Rebecca Ora

California College of the Arts            Master of Fine Arts 2010            Studio Art: Social Practice

Brandeis University                         Bachelor of Arts 2003                        Fine Arts, Theater, Film Studies

Summa Cum Laude

Phi Beta Kappa

Kala Art Institute                        Berkeley, CA                                    Artist in Residence (2011)

Valand School of Art                        Gothenburg, Sweden                        Study Abroad (2009)

Global Arts Village                        New Delhi, India                        Artist in Residence (2007)

University of New Mexico            Albuquerque, NM                        MFA Sculpture credits(2006-7)

Arad Arts Project                        Arad, Israel                                     Artist in Residence (2004-5)

Vermont Studio Center            Johnson, Vermont                        Artist in Residence (2003)

2011 Haas Koshland Memorial Award

2010 Toby Devan Lewis Award

2007 Lauren C. and Barbara Harper Endowed Scholarship

2007 Emerging Artist Full Fellowship, Global Arts Village, India

2007 Workshop Scholarship, Santa Fe Art Institute

For workshop with artist Hans Haacke

2007 Research Project Travel Grant, University of New Mexico

2004-5 Marks and Brown Fellowship

2004-5 Masa Travel Grant

2003 Vermont Studio Center Fellowship

2003 Mitchell Siporin Award in Fine Arts

2003 Festival of the Arts Grant, Brandeis University

2002-3 Werner Education Internship, Rose Art Museum

2002 Remis Grant

1999 Justice Louis D. Brandeis Scholarship

Creator of the Rebecca Ora Award for Risk-Taking in the Arts in memory of Beatrice Levavi

Exhibitions

2011 Lost in Space, Steven Wolf Fine Arts San Francisco, CA

2010 CCA MFA Exhibition San Francisco, CA

2010 Skillat Hans: A Collaborative Performance, Playspace San Francisco, CA

2009 Obstinate Flesh, PlaySpace Gallery    San Francisco, CA

2009 Harrell Fletcher: Selections From The Life of Michael Bravo

Wattis Institute of Contemporary Art   San Francisco, CA

2009 NightLight: Works By The Magic Lantern, CCA San Francisco, CA

2009 Super Pop-Up Shop    Alameda, California

2009 Bergsjon Public Exhibition, Galleri BOB Bergsjön, Sweden

2009 KonstMarathon, Galleri BOB Bergsjön, Sweden

2009 Mutual Entertainment, Bezdomny Artspace Göteborg, Sweden

2007 The Marriage of Tradition/Technology NewDelhi, India

2007 Batting .500:  A Salon des Refuses, 500 2^nd St. Gallery Albuquerque, New Mexico

2006 At First Sight, Jonson Gallery      Albuquerque, New Mexico

2006 Annual Photography Juried Show, Drescher Gallery Santa Monica, CA

2006 Vital Voices: Women’s Visions

Women’s Studies Research Center/

National Women’s Caucus for Art Waltham, MA

2005 Beit Ha’omanim Artists House TelAviv, Israel

2005 Eshet Lot Artist Quarter Arad, Israel

2005 Hadassa Meeting House Jerusalem, Israel

2003 Undergraduate Thesis Exhibition, Dreitzer Gallery Waltham, MA

2003 Bodies of Work: Rebecca Ora and Michael Kravit Waltham, MA

2011 Daily Serving Exhibition reviews

2010 AfterWords: Essays on Social Practice

2009 Bergsjon Public

2009 Super Pop-Up Shop

2009 DraftsRag Volumes 2, 3, 4

2009 I Am A Park And You Are A Deer

 Artist Statement: "Watching Lillian"

"Watching Lillian" addresses spectatorship head-on, positioning the audience in a space of discomfort and judgment while asking questions about humor, gender, performance, empathy and difference.  Lillian, a Chinese-American lesbian schizophrenic punk, frequents a high-end boutique on San Francisco's Haight daily.  For years, the employees have been recording and photographing her as the only means of accessing her extreme difference.  

Lillian, in her aggressive outsider stance and extreme defiance of social norms, rejects stereotypes of women--especially the image of the docile Asian woman--though the camera struggles to "put her in her place" through the classical gaze.  She is asked to perform for the camera ("Lillian With Fangs," "Lillian Wearing a Mask of Her Own Face," et. al), but the results are atypical and awkward; she never quite fits within the frame. 

"Watching Lillian," a 24-minute experimental documentary video, attempts to negotiate the impetus behind this use of the camera as a mediator, and explores the relationships between Lillian and her "friends" through non-traditional performative interviews.  Monika, a woman of similar age to Lillian, reads Tarot cards to reveal her (and the artist's) motivations; Jim, a gay man, performs Lillian's visits with an emphasis on her familial and sexual status. Blending fact and fiction, humor and discomfort, "Watching Lillian" poses many complex questions and gives no simple solutions.