History @ McPherson Center, Santa Cruz, CA, November 2008 - April 2009. Foreward by Phil Linhares, with essays by Susan Hillhouse, Jacquelin Pilar.

Dames. South Dakota Art Museum, 2002. Foreward by Fred Martin, San Francisco Art Institute


Selected Bibliography

Corbin, Mary. "Plastic Man speaks: A moment with sculpture artist Jerry Barrish." 48 Hills, June 15, 2023, illus.
Marcus, Naomi. "Jerry Barrish had a knack for rustling..." San Francisco Senior Beat, March 17, 2023, illus. 
Cotz, Paris. "Junk is a Dirty Word." M. Stark Gallery, First Edition, 2023, p. 8, illus. 
Held, John Jr. Review: "Jerry Barrish: Fabricating Human Interaction." SFAQ, March 10, 2016, illus.
Cheng, DeWitt. Review: "Jerry Ross Barrish, Santa Cruz and Fresno, California." Sculpture, September 2009, publication of International Sculpture Center, illus.
Grande, John K. Review: "Jerry Barrish, Schwerin, Germany." Sculpture, March 2008, publication of International Sculpture Center, illus.
Constantinou, Marianne.  “After career springing others, bondsman sculpts himself a new life.”  San Francisco Chronicle, November 23, 2004, illus.
Roukes, Nicholas. Artful Jesters, Innovators of Visual Wit and Humor. Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, CA, 2003, illus.
Roche, Harry.  “Focus: Jerry Ross Barrish.”  Sculpture, a publication of International Sculpture Center, May 2001, illus.
Shreve, Jenn.  “One Man’s Treasure.”  San Francisco Metropolitan, September 13, 1999.
Roche, Harry.  "Jerry Ross Barrish."  San Francisco Bay Guardian, September 2-8, 1998, illus.
Workman, Bill.  "Picking Up Where Litterers Leave Off."  San Francisco Chronicle Peninsula, March 14, 1997, illus.
Hunter, Chris.  "Finding art in flotsam."  Pacifica Tribune, January 29, 1997, illus.
Huston, Johnny Ray.  "Body Parts."  SF Weekly, San Francisco, January 3-9, 1996, illus.
Warner, Sally.  Making Room for Making Art.  Chicago:  Chicago Review Press, 1994, illus.
Cohn, Terri.  "The Gluers."  Diablo Arts, Walnut Creek, March-May, 1994, illus.
Alaks, Kathleen.  "This Art‘s a Real Find."  Daily Courier, Grants Pass, OR, January 9, 1992, illus.
Hunter, Chris.  "Barrish Recycles Trash into Art."  Pacifica Tribune, December 5, 1990, illus.

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