Pro Arts welcomes audiences on First Friday, October 6, 2023, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm at our new space at Omni Commons in Oakland, California for the opening of a site-specific installation and 3-weeks long residency project Värmeelementens Förbund Goes West (the radiator association goes west) by French/Swedish artist, Barthélémy Garcia.

Värmeelementens Förbund Goes West (the radiator association goes west) installation consists of a commissioned work in photography — Bad Omen — which will be suspended from the ceiling in Pro Arts’ office space, as a reminder of one of the most used and banal architectural tools in corporate and office interiors.

Audience is invited to join the Radiator’s Association again on October 8, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm for an engaging, two-hour long workshop and city walk, mapping our material culture. A zine publication is planned as part of this workshop and engagement with the audience.

Garcia is a French born artist based in Sweden, working with photography combined with installation and vinyl text. In his practice, he starts from the idea of the material as something inherently meaningful. He believes that things possess an independent existence that extends beyond what we humans ascribe to them. He holds a bachelor degree and master degree in photography from Valand Academy (Sweden) and previously studied art history and archaeology in Aix-en-Provence (France). His work has been exhibited at Röda Sten Konsthall in Gothenburg, Galleri Format in Malmö, at FG2 in Gothenburg and most recently at Duo Contradiction in Stockholm. In 2020 he was awarded the Swedish Arts Grants Committees assistant grant, together with Klara Källström and Thobias Fäldt, and in 2022 he was awarded the IASPIS residency in Stockholm, Sweden.

Barthelemy Garcia’s residency with Pro Arts and his exhibition are made possible with generous funding from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.