Left, Manuel Neri. Right, Bruce McGaw
My friend Delma and I recently attended a talk and visited an exhibition at the Pamela Walsh Gallery in Palo Alto. We are both familiar with the Bay Area Figurative Movement and admire the vision behind this influential group of artists that emerged in the 1950s and flourished through the 1960s in Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. The movement was led by artists such as David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Elmer Bischoff, and many others.
If you find yourself in Palo Alto, make time to visit the Pamela Walsh Gallery, located at 540 Ramona Street. Their exhibition, Concentric Circles, is a gem, featuring captivating works by Bay Area Figurative Movement artists including Manuel Neri, James Weeks, Theophilus Brown, and others.
The exhibition highlights works created between 1950 and 1965, a period when local artists deliberately shifted away from the prevailing Abstract Expressionist movement and embraced a more figurative approach. The Bay Area Figurative Movement emerged as a compelling alternative to the dominant abstract trends of the time, reintroducing recognizable human figures and everyday subjects while preserving the expressive brushwork and vibrant color that characterized Abstract Expressionism.
The exhibition at Pamela Walsh Gallery offers visitors an opportunity to step into a transformative chapter in American art history while discovering artists who helped shape Northern California’s artistic identity. Some achieved international recognition; others, despite their extraordinary talent, struggled to make a living from their art.
