Tammy Rae Carland at Jessica Silverman Gallery

Jessica Silverman Gallery, which has had a strong focus on conceptual art since its opening in 2008, is an ideal space for the work of local Bay Area artist Tammy Rae Carland. Live from Somewhere, which includes photograms, prints, video and sculpture, gives breathing room for Ms. Carland’s subtle, engaging, and highly-conceptual works. Strongest in the exhibit are the staged photographs and video of an old-fashioned proscenium theater. The photograph series (supported by the sculpture) is a witty take on the idea of theatricality and presentation, dissolving the boundaries between on-stage and off-stage, stage and house. There is a certain playfulness to these montages which is highly appealing, but more important, present an idea of theater as a sum of all the parts and as a phenomenological experience. Rather than privileging the actors and the audience, this theatrical point of view captures the “empty space” quality of the theater (as Peter Brooks has said). We are left to fill in the gaps.

Tammy Rae Carland, Live from Somewhere, Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco, through 1 March 2014.