Catharine Clark Gallery at San Francisco Art Fair:
Booth #D05: Animal Kingdom
April 16 - 19, 2026
Catharine Clark Gallery presents Animal Kingdom, a curated booth featuring Gil Batle, Arleene Correa Valencia, LigoranoReese, Tina Rath, Masami Teraoka, Katherine Vetne, and Wanxin Zhang. The presentation responds to the gallery’s concurrent group exhibition, Run Fast, Bite Hard (on view through May 30, 2026), exploring the intersections of nature, artifice, and survival.
The centerpiece is LigoranoReese’s Vanishing Finish, an installation of cyanotypes documenting endangered keystone species from the IUCN Red List. Printed on translucent Japanese Sekishu tissue, these "blueprints" of biodiversity reference 19th-century naturalist illustrations while mourning the fragility of ecosystems decimated by climate change. Complementing this environmental focus are Tina Rath’s Animal Treats. These hand-carved sculptures, rendered in precious metals and stones, function as modern totems. Drawing on ancient histories of animal-human bonds, Rath’s "imaginary beings" act as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual realms.
Katherine Vetne presents new metalpoint drawings and sconces on the theme of "the hunt." Vetne utilizes Renaissance-era techniques to depict porcelain figurines and glass tchotchkes with an eerie detachment. Her work creates friction between traditional signifiers of domestic decorum and the "psychological dissociation" inherent in rigid social and gender roles.
The presentation concludes with Gil Batle’s hand-painted plates. Fusing the aesthetics of Japanese Blue Willow porcelain with his history of incarceration, Batle’s intricate compositions merge island fauna with memories of the "Gladiator School" of California prisons. Collectively, these artists examine the animal form as a site of political, social, and environmental urgency, asking what—and who—is permitted to survive in a rapidly changing world.
Fort Mason Festival Pavilion
2 Marina Boulevard
San Francisco, CA 94123
Opening Evening presented by RBC Wealth Management
Thursday, April 16, 2026: 6—9pm
All Public Days
Friday, April 17, 2026: 11am—7pm
Saturday, April 18, 2026: 11am—7pm
Sunday, April 19, 2026: 11am—6pm
For more information, please reach out to:
Catharine Clark, Owner/Founding Director: cc@cclarkgallery.com
Anton Stuebner, Director: director@cclarkgallery.com
George Sutton, Sales Associate: exit@cclarkgallery.com
