2024 SECA Art Award
San Francisco Museum of Art, 151 3rd Street, San Francisco, California
Through May 26
San Francisco has produced a lineage of artists known for their prolific signage, invented typography, and lettering, notably Margaret Kilgallen, Barry McGee, and Tauba Auerbach. Today, Rose d’Amato emerges as another extraordinary talent. D’Amato comes from a family of sign-makers and automotive pinstripers, carrying forward the artistry of Latinx, lowrider, and working-class communities. Along with Rupy C. Tut and Angela Hennessy, D’Amato was selected as a Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art award finalist.
For the accompanying exhibition — for which she was also asked to create the wall text font, identity, and design — D’Amato installed a suite of layered automotive sign paintings around a central 1955 Chevrolet Panel truck restored in Oakland. In the open trunk, the artist has set up a screen on which we can watch her work, creating the effect of a mobile studio. Using enamel gunshot paint, gold leaf, airbrushing, and her hand, D’Amato uncannily captures both sign and signifier simultaneously.