This handsome 160-page monograph is being published in conjunction with the exhibition Frances McCormack: Rooted in Wonder, organized by the di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art.

Lush paintings and vibrant collages by Frances McCormack are given their due in this richly illustrated, 40-year survey. Highlighting McCormack’s use of the garden as a guiding metaphor, essayist Signe Mayfield traces McCormack’s creative evolution from figurative painting to expressions in gestural abstraction.  There are many avenues into abstraction, but McCormack’s is singular given its recognizable motifs and underlying forms with their meaningful connection to the artist’s personal history.

McCormack’s own essay contributions— “Why Painting” and “Wonder and Limitation”— reveal her thoughts on inspirations, creative process, recent work in collage, and approaches to teaching. The Sonoma-based painter taught studio art at San Francisco State University, Sonoma State University, California College of the Arts (Oakland and San Francisco campuses)—and most extensively during a 28-year period at the former San Francisco Art Institute [SFAI] as a tenured faculty. Among her numerous honors, this respected Bay Area artist was the first affiliated SFAI Fellow at the American Academy in Rome in July 2000.

• ISBN: 13:978-09978390-6-7
• Published by Fine Arts Press
• By Signe S. Mayfield and Frances McCormack
• Format: hard cover
• Dimensions: 9 x 10.5 in.
• 160 page
• Price: $38
• Order number: FAP-144-H