Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2013 Hide-and-Seek, JayJay Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2012 Lattice, University Art Gallery, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA
2010 different parts of remembering, JayJay Gallery, Sacramento, CA
2009 Benign: Growth and Neglect, Weigand Gallery, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, CA
2008 Neverland, Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, CA
2007 untold wrinkles, Jay-Jay, Sacramento, CA
2006 Oxygen’s Shadow, Cabrillo Gallery, Cabrillo College, Soquel, CA
2004 New Kingdom, The Oakland Museum of California at City Center, Oakland, CA
2001 seeing is believing, Pond, San Francisco, CA
1998 Behind One’s Eyes, 1078 Gallery, Chico, CA
1996 Lullaby, Four Walls, San Francisco, CA
1996 Between Red and Green, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
1995 as above, so below, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1994 Taste and See, Ohlone College, Fremont, CA
Selected Installations:
2007 into and out, Aqua-Wynwood, Miami Art Fair, Miami, FL
2007 Wallworks III, Traywick Contemporary, Berkeley, CA
2005 Eureka Fellowship Exhibition, University of California, Berkeley Art Museum
2004 above and beneath, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
2001 February’s Song, Sculpture Space, Utica, NY
2000 Openings, 9-1-1 Media Arts Center, Seattle, WA
1999 What is Art for?, The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
1998 Fertile Waste, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
1997 Openings, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1996 Host, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1995 Navigate: breakfast and desire, AS IS at California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
1994 Stones: The weight of ripening., Contract Design Center, San Francisco, CA
1993 Black/White? No neophyte, Opts Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1992 at the end of desire, Seeing Time Series, Kala Institute, Berkeley, CA
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2012 Flatlanders on the Slant, Nelson Gallery, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
2011 Beyond Tradition: Art Legacies – 75th Anniversary, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
2010 Blurring the Line, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA
2007 Work-A-Day, Blank Space Gallery, Oakland, CA
2007 Watershed, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2006 Chapter Two: A show of objects, New York Design Center, New York, NY
2006 Berkeley-Saki Exchange Exhibition, Saki, Japan
2005 M Theory, Hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2005 Ornament: The Art of Desire, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art
2003 Needle Art: A postmodern sewing circle, A traveling exhibition that will visit 15 museums
and art centers across the United States
2002 Being There: 45 Oakland Artists, The Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
2000 Knowing you, Knowing Me, The Lab, San Francisco, CA, catalog
1999 Needle Art, Dean Lesher Center for the Arts, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1998 20th Anniversary Exhibition, S.F.M.O.M.A. Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 Stirred Not Shaken, Refusalon, San Francisco, CA, catalog
1996 Natural Phenomena, Dean Lesher Center for the Arts, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
1994 Cross Currents, Holy Names College, Oakland, CA
1993 Pro Arts Annual, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA, catalog
1992 The Object is Bound, Stephen Wirtz Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991 North by Northeast, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA
1990 Introductions, Gallery Paule Anglim, San Francisco, CA
Commissions:
2010 Flora and Fauna, City of Emeryville Bus Shelters, Emeryville, CA
2008 Reveries: Water and Sky, University of California, Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, CA
2007 I am you, he is she, Oakland International Airport, Oakland, CA
2005 Pollinate, Bath Clubs, Miami Beach, FL
Selected Reviews:
Baker, Kenneth. “Is Small Beautiful”, San Francisco Chronicle, April 5, 1997
_____. “Two New Outlooks on Conceptual Art”, San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 1996
_____. “Exhibitions: Pacific Dreams”, San Francisco Chronicle, March 18, 1995
Barlet, Jean. “The connections between private and public art create current exhibit at Skyline Art Gallery”, Pacifica Tribune Arts Correspondent, Mercury News.com, Feb, 3, 2011
Bonetti, David. “There is a ‘there’ at Oakland show” San Francisco Chronicle, March 27, 2002
_____. “Fresh names, stale perspective” San Francisco Examiner, July 20, 1990
Buck, David. Ornamentation: The Art of Desire, Artweek, March 2006, Volume 37 Issue 2
Cheng, DeWitt. “Model Magic”, East Bay Express, Sept. 10, 2008, Vol 30 Issue 49
_____. “Uncategorical Imperatives at Kala Gallery”, East Bay Express, November 24, 2010
Cohn, Terri. “Needle Art”, New Art Examiner, September, 1999
Dalkey, Victoria. ”JayJay exhibit draws wide field of talent” April 5, 2013
_____. “Engaging mystery and metaphor”, Sacramento Bee, Friday, December 3, 2010
_____. “A Profession of Art”, Sacramento Bee, April 25, 2008
_____. “Fall Preview: On & Off the Wall”, Sacramento Bee, September 23, 2007
Dunn, Edward. “Ortbal, wrinkles and all”, Sacramento News and Review, Nov 8, 2007, Volume 19
Elliot Sherman, Ann. “Color Scales”, Metro, May 2, 1996
Fahey, Anna. “Spotlight: Robert Ortbal” Seattle Weekly, August 10, 2000
Hall, Emily. “Drive-By Art” The Stranger Seattle, August 31, 2000, Vol. 9, No. 50
Helfand, Glen. “Stirred Not Shaken”, San Francisco Bay Guardian, March 19, 1997
Goldsmith, Meredith. “New Kingdom” Artweek, Oct, 2004 #35 Issue 8
Maclay, Cathrine. “The Light Fantastic”, San Jose Mercury News, April 12,1993
Meeker, Cheryl. “High Concept Hand Work”, www.stretcher.org, November 2001
Morrison, Barbara. “Knowing You, Knowing Me”, Artweek, May/June, #30, 2000
Roth, David M., Artist Profile, Art Ltd, Nov/Dec, 2008
_____.”Robert Ortbal @JayJay” SquareCylinder.com, December 15, 2010
Sylva, Bob. “Vision, unclouded”. Sacramento Bee, December 2, 2007
Vaughn, Michael J. “Deck the Walls”, The Wave Magazine, December, 2005
Selected Catalogs: Chronologically Arranged
Lattice, University Art Gallery, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA, Text by David M. Roth and Robert Ortbal
Benign: Growth and Neglect, Weigand Gallery, Notre Dame de Namur University, Belmont, CA
Text by Paul Bridenbaug, DeWitt Cheng, Maw Shein Win
untold wrinkles, Jay-Jay, Sacramento, CA, 2007, Text by Diana L. Daniels
Eureka, The Eureka Fellowship Awards 2002-20004, University of California Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Text by Constance M. Lewallen
Being There: 45 Oakland Artists, The Oakland Museum of California, 2002 Text by Philip Linhares
Knowing You, Knowing Me, The Lab, San Francisco, CA 2000 Text by Dean Smith,
Behind One’s Eyes, Gallery 1078, Chico, CA 1998 Text by Lisa Martel and Mary Stump
Between Red and Green, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, 1996 Text by Sheila D. Pickett
as above, so below, Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA 1995 Text by Jeff Nathanson, Sandra Rodgers and Timothy T. Taylor
Fellowships – Artists Residency’s – Awards:
2009 Jordan Schnitzer Printmaking Residency, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Otis, OR
2004 Eureka Fellowship – Fleishhacker Foundation, San Francisco, CA
2001 Sculpture Space, Utica, NY
1992 Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Edgecomb, ME
1990 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME