1939 -
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Name |
Jerry Ross Barrish |
Birth |
23 Jul 1939 |
San Francisco, California [1] |
Gender |
Male |
Biography |
San Francisco, California [2] |
Jerry, a fourth generation San Francisco native, attended Dudley Stone, Lawton, and Presidio Jr. High, before coming to Lincoln [High School]. His years at Lincoln were filled with basketball, close friendships, and memories of a '48 Ford Convertible with continental pack, and an infamously small Isetta - the three wheeled car that opened from the front. Jerry enjoyed performing in the production of "Stalag-17" at Lincoln while a senior.
After graduation Jerry enlisted in the U.S. Army, doing basic training at Fort Ord before serving 18 months in Worms, Germany. He returned to San Francisco in 1961 and started his bail bond business in 1961 at the age of 22. His timing could not have been better as he became acquainted with the likes of George Moscone and Willie Brown, just starting their legal careers. What followed was an exciting period when Jerry was the bail bondsman for the civil rights, anti-war and free speech movements of the sixties.
Taking advantage of the GI Bill, Jerry attended San Francisco Art Institute from 1971 to 1976, receiving both a BFA and an MFA degree while studying sculpture and film. Bitten by the filmmaking bug, during the next 15 years, he wrote, directed, and produced three feature-length narrative films. These films played at international festivals and film museum venues all over the world, including Berlin, Florence, Amsterdam, Montreal, Minneapolis, Denver, Houston and New Directors/New Films at Lincoln Center, and Museum of Modern Art in New York.
He has appeared in front of the camera as well in films by George Kuchar, Jon Jost, and Wim Wenders.
In 1986, Jerry accepted a residency with DAAD (German Guest Artist Exchange Program) in West Berlin, where he first began creating found object collage. This return to sculpture eventually led to full time pursuit of creating assemblage and constructions, mostly made of plastic refuse.
His work has been exhibited all over the United States and is in permanent collections of local institutions including The Oakland Museum of California, Berkeley Art Museum, di Rost Collections in Napa, San Jose Art Museum, Triton Art Museum, and University of California at Santa Cruz. His work was discussed in Professor Nicholas Roukes; recent book "Artful Jesters" published by Ten Speed Press. He has been a guest lecturer at San Francisco State University, San Francisco Art Institute, and South Dakota State University.
In 2002, Jerry was appointed to the Cultural Arts Commission of the City of Pacifica and was elected to the first of his two consecutive terms as President of the Art Guild of Pacifica in 2003. He has served as volunteer Artistic Director of Sanchez Galleries at Pacifica Center for the Arts since 2004, where he coordinates 3 art exhibitions every 6-8 weeks, enlisting guest curators and jurors from throughout the bay area. He is a supporting member of the San Francisco Film Arts Foundation, Pacific Rim Sculptors Group, and is a professional level member of International Sculpture Center.
Although his last film was completed in 1989, Jerry has not given up filmmaking and is presently working on a new script. A resident of Pacifica, Jerry's sculpture studio is in San Francisco not far from the intersection of Third and the street formerly-known-as-Army. He still works two nights a week at his office - the one with the often-photographed neon sign - Barrish Bail Bonds on Bryant Street, across from the Hall of Justice. |
Person ID |
I513973504 |
Walsh - Wilson Family Tree | Craig |
Last Modified |
17 Aug 2015 |
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Documents |
| Irving Morris Obituary - San Francisco Chronicle - 7 Jul 1946 - Page 11, Column 7 "In this city July 5 1946 Irving, beloved husband of Rose Morris, devoted father of Monroe and Irving Morris and Mrs. Jeanne Barrish, loving brother of Mrs. Rose Blankenstein and Mrs. Nettie Ettling, idolized grandfather of Jerry and Ronald Barrish. A member of S. F. Aerie No. 5 F.O.E. [Fraternal Order of Eagles] and Vice Pres. Retail Shoe Clerks' Union No. 410 A.F. of L. [...] Internment Portals of Eternity." |
Histories |
| "The Morris Family" - by Eleanor Silber (Walker) An undated article with Eleanor Silber's memories of the Morris Family. From Diane Milber. (At least one living or private individual is linked to this item - Details withheld.) |
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Sources |
- [S4943] California State Birth Index - CABI, (http://www.sfgenealogy.net/php/cabiindex.php) (Reliability: 3).
- [S4950] Lincoln High School Wall of Fame, (http://www.lincolnalumni.com/walloffame.html).
- [S4953] Eleanor Silber, The Morris Family - Eleanor Silber (Reliability: 2).
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