"Noisy Blushes" by Pae White at San Jose Museum of Art

Pae White | San Francisco Chronicle Datebook | by Tony Bravo

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The San José Museum of Art is set to debut a new mobile installation by California artist Pae White in honor of its 50th anniversary.

This site-specific work, titled “Noisy Blushes,” was installed in the museum’s 30-foot atrium and can be seen through the building’s glass facade until SJMA reopens to the public.

The massive floating sphere is comprised of more than 12,000 silkscreened, electroplated stainless-steel hexagonal disks, all suspended from over 500 hundred cables. The mobile scatters millions of reflections throughout the space in shades of hot pink, coral, crimson, turquoise, fuchsia, sea green and periwinkle in what White calls a “blush” effect.

Hues of gold, silver, and rose dominate the piece as an acknowledgement of the entwined histories of quicksilver mining in the town of New Almaden in south San José, as well as the California Gold Rush of the High Sierras.  The piece is White’s second largest mobile to date.