Sonya Rapoport's work finds new audience in 2018

Throughout 2018, Sonya Rapoport's legacy and spirit of experimentation is being highlighted through a number of exhibitions and events across the Bay Area: San Francisco's Minnesota Street Projects featured Rapoport's drawing in a group exhibition organized by Romer Young Gallery; the Berkeley Art Museum exhibited her work in a major collection show; and in an upcoming musical performance, Berkeley's Kala Art Institute will focus on her Anasazi series as a source for new creative interpretations by composer-performer team Hae Voces.

Sonya Rapoport, Anasazi Series, Panel 1-A, Page 1 of 12, 1977. Prismacolor and pencil on found pre-printed perforated continuous feed computer printout paper

Organized by Romer Young Gallery in partnership with Minnesota Street Projects, Somatic Gesture (Feb 1 – Mar 17) placed Rapoport's work in conversation with works by Jay DeFeo, Ruth Asawa, and other. Bay Area women artists. Rapoport's work Christo and Cornell (Yarn Drawing No. 9) from 1976 made use of her unique lexicon of feminine symbols that she referred to as her Nu-Shu language. Read more about Rapoport's Yarn Drawings and the inspiration for her lexicon of feminist patterns here.

Rapoport's work is currently on view at the Berkeley Art Museum as part of the exhibition Way Bay, a sweeping exploration of the creative energies that have emerged from the San Francisco Bay Area over the past 200 years.

Keep an eye out for the musical performance Hae Voces: Rapoport Remembered at Kala Art Institute this July. Inspired by Rapoport's color pencil drawings from the 1970s series Anasazi, the composer-performer team Hae Voces (Kristina Dutton and Majel Connery) will reinterpret these drawings as graphic scores. Sound, lighting, and projection of Rapoport's drawings complement this immersive live performance. Tickets are available for June 1 and June 2 at 7:00pm.