The Mayacamas series by Bernice Bing were made during her three-year stay at the Mayacamas.

​The area is known for its expansive vineyards, which is why this painting is so fruity, oaky, smoky, crisp and full-bodied. It has legs and tannins and don’t even start with the aroma. Was that right? My boxed wine seems to agree with me.

This work was part of the exhibition called, “Asian/American/Modern Art: Shifting Currents, 1900–1970” in 2008 which was "... the first comprehensive survey of Asian American modernism. This exhibition of works by artists of Asian ancestry who lived and worked in the United States [sought] to showcase some of the most important individuals contributing to the canon of Asian American art and advance awareness of this under-represented group in American art history.” Among the other artists represented in this show are powerhouse names like Yoko Ono, Isamu Noguchi and Nam June Paik. Whatta lineup. If only there were a fantasy league.

Unfortunately for us, Bernice Bing lived in relative obscurity throughout her career and much of her work has slipped through the art historical cracks which, especially for a lesbian non-white woman in the 1960s, seemed to be more like a Mariana Trench than a crack. But she also took time from her own art to work with community arts programs in an effort to end Asian gang activity in San Francisco after a particularly intense shooting called the Golden Dragon Massacre. Basically she is simultaneously a champion of the downtrodden, sommelier, and Abstract Expressionist.