ROOM FOR PAINTING ROOM FOR PAPER - 871 FINE ARTS - JOHN PENCE - TRIBAL AND TEXTILE ARTS SHOW - GALLERY 16 - SAN FRANCISCO STUDIO SCHOOL 02.12.09 (with assistance from R.W. Miller)

Room for Painting Room for Paper: Amy Sudarsky - Naked; Kim Smith - An Autobiography in Collage.

Comment by AB: Amy Sudarsky's brand of uncompromisingly candid portraiture harks back to nineteenth century academic figure studies, except that absolutely no attempt is made to editorialize on anatomical attributes. What she sees is what she paints. Meanwhile over in the Room for Paper, Kim Smith displays her orderly small format collages-- appealing from technical, psychological, and heartfelt perspectives. This particular series comprises the complete illustrations from Smith's recent book, "Where Quirky Meets Menacing: An Autobiography in Collage." In addition to the collages, signed copies of the book are available at the gallery.

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871 Fine Arts: Bruce Conner - Prints, Posters, Books, Etc.

Comment by AB: Bruce Conner is known primarily for his one-of-a-kind originals, but this show at 871 Fine Arts calls attention to his considerable talents at producing editions. For you Banksy fans and/or art history buffs and/or whatever, Conner broached the proposal of gussying up an elephant about 40 years in advance of Banksy's famed Los Angeles shenanigans. Yes my artful darlings, Conner engaged a painted pachyderm in his run for a seat on the SF Board of Supervisors in 1967. An original poster from that campaign, elephant and all, is on display here-- and already sold for $1500. De rigueur for informed connoisseurs.

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John Pence Gallery: Trompe L'oeil.

Artists: Juliette Aristides, William Bartlett, Tony Curanaj, Camie Davis, Carl Dobsky, Douglas Flynt, Adam Forfang, Greg Gandy, Mikel Glass, Michael Grimaldi, Russell Harris, Nicholas Hiltner, Sarah Lamb, Kate Lehman, Dana Levin, Jeremy Mann, Edward Minoff, Michael Molnar, Jacob Pfeiffer, Nicholas M. Raynolds, Travis Schlaht, Andrea Smith, Chris Thomas, Peter Van Dyck, Adam Vinson, Anthony Waichulis, Will Wilson, Sam Wisneski, Zack Zdrale.

Comment by AB: This is my favorite John Pence event of the year-- his trompe l'oeil exhibition where a first class cull of America's finest representational painters demonstrates bewildering skills at making two dimensions seem like three. Awesomely impressive art... and not to be missed. I know, I know. You elitist cerebrals love to blow stuff like this off, don't you? Well, get back to me when you learn how to paint.

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Gallery 16: Rex Ray - It's finished when I'm done!

Review by R.W. Miller: Thank you Rex Ray for your energetic art which reminds us of amusement parks and fireworks, with their wildly contrasting bursts of color. Or we can find ourselves transported to our childhood days or earlier, to memories of those startlingly beautiful star-filled nights. For some San Franciscans this is a bygone era, but it is still almost always fun to remember. In Ray's work we experience color and movement which invigorate the spirit and energize the psyche.

Comment by AB: Rex Ray paints live here tonight.

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Caskey Lees at Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center: Tribal & Textile Arts Show.

Comment by AB: This world class show represents the finest in art, artifacts, antiques and antiquities of indigenous cultures exhibited by over 80 top international dealers-- mainly from Italy, Belgium, Germany, Australia, Turkey, Great Britain, and of course, the United States. I love this show; the pieces are so exotic-- plus you get an ethnographic education plus you learn about the prevailing tastes of other countries plus-- and this one is for you artsters-- you get to see where the likes of Picasso, Modigliani, Brancusi and other eminent moderns got their ideas and inspirations. Once a year San Franciscans are priveleged to experience this level of ethnographic art-- the second weekend every February c/o Caskey Lees of LA. Don't miss next year's. It's the best.

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San Francisco Studio School: Contemporary Landscape Painting.

Artists: Gina Werfel, Sandy Walker, Terry St. John, Hearne Pardee, Laura Harden, Lon Clark.

Review by R.W. Miller: Numerous sorts of ideas and perspectives are displayed at this unusual presentation of landscape paintings. We are not transported to idyllic outdoor settings; instead there is food for thought. The works here take on new modern perspectives, rather than historic views of the hills, mountains, seas, and plains. There are GIS images, reddish wine-dark storms, modernist views of the sky, suburban sprawl, and pure abstractions. Several broad stroked paintings clearly remind of the outdoors, but most pieces need to be thought through. One might figure that the abstract paintings are of green fields or canopy, brown earth, and blue sea or sky. The assembled paintings do not exist as a substitute for the sublime experience of outdoors, but they do get one to examine what landscape painting can be in this modern world.

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