|
Chagall is in town. Don't let the question of why certain artists attract mob scenes keep you from seeing this parade of flying lovers and multicolored farm animals. I left a bit lighter on my feet
Act now to keep this a "no regrets" summer: If you're in San Francisco, and you haven't seen the current show at the Adobe Room, go. If you're in LA, and you haven't seen Christian Marclay's show at the Armand Hammer, go. There's just a few more days in the run of each exhibition. Standouts in the Adobe Room's group show of emerging artists are mechano-abstract paintings by Melina Finkelstein, reminiscent of Picabia in a fresh, quirky way, and collages by Nathan Burazer, including a series that smacks of landscape � if that landscape consisted of mountains perched on wires like pigeons. At the other end of the state and the other end of a career, Christian Marclay combines loads of charm with intellectual sophistication in his assemblages and video collages, most of which deal with our culture's visual customs for presenting music.
Over three months ago, conceptual artist Lee Walton began a round of golf at San Francisco's Lincoln Park. He is now on the 16th green. Why so long, you ask? One shot a day. Join the ranks who tune in daily to see how the day's swing went, as we root for the greens keeper not to move the hole location from the day before.
There's still time to catch the delightful MACROMATRIX For Your Pleasure exhibition at the UC Berkeley Art museum. The three installations, each focused on offering a moment of beauty and enjoyment, are sure to make you grin. Angela Bulloch's Disco Floor_Bootleg: 16, a 4 x 4 grid of colorful, illuminated boxes which pulse to the looping beat of Chic's "Good Times", wryly evokes minimalist sculpture while referencing the disco era's hedonistic exuberance. CHIHO AOSHIMA's digital wall mural A Contented Skull, straddles the line between cute, seductive and spooky with a "superflat" Japanese Manga aesthetic. Finally, not to be missed, Cai Guo-Qiang's Fireworks from Heaven, a kinetic light installation that fills the room with dazzling choreographed light and is viewed while relaxing in hi-tech, remote controlled japanese massage chairs. Enjoy.
I was afraid if I wrote in advance about the series of videos screened last night at New Langton Arts that I wouldn't get a seat. As it was the pieces had an interesting range and I could barely breathe the room was so packed. "Drive by Shooting", curated by Elliot Anderson included pieces by Claire Bain, Lisa Banks, Kota Ezawa, Karla Milosovich, Anne McGuire, Katy Schmidt, Wayne Smith, and Zan Truman.
It's time for the San Francisco Art Dealers Association "Introductions" again, and Catharine Clark Gallery has mounted one of the strongest Intro shows in years. In addition to the dilute ink paintings of Josephine Taylor, praised by Dale Hoyt in the following post, the video works of Bull/Miletic and leonardogillesfleur are noteworthy. Go this week so you can see Bull/Miletic's SF Time Capsule projected (each video artist in the show gets one week on the big screen.) The visual rhythms of this lovely piece are syncopated with tart commentary, as when the camera rises buoyantly into the air only to snag, as if hypnotized, on a circling surveillance camera. Down the hall, Patricia Sweetow has collected a group of artists who make delicately obsessive work, including strapping tape abstractions by Mareth Hoferer and colored pencil paintings by Sid Garrison. Maria Park's fizzy, bright acrylic-on-acrylite works, at Toomey-Tourell, are also worth a look. All three galleries are at 49 Geary Street in San Francisco.
It would be hard to think of a series of images that broke my heart so easily as the paintings of Josephine Taylor. The implicit narrative although resistant to complete exposition tells enough for anyone to see their own story of broken childhood and separation in the the dim soft focus pencil strokes. Exquisite work. www.cclarkgallery.com
"Alternative spaces like this will never happen again in San Francisco so it's nice to see it here," said painter Roy Tomlinson, looking around the funky gallery 21 Grand in Oakland. A relaxed crowd turned out for the opening of "New Place-Oriented Work" tonight, featuring art by Sarah Cain, Michael Damm, Leonie Guyer, Kyle Knobel and Katherine Van Dyke. Nobody's work was working too hard... Guyer's wall paintings are about the size of a playing card; Van Dyke, who was also painting on the wall, covered more ground but kept it white on white. Cain's intervention, a white mound with a corona of smoke marks climbing up the wall, was almost flamboyant in comparison. Damm's video Elsewhere scrolled along urban storefronts, revealing patterns everywhere. Viewing Knobel's video required climbing into a stuffy curtained black box, not the most appealing prospect on a warm summer night, but it was beautiful. 21 Grand is next to the Smythe Accordion Store at 449B 23rd Street. Hours are limited: Thursdays 4-8pm and Friday through Sunday 1-6pm.
Marcel Sitcoske is shuttering her San Francisco gallery at 20 Hawthorne Lane (the Crownpoint Press building) and heading south to LA.
Do you feel exhausted from working long hours at your day job, only to go home to attempt to make art at night? Anyone who has known me for 5 minutes will know that I am constantly looking for (legal) ways around this problem. In the third week of their "Summer Line 2003 events" Sliv and Dulet at New Langton Arts showcase two artists who hit the sweet spot on this issue. Kenneth Hung is doing an IPO of a company that sells silkworm carcasses for sexual longevity (you can become a stockholder, and from their information it looks as though you can gain mightily on your investment). And perhaps more to the point, Joseph Reihsen's infomercial sells a program that is exemplified by an artist interviewee who says that he made 5000 works of art in 2 months. Or was it 2 weeks? Whatever - I was impressed. As the sound gets more out of sync the videotape gets better and better.
Triumph of the Swill part 2:
Two interesting painting shows to check out:
Congratulations to Berin Golonu on her appointment as Assistant Visual Arts Curator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Multitalented sometime stretcher contributor Golonu recently completed an MA in Visual Criticism at California College of Arts and Crafts (soon to be CCA) and has served as editor in chief of Artweek. And kudos to outgoing Associate Visual Arts Curator (and sometime stretcher contributor) Arnold Kemp who leaves the Center for the greener pastures of the MFA program at Stanford University.
Last night's panel at the San Francisco Art Institute gave me reason to cheer. The panel, co-organized by artist Ray Beldner and curator/writer Marcia Tanner, included some of the superstars in the war over the public domain. Among the eclectic grouping of artists and lawyers who spoke was Stanford law professor Lawrence Lessig who's written a couple of books and argued before the Supreme court on the topic. And in the audience, Electronic Frontier Foundation director Fred Von Lohmann, whose organization consistently fights the good fight supported only by donations from members (have you donated lately?). It was truly inspiring to talk with and listen to corageous, dedicated, idealistic and impassioned attorneys like these. This panel was organized in conjunction with the Bay Area debut of Illegal Art currently on view at the San Francisco Museum's Rental Gallery at Fort Mason.
Join the growing list of music makers and producers who are signing this petition in protest of the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA).
|