This fall, the Benton presents Tender Shield, a solo exhibition by San Francisco–based artist Davina Semo, featuring bronze and glass bells, and large-scale bronze wall reliefs. The exhibition debuts a new body of work in which Semo sculpts colorful glass into bells, installed in an outdoor sculpture gallery alongside the bronze bells for which she is best known. Inside, a series of monumental reliefs runs the length of the museum’s interior Art Hall. The works embody Semo’s affinity for contrast and harmony: heavy and delicate, introverted and extroverted, light and dark, luminosity and mystery. Tender Shield invites viewers into an immersive landscape of sight and sound, encouraging both literal and contemplative reflection.
A bell is a tangible object with an invisible effect—profoundly psychological and intimate, yet very much part of public life and humanity’s shared history. In her practice, Semo explores the depth of these complicated objects, the arresting nature of their forms, the power of the bell’s voice, and its reverberation as a literal expression of outward-moving energy. For the museum’s John and Debbie Starr Family Sculpture Patio, Semo has worked with the Benton’s senior preparator, Gary Murphy, to create a custom wooden structure for hanging 12 bells of cast bronze and blown glass. The bells offer a wide variety of forms, materials, and surface treatments as well as a range of audible tones, operating both individually and relationally.
In the Benton’s Art Hall, Semo exhibits a series of polished and patinated cast bronze wall reliefs scaled to incorporate the full reflection of the body. The patterns in these reliefs are made with a variety of mallets, creating an active and spontaneous composition that incorporates the viewer’s body as an altered reflection on the textured surfaces. The wall reliefs encourage viewers to consider their own psychological space and thoughts as they see themselves in the sculptures.
Organized by Victoria Sancho Lobis, Sarah Rempel and Herbert S. Rempel ’23 Director of the Benton and associate professor of art history, and curatorial intern Tristen Alizée Leone ’26
Support for this installation is provided by the Pasadena Art Alliance.
