CALISTOGA — Politics is Personal, the third exhibition at Stonescape, offers an expansive definition of politics; one that embraces issues of gender, alienation, cultural mores, sexuality, freedom of thought, violence, war and, inevitably, political power.

All of the works in the exhibition are from the collection of Norman and Norah Stone. As such, they naturally reflect matters of personal interest and concern to the collectors. In an interview Norman once said, “Our art addresses upsetting issues and I don’t feel good about them, but they exist and should not be shirked.”

That notwithstanding the Stones’ aim has never been to collect “political art.” When Norah and Norman Stone respond to a work’s political content they consider it along with other values, such as originality of expression, the treatment of formal issues, and the art’s overall symbolic importance.

Indeed, it is these art-related values that make so many of the works in the Stones’ collection outstanding and noteworthy. Nevertheless, the artworks drawn from their collection for this thematic exhibition place political issues, writ broadly, front and center.

Politics is Personal is not meant to pronounce a particular way of thinking or to proselytize, indeed that is foreign to the Stones’ disposition. It is meant however, in this time of intense political turmoil, to offer up ideas and political perspectives for the viewer’s consideration: to allow the viewer to reflect and wonder; to agree and disagree; to be affected, or not.

Also in the way of brief introduction, the exhibition includes work by several artists already in the canon of Western Art, and several younger practitioners well on their way to taking a place there too. In no case is there a claim that such achievement rests on the artist’s political viewpoint, but that is not to deny the pertinence of the political issues raised.

Works by: Joseph Beuys, Monica Bonvicini, Christoph Büchel, Robert Beck, Larry Clark, Moyra Davey, Matias Faldbakken, Ryan Gander, Gilbert & George, Robert Gober, William E. Jones, Jeff Koons, Korpys / Löffler, Bruce Nauman, Cady Noland, Catherine Opie, Sigmar Polke, Richard Prince, Walid Raad, Taryn Simon, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Piotr Uklanski, Stephen Vitiello.

Curation by Thea Westreich Art Advisory Services