Belvedere-Tiburon Library exhibit pairs Bay Area creators with muses from art history

Clockwise from top are Rachel Davis’ ‘Surrender, After Suzanne and Esther,’ Joyce Bell’s ‘Dancing Rose’ and Nadine Levin’s ‘The Old Glass Remembers the Fallen Moon,’ which are all part of the ‘Pairings & Echoes’ exhibit running Nov. 20-Dec. 7 at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library.

When Rachel Davis stared at the figure in her painting “Surrender, After Suzanne and Esther,” she knew something was wrong. She tried 10 different faces over as many months. Her fellow artists at ICB Art in Sausalito rallied around her, posing and offering advice. The running joke became: “Whose head is on the body today?”

The answer, finally, was none at all.

Davis, Nadine Levin and Joyce Bell are among 58 Bay Area artists featured in “Pairings & Echoes,” an exhibit at the Belvedere-Tiburon Library that explores artistic conversations across time and medium. The show runs Nov. 20 through Jan. 7, with an artists’ reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 20.

Each artist submitted work inspired by another artist’s creation. Posted alongside each piece will be a small image of the work that sparked the new art.

Exhibit co-chair Katie Sutton said she’s particularly excited for this show, noting that it’s “something a little different” to see how artists take inspiration from an existing work and make it their own.

“Some lean into a more literal visual approach, while others focus more on the emotional side of their reference,” Sutton said. “It’s so interesting to watch their creativity come to life and see into the mind of each artist.”

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