Pacheco Pass

5.30.2026 - 6.20.2026

Participating Artists: Ari Bird (https://www.aribird.com/)

Reniel Del Rosario (https://www.renieldelrosario.com/)

Matt Goldberg (https://www.mattgoldberg.net/)

Alex Harris (https://alexharris.art/)

Kate Rhoades (https://krhoades.com/)

Organized by Stephanie Rohlfs (https://stephanierohlfs.com/)

Pacheco Pass is a low mountain pass that connects the 5 to the 101 near Gilroy. Located in an area dominated by agriculture and subjected to constant drive-through traffic, the road is punctuated with farm stands. Hand-painted wooden signs (rotated seasonally) advertise the fruits, nuts, honey, and other products for sale. Meant to be read at 55 mph, these stands share a straightforward visual language but distinct styles are noticeable in a hand-written font, a style of line, a color palette.

The artists in Pacheco Pass have taken these signs as a jumping off point, and each responds to the source material in their own way. Focusing on the stands themselves, Ari Bird and Reniel Del Rosario created sculptures that deal directly with the material life of a farm stand. Drawing on the visual language of the signs, Alex Harris's "automoboldos" are a distinctly American take on Giuseppe Arcimboldo's paintings, while Kate Rhoades turns her attention to the visual language of pro-Palestinian protest. Matt Goldberg took a left turn off the pass at Wilfredo Lam, but kept his eyes on the horses in the paddock.

Guest curated by Stephanie Rohlfs for some reason.

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Ari Bird is a Los Angeles-based artist whose background in printmaking and painting informs her work as a self-taught sculptor. She transforms accessible materials sourced from hardware stores and dollar shops into playful, oversized sculptures of everyday objects that explore the psychological weight we place on ordinary things. Bird has exhibited in galleries and underground spaces nationally, fabricates props for drag performers and musicians, and is a Restoration Artist at Children's Fairyland in Oakland, CA.

Reniel Del Rosario is a San Francisco-based artist who uses ceramics, quantity, and satire to examine themes of commodification and value. His projects range from interactive mimicries of consumer establishments to reimaginings of artifacts and imperfect copies of already-existing objects. Del Rosario holds a BA in Art Practice from UC Berkeley and has exhibited internationally at venues including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and Catharine Clark Gallery.

Matt Goldberg is an artist and educator living in San Francisco whose ceramic works often begin as drawings, giving form to characters and creatures embedded in specific landscapes. His works were recently exhibited in the 81st Scripps College Ceramics Annual. Goldberg manages education programming at SOMArts Cultural Center.

Alex Harris is an artist and writer based in Oakland. His book Birds of Lake Merritt was published by Heyday Books in 2021, and his work has appeared in Bay Nature, Mouth 2 Mouth, and elsewhere.

Kate Rhoades is an Oakland-based artist whose videos, paintings, performances, and publications employ absurdist humor to tackle subjects like death, power, and alienation. She has presented work at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Santa Fe International New Media Festival, and venues including Trestle Gallery in Brooklyn and the Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art. Rhoades is a 2018 Fleishhacker Foundation Eureka Fellow and has co-hosted the Bay Area arts and culture podcast Congratulations Pine Tree since 2014.