Willam Rhodes: FEAR NOT
William Rhodes: Fear Not
September 17 – October 31, 2026
Gallery Hours: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 12-5 pm
Artist’s Reception: Saturday, September 26th from 1-4 pm
Artist’s Talk and Gospel Choir Performance: Saturday, Oct 3rd starting at 2 pm
(William Rhodes’ talk with gospel choir performance by the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center Choir, music conductor and leader Kenneth Little)
This is part of a series of NEXUS SFBay events including the Caleb Dowdell performance with his piece, Our Prism of Dreams, starting at 1:30 pm just downstairs at Gearbox Gallery. See one or both at that galleries at 770 West Grand Ave in Oakland
Transmission Gallery is pleased to present Fear Not, recent work by William Rhodes.
William Rhodes’s sculptures on view incorporate objects that have been used, inherited, discarded, or found with elements he has carved himself. Trained early on as a furniture maker, he combines hand carved figures, flames and snakes with objects collected from a family home, photographs, hardware, tools, and other remnants of everyday life. Neon words signal from some pieces.
The resulting works resemble shrines or memorials, but they remain grounded in the ordinary. Religious symbols appear alongside household objects. A photograph might be surrounded by carved waves, tools, hardware, animals, or religious symbols. A suitcase can become an architectural space. A toilet becomes the base of an unexpected monument. Things with little apparent value are carefully incorporated into elaborate constructions, their histories becoming part of the work.
Rhodes is equally interested in people; family, mentors, and leaders, as well as those who have been overlooked or treated as disposable, recognizing and elevating their presence in his work. By giving attention to these lives, enshrining and revering them, he considers how value is assigned and who gets remembered.
The title Fear Not appears in the work as both a phrase and a kind of instruction. It can be read in relation to the religious imagery that runs throughout the sculptures, but it also takes on a more personal meaning. To look closely at lives and objects that are easily dismissed is, in its own way, an act of resistance to that dismissal.
All are welcome to join us for the Artist’s Reception, September 26th. Stop by any time 1-4 pm to greet the artist and enjoy the light refreshments.
Please also join us for the Artist’s Talk with accompanying gospel choir performance by the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center Choir, led by music conductor Kenneth Little, starting at 2 pm, Saturday, October 3rd. Arrive early to see a 15 minute musical performance by Caleb Dowdell starting at 1:30 pm at Gearbox Gallery just downstairs from Transmission Gallery. William’s talk to start afterward at 2 pm with the Dr. George W. Davis Senior Center Choir. closing out the event with their performance.
