Ron English at Elms Lesters

Ron is always traveling somewhere else. It's hard to keep up sometimes. Next Friday is his opening at Elms Lesters, one of my favorite galleries in London. If you're over there, fortunate you.

Details....

RON ENGLISH - LAZARUS RISING
The American father of the agit-prop movement returns to London for his first UK solo show.

The LAZARUS RISING theme of ‘resurrection’ that permeates the show is deliberately provocative and reflects this time of incredible political and economic flux in the world.

May 8th till June 6th

Tuesday - Saturday 12 - 6pm
Thursdays 'til 8.00 pm

Queen's Nails Annex

Exhibition: Secret of the Ninth Planet
Gallery: Queens Nails Annex
Exhibition Dates:April 24-May 24, 2009
Address: 3191 Mission Street, San Francisco


"The Secret of the Ninth Planet is the 2009 final thesis exhibition presented by students in the Graduate Program in Curatorial Practice at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

The show takes its title from a 1959 Donald A. Wollheim novel of the same name. In the book, evil colonialist curators display in vitrines captured members of various intergalactic cultures. Operating counter to this model of the curator as authoritarian cultural anthropologist, CCA's nine graduate student curators focus instead on works that deal in one way or another with ideas of time, space, and travel. The featured artworks are in a variety of media, from video and sound installations to (in the artist Suzanne Treister's words) "delusional, time-traveling watercolors." The galleries are illuminated not by overhead lighting, but by light emitted from the works themselves.

The metaphor of liberation extends as well to the show's organizational premise. As opposed to the traditional concept of an exhibition as a zone of stable definition and order, The Secret of the Ninth Planet is united, somewhat paradoxically, by a disavowal of order. The dual-venue installation is also a deliberate attempt to offer expanded possibilities for interpretation of the works' layered content. "



Artists in the exhibition: Raymond Boisjoly, Chu Yun, Jasmina Cibic, Maryam Jafri, Yael Kanarek, Kitty Kraus, Gabriel Lester, Euan Macdonald, Gianni Motti, Kamau Patton, Dario Robleto, Sham Saenz, Tokihiro Sato, Suzanne Treister, Matt Volla, and Hillary Wiedemann.

Erik Otto's in New York

If you're in New York this weekend check out Erik Otto's opening at Charming Wall, May 2, 2009 from 6-8pm.


Address: 191 West 4th St. (btwn 6th and 7th Ave)

Carlos Marulanda at Million Fishes

Artist: Carlos Marulanda and other artists
Exhibition Title: Swarm Intelligence
Gallery: Million Fishes
Gallery Hours: Saturday 1-4pm
Address:501 Bryant Street, SF

John Casey at Swarm Gallery

John Casey took his afternoon Monday afternoon to let me into Swarm, during non-gallery hours to see his current show, "Distant Cousins." I've been following John's work consistently for about two years and was excited to see the larger scale work he created for this exhibit. The tall walls in Swarm gave him a chance to work on a greater scale, giving a the viewer a more overwhelming experience.









Everything John draws, paints and sculpts, he says, is a self portrait. I'm not sure many artists would be so forthcoming with such insight. Given that understanding of his work, I enjoyed looking through each piece in the exhibit, watch the characters as they morph into a variety of forms.









John's been part of several group shows in the past year at galleries such as Black Maria Gallery, Neurotitan Gallery, Lobot Gallery and Musee d'Art Contemporain. While I could see his aesthetic be used in illustrative ways, he tends to keep it in the gallery not on the page.

From "Against Interpretation"

"Interpretation must itself be evaluated, within a historical view of human consciousness. In some cultural contexts, interpretation is a liberating act. It is a means of revising, of transvaluing of escaping the dead pat. In other contexts, it is reactionary, impertinent, cowardly, stifling. " p.7

"interpretation is the revenge of the intellect upon art." p.7

"Interpretation makes art manageable, conformable." p.8

"The function of criticism should be to show how it is what it is, even that it is what it is, rather than to show what it means." p.14

Susan Sontag
"Against Interpretation and Other Essays"

Kelly Lynn & Eli at Park Life

Artists: Kelly Lynn Jones
Gallery: Park Life
Opening Reception: Friday, April 17, 2009 from 7-10pm
Exhibition Dates:Through the end of April
Address:220 Clement St



Eli Geiser makes a connection with color, sound and rhythm. She has taken a literal step and assigned a color for each letter of the alphabet. The rules of her language have changed over the years but the general ground rules have been retained. Using this system Geiser paints geometric compositions. These works have been used to represent certain phrases as well as representing something as abstract as the rhythm of someone’s speech.

Kelly Lynn Jones is a Los Angeles native but is currently studying in the Bay Area. Being raised in the large basin that is LA, Jones perspective of the world is based on living in an urban environment but surrounded by the presence of nature from afar. Taking these visual cues, Jones began collecting, classifying, then creating artifacts that now represent this very personal sense of space.

DRAW Show

Curse Mackey finishing up the ever long price list of killer artzy wurkz.

Opening Reception Tonight 7-11pm
The Shooting Gallery

Marci Washington Opening Reception Tonight

Artist: Marci Washington
Gallery: Rena Bransten
Opening Reception:Thursday, April 9, 2009 from 5:30 - 7:30pm
Exhibition Dates:April 9 - May 16, 2009
Address:77 Geary Street


"I am interested in depicting a decadent society in the midst of crisis. I would like to tell a story set in a time that is both past and present - a carefully constructed collapse of historical time capable of revealing what is common between our society now and societies in the past, as well as what is unique to our particular historical moment. In this work I am focusing on the commonalities between our time and Edwardian England, the decadent height of British imperialism, a time of empire for the sake of empire, on the eve of World War I and the beginning of the empire's decline.

Through the metaphors of the haunted house, the ancestral curse, and cannibalism/vampirism, I am exploring America's relationship to it's own past as well as that of imperial England as a haunting, a curse, and an ideological infection. I am interested in the cyclical nature of history as opposed to ideas of linear progress, especially how this relates to past and current ideas of American exceptionalism and the way those ideas have doomed us to repeat a history that we have felt entitled to ignore.

Through the metaphor of the ghost, I am exploring the role of repression in the building of societies at large. I am interested in repressions role in personal and national identity through the prescription of rigid social roles and simplistic cultural narratives, and in literalizing the return of the repressed and specter of the other in the form of hauntings. I am especially interested in the presence of surplus repression as a form of alienating social sickness indicating a tipping point where civilizing forces become excessive, restrictive and ultimately unstable.

I am building this story as if I am illustrating a novel that doesn't exist. If it did, it would probably be a lot like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, or Bleak House - novels which use the popular conventions of fiction in order to seduce you into a story which ultimately functions as social commentary. I would like to highjack the ideological function of fiction - appropriating the character types and narrative conventions in order to construct an allegorical tale capable of challenging the simplistic cultural narrative of our own time in order to reaveal a much darker tale of moral decline, spiritual crisis, and rampant anxiety, all lurking beneath the siren song of material desire fueling the "progress" of a capitalist society in decline." marci

Caleb Neelon Said

Caleb's been hanging around the gallery this week, installing his show to open this Saturday and I had no idea of his talk on Shepard Fairey at the ICA last weekend. He referenced Walt Whitman and other notable writers that have shaped our society. You can read his speech here.


An excerpt.

"That was a tiny section from Walt Whitman's famous epic poem, Song of Myself, which was published in his masterwork, Leaves of Grass. In 1882, on its publication, Boston authorities banned the book for indecency. They singled out the section I just quoted, presumably because of its veiled references to kissing a dude. Boston authorities would go on to ban Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles in 1891. In the 20th Century, Boston authorities would go on to ban, or do their best to ban, works by H.L. Mencken, Aldous Huxley, Ernest Hemingway, and even Voltaire's Candide, nearly two hundred years after its publication. Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front was removed, successfully, as well."

Michel Gondry You're Amazing

Michel Gondry Grand Opening

Joey Piziali New Work

Joey Piziali finished up a show in Singapore earlier this year and is beginning fresh a new body of work. He's feeling like his past work was starting to get lost in the current sway of creativity. I'm looking forward to seeing what this new wave of thinking produces from him.





His gallery Ping Pong Gallery in Potrero Hill is having an artist lecture this Thursday night with Lindsay White at 7PM. It can be hard to get out there or think about getting out there without a car but my plan is to hop the bus.

Kehinde Wiley at Roberts & Tilton

Artist:Kehinde Wiley
Gallery: Roberts & Tilton
Exhibition Dates: April 4 – May 30, 2009
Address: 5801 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, California 90232
Getty Lecture Information

Matthew & Sandy: Familiar Dreams

Artist: Matthew & Sandy
Gallery: Soap Gallery
Exhibition Dates: April 4 -25, 2009
Address: 3180 Mission Street
Photos from Opening Reception

Porous Walker: Me vs Me

Artist: Porous Walker
Gallery: Receiver Gallery
Exhibition Dates: April 4 — May 8th, 2009
Address: 1415 Valencia Street
Opening Reception Images














"Porous Walker is a person who just wants to believe in love, magic and the possibilities of making things real. His artwork has been featured in magazines and galleries around the world. His art is a reflection of the concepts and ideas derived from observing and absorbing the worlds around him. Jimmy DiMarcellis once worked as a Jet Ski Repairman in Panama City Beach Florida." from Receiver's website

Erik Otto: New Work

Erik Otto

Mark Warren Jacques at Rare Device

Showing influence from Barry McGee and the conceptualist movement, Jacques' exhibit at Rare Device was a good pairing with the fine objects in the store that are selected with an acute curatorial eye by Rena and Lisa. His simple and serene pieces match the mood the women have created for the store.





Apparently, it's been a while since I've been to Rare Device since last time I was there, they hung art on the left wall of the main room. With their new back room space for the gallery alone, Jacques was able to create an environment with a bit of surrealist flair, by painting a trim on the wall and having two paintings lying on the floor.









This body of work encorporates oil painting, stitching, wood panel and paper, giving it the feel of a well crafted object. I'm wondering what direction his and other similar type work is going to take, as the neo-folk category develops.

Ever Gold and Sub Mission Gallery

I made it to Ever Gold's opening reception last night. Seems there's some trend occurring where to name your gallery after the former business in its space is a way to flip the "I have no money to buy a new awning" into "I'm too hip to buy a new awning."

My favorite part of their space is the teeny back room where I found the piece above. Unfortunately my phone camera doesn't pick up well on detail. But the exhibit was cool to stumble upon in the TL.




To complete my night of trendy grunge art exhibits I made it over to Sub Mission. It was a cathartic experience for these reasons:

Crowd was young
Work was amateur and honest
Many allusions to technology now dilapidated
Was in a raw space, obliterating the monetary hierarchy of commercial spaces





My conclusion of the night

I want to see an exhibit in a space like those last night with sick art. One where there is thought put in by a curator, where the artists command an audience, and where the emotional response doesn't take me back into depressive memories but rather takes me out of myself and makes the present and future sweet.

Hush at Fifty24SF

After Hush's solo show at Carmichael Gallery in LA last month, he is now in San Francisco to show with Upper Playground.


Artist Hush
Gallery Fifty24SF
Opening Reception Thursday, April 2, 2009 from 7-9pm
Exhibition Dates: April 2, 2009 - April 26, 2009
Address: 248 Fillmore Street San Francisco, CA 94117


"Influenced by various facets of modern culture, he is inspired by graphic-novels, animation, graphic-design, graffiti art, urban art and contemporary painting. He’s known for his portrayal of female Manga characters juxtaposed with his mixed media layering techniques utilizing screen print, spray paint and multi-levels of paper. The confluence of East meets West, destruction meets construction, and classic versus contemporary style, all leave the viewer feeling the same conflicts and energy that his work embodies. " from press release

Travel Thoughts

I've returned to San Francisco after a month of art travel. Walking down Valencia Street still felt like I was traveling, since I'd been away close to the amount of time I've lived in this apartment.

SCOPE NY 09 took me to New York City for a week and half. Got to experience a blizzard one day and sundress temperatures the next. Although I could've worn a sundress inside everyday with they way they pump the heat in that city. I thought I was going to need to get a full body spa treatment to rehydrate my skin.

SXSW took me to Autin, TX for a continual party of music and art. The warmer the weather (i.e. Miami) the longer the party lasts. 4AM isn't my ideal bedtime but sleeping wasn't a prerogative.

Right now I have my sites on Miami for Basel hopefully there will be plenty of escapades before then.



Painting by Mike Davis

Jenny Bird's "Treacherous Gardens"

Artist:Jenny Bird Alcantara
Gallery:Varnish Fine Art
Exhibition Title: Treacherous Gardens
Opening Reception: Friday, April 3, 2009 from 7-10 PM
Exhibition Dates: March 31, 2009 – May 9, 2009
Address: 77 Natoma Street, San Francisco, CA


Jenny Bird Your a San Francisco Favorite Because

You incorporate elaborate frames, which enhances the art are and is an aspect of presentation that I value
You use bold colors that grab our attention but don't overwhelm.
Your pieces contain a narrative that takes us to a wonderland only your imagination knows of
You convey the interconnectivity of humans/animals/nature through mismatching their physical appearance
You use the female beauty to present more than pure sexuality
You have a series of monotone paintings. The pink ones.
You are keeping at you technique and developing new bodies of work each year.







Exhibition Description

Jennybird Alcantara's Treacherous Gardens solo exhibit of paintings explores "the garden of the mind" and its vast, beautiful landscape filled with inherent pitfalls. Duality, water themes, dreams and nightmares figure prominently in this new series of detailed fantasies in oil and acrylic on panel. “I have always been a daydreamer,” says Jennybird, “and get many of my ideas during that state of semi-consciousness. My inspirations come from a wide variety of sources including fairytales and fables, mythology, the natural world and freaks of nature, melancholy…broken dolls and objects out of place.” With a narrative at its core, Alcantara’s minutely detailed paintings are filled with objects that possess un-borrowed symbolism contained within each piece and within the series. The artist’s love of animals and their instincts is seen and felt in her use of folklore and metaphor. Dual natures addressing the veils between human-animal, internal-external, and life-death embody the characters central to each painting. Treacherous Gardens will be on exhibit through May 9th.