Atrium Projects / Sarah Cain: To—you know—you

In the Barbara Bakar Atrium at BAMPFA, painter Sarah Cain (b. 1979, Albany, New York; lives and works in Los Angeles) presents the site-specific installation To—you know—you. Returning to Berkeley, where she received her MFA in 2006, the artist continues her intuitive approach to painting, improvising the installation on-site at the museum. Cain’s distinct visual vernacular draws from a panoply of styles and gestures from art history, popular culture, and everywhere in between, which fearlessly intersect in unexpected ways. Defying painterly and patriarchal conventions, Cain infuses the long and often rigid history of painting with a playful irreverence and freedom.

To—you know—you stretches across the atrium’s wall and floor, enveloping the space in vibrant swaths of color. The installation also includes painted canvases, furniture for viewers to sit upon, and a triangular stained glass window inserted into BAMPFA’s existing architecture. Cain took her title from the dedication in poet Diane Seuss’s book frank: sonnets (2021), which indicates a direct and intimate connection with her readers. Cain’s installation likewise offers a site of respite and reflection for museum visitors who might connect through a shared understanding and experience of her work.