Featured Exhibition:

Robin L. Bernstein, Hope Dies Last, 60 x 32

Robin L. Bernstein

Hope Dies Last

March 6 - April 19, 2025
​
Artist's Reception
​March 8th, 1-4pm

Artists' Talk
Sat, March 22nd, starting at 4 pm

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Robin L. Bernstein: Hope Dies Last

Check out the recent 48hills interview by Mary Corbin, Fueled by anger at injustice, an artist forged a new path through ‘Beauty and Terror’

Transmission gallery is pleased to present Hope Dies Last, a solo exhibition of sumptuous works by Robin L. Bernstein addressing complex and challenging subjects.

In the immediate encounter, the work is beautiful with dynamic cut shapes and enticing color inviting the viewer in. At first, they appear to be painted, one can see the swirling line work. Stepping up closer, the elaborate threaded detail becomes evident. Hundreds and hundreds of pieces of thread and string have been pressed into wax creating a mesmerizing and tactile effect. This visual feast reverberates with our senses, reflecting the intimacy of the endeavor. The richness of color evokes a sense of warmth and vitality, contrasting with the heavy themes the works address for indeed there is a message imbedded in each piece, a troubling truth we might rather not know too deeply, but now it is at hand.

While developing each composition, Bernstein researches her subject extensively, thoughtfully considering and selecting the symbolism layered throughout the work. Shaped panels provide a framework to carry the concept. Colors and forms may reference historical suffering, specific incidents or fundamental principles. While some pieces in the exhibition specifically call out the insidious subtexts of white supremacy and fascism masquerading as more benign movements, others speak directly, painfully even, to the perils impending along the gamut of human endeavor. Rather than meet the future with denial, the work calls for recognition of those potentialities and, despite the looming threats, richly colored elements may be seen as rays of hope, inviting a personal commitment to consciously educate ourselves, and move forward in even small everyday actions, collectively making new decisions for a healthy and just society and planet. 

Works in the exhibition include  “Defense of Nature,” which addresses ideas of environmentalism, a cause so many rally around today as the specter of climate change hangs on the horizon. One might not be aware of the underpinnings of white supremacy driving early ecological movements. It can be easy to align with the noble goal of preserving nature, without realizing some groups pin their ideology on white dominion over the earth. “L’Dor V’Dor, From Generation to Generation” likewise calls out the numerical signifiers of antisemitism and racism, coded symbols readily recognized by members of certain white supremacist organizations actively preparing to assume greater power on the world stage. Another recent work, François Genoud: From the Holocaust to Hamas, references the money trail, built through the efforts of Nazi-era financial wizard, François Genoud, to the early funding of anti-Semitic terrorist organizations. Doves of peace swirl above, never able to land. 

With the word "Hopiem" emblazoned across a baby caught in the balance,  Bernstein's Hope Dies Last is perhaps the key to everything. Referring to the powerful human desire for hope in the face of all logic it can be read as ridiculous in its hope, nevertheless it is hope that soars above a laundry list of despair; unhoused, uneducated, impoverished, indifferent and hungry, the state of so many across the world. Observant and uplifted, another babe hovers, buoyantly gazing our way; principled, compassionate, courageous and loving. Which will it be?

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More about Robin L. Bernstein

Selection of Exhibitions
2025
Hope Dies Last, Transmission Gallery, Oakland, CA
From Darkness to Light: Healing the Wounds (upcoming), Invitational Exhibition, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA
2024
Threads of Change, Invitational Exhibition, Horton Gallery, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton, CA
The California Jewish Open, The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
In Flux: Recalibrating the Unknown, Presented by SFAA at The Museum of Northern California Art. Chico, CA
Selections from Beauty and Terror, Yom HaShoah Community Observance, SFJCC, San Franciso, CA
Reflections: Now and Then, The Edgewater Gallery, Fort Bragg, CA
Big Works, Deep Valley Arts Collective and The Medium Gallery, Ukiah, CA
2023
Selections from Beauty and Terror, Solo Show, Pacific Textile Arts, Fort Bragg, CA
About Face, Portraiture through a Contemporary Lens, The Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
Left Coast Annual, Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica, CA
Beauty and Terror, Solo Show, Artist Talk/Demo, Bankhead Uncle Credit Union Gallery, Livermore, CA
Yarn, Rope, String at the New Bedford Museum of Art, New Bedford, MA
2022
Beauty and Terror, Part 2, Solo Show, Artist Talk, Transmission Gallery Oakland, Oakland, CA
Beauty and Terror, Part 1, Solo Show, Artist Talk, Vargas Gallery, Mission College, Santa Clara, CA
Yarn/Rope/String, FiberArtNow, July 2022 Issue
Fiberart International 2022, The Brewhouse Association and Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, PA
Art Talk, Demo, Workshop funded by The FiberArts Guild and The Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh
EmeryArts 36th 2022, A Fantastic Ekphrastic Art and Poetry compilation
funded by Rotten City Cultural Arts District and the California Arts Council
2021
#art #activism, Mission College, Vargas Gallery, Santa Clara, California
2020
eauty and Terror, Solo Show and Artist Talk, Blue Line Arts, Roseville, Ca
De Young Open, juried group exhibition, De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
EmeryArts 34th 2020: the plague year, A Fantastic Ekphrastic Art and Poetry compilation
funded by The Rotten City Cultural Arts District and the California Arts Council
Invitational Drawing Residency, 3 weeks, Tomlinhill Farms, Columbia, Missouri
Pop Up Show at SFJCC Yom Hashoah Memorial Ceremony, San Francisco, CA - postponed due to Covid-19
1993 - 2024
Emeryville Celebration of the Arts, Emeryville, CA
2019
Beauty and Terror, Solo Exhibition and Artist Talk, Transmission Gallery, Oakland, CA
Mirka Knaster Art Blog, What is Art For? https://mirkaart.com/exploringtheheartofit
Lenore Weiss: Robin Bernstein’s Beauty and Terror http://www.lenoreweiss.com/
2017
Renegade Fiber, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA
2016
Artists Rendezvous Art Talk, Emeryville, CA, Beauty and Terror: The Tyranny of the Witness
A Commentary on the Rise of Trump 70 years after Hitler
We are the Bridge Invitational and We are the Bridge Interfaith Art Biennial, Osher Marin and the Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California, Oakland, CA
2006
See Jane Run, Contemporary Art about Childhood, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1989 - 2002
Modesto Junior College Faculty Exhibitions, Modesto, CA
2002
Robin Bernstein Solo Exhibition, College of the Redwoods, Arcata, CA
2000
Murals and Miniatures, Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999
Matrix Gallery, 2 Person Exhibition, Sacramento, CA
1997
West Coast Painting and Sculpture, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA
Robin Bernstein, Kennedy Art Center, Holy Names University, Oakland, CA
1996
Concerning Wood, Joan Roebuck Gallery, Lafayette, CA
1993
Works on Paper, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
Constructure, College of Marin, San Raphael, CA

Gallery Representation
Transmission Gallery, Oakland, CA https://thetransmissiongallery.com/index.html

Artist Talks and Bibliography
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj22tVuaLmg Surface Design Association, “Dignifying the Dead: Memorialization through Fiber Art” with Caren Garden and Mirka Knaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f3pmtembgc. Pacific Textile Arts, On Beauty and Terror
https://48hills.org/2024/08/robin-l-bernstein-art-jewish-heritage-antisemitism-beauty-terror/
https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/Best-Bets-Robin-Bernstein-s-Fiber-Arts-Exhibit-17712731.php
https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2023/01/04/beauty-and-terror-displays-powerful-and-historic-subject-matter.
https://www.independentnews.com/culture/bankhead-theater-to-exhibit-artist-s-holocaust-reminder/article_c12b8a68-7bdd-11ed-b8e4-5b76ea5742bd.html
https://jweekly.com/2022/09/21/robin-bernstein-uses-vibrant-fiber-art-to-fight-holocaust-ignorance/
https://www.pghcitypaper.com/arts-entertainment/fiberart-international-artist-preserves-holocaust-narratives-in-wax-22117442
https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/fiber-artist-confronts-the-holocaust-in-beauty-and-terror-series/
https://www.thedemocracychain.org/dcheng1221
https://missioncollegegallery.weebly.com

Curation
2023 Juror: Bearing Witness (SAQA Global) on the theme of the Holocaust and Global Genocides, Studio Art Quilt Associates, Hebron, CT

Teaching Experience
Currently Workshops and Classes in Yarn Painting, Ukrainian Egg Dyeing, Basic Drawing, and Portfolio Review and Guidance at Pacific Textile Arts, California Jewish Museum, Surface Design Association, ArtMakers Studio, and Privately
2011 - Present ArtMakers Studio School, Founder and Senior Instructor in all media including Stop Motion Animation, Portfolio Consultation, Age 6 - Adult, Emeryville, CA
2005 -2018. The Renaissance International School , Visual Arts Faculty, Elementary and Junior High, Oakland, CA
1989 - 2003 Modesto Junior College , Fine Art Faculty and Gallery Director, Drawing, Printmaking, Gallery Operations and Management, Modesto, CA