NOMA - JOHN PENCE - PUSH - NEEDLES & PENS
MISSION CULTURAL CENTER FOR LATINO ARTS - FEMINA POTENS
05.02.09
(with assistance from RWM)

NOMA Gallery: The Mashup Show - Art Will Eat Itself.

Artists: Zachary Scholz, Evie Falci, Ellen Black, S. Clay Wilson, Bonnie Banks, Donna Huanca, Jessica Miller, Jim Osbourne, Tony Dryer, Melinda Gebbie, Rory Hayes, Jim Haynes, Michelle Ceja, Melinda Gebbie, Anne Colvin, Piero Passacantando, Carl Auge, Aoife Collins, Samuel Roeck, Tyrone Davies, Cristine Kesler, Susan Harby, Georgi Tushev, Charles Anselmo, Aron Meynell, more. Organized by Marcella Faustini

Comment by AB: According to the gruelling synopsis and the obscure antecedents contained therein, existing stuff often gets combined with other existing stuff to form brand new stuff. It's one of the laws of stuff, I suppose. And so to illustrate this point-- or maybe not-- we have a befuddling glut of art.

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John Pence Gallery: Jacob Collins - Recent Paintings.

Comment by AB: Classic fare from Jacob Collins includes landscapes, portraits, still lifes, figure paintings, interiors, and nudes. All entirely accomplished.

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Push Studio: Mark Henson - Politics & Passion.

Review by RWM: The spirit and the idealism of the Sixties is not completely gone from Northern California. Mark Henson's paintings celebrate love, sex, and the natural world, but there are forces assembled that could destroy the beauty. Just as there are beautiful depictions of nature, communion, and love, there is also a dark side presented, that is, those who have wreaked global havoc and are willing to wreak more. Greed, consumerism, urban blight, and militarism, are depicted in contrast to the psychedelic dreamscapes. The show reminds that we have a choice between Ecotopia and nightmare.

Comment by AB: This is visionary apocalyptic art at it's finest, courtesy of outback Lake County artist Mark Henson. Vertigo perspectives, sensational detail, stupefying story lines, the zenith of utopian ideals, the depths of unimaginable horror-- it's all here and more. Dare to immerse yourself in the universe of Mark Henson. It's a mind bender. Believe me. The photos don't do justice.

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Needles & Pens: You've Got Light in Your Eyes.

Artists: 1911, Kate Bingaman Burt, Jill Bliss, Will Bryant, Kime Buzzelli, John Casey, Lisa Congdon, Liam Devowski, Bill Dunlap, Kenn Goodall, Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch, Know Hope, Olivia Jeffries, Aidan Koch, Ashley Lande Brown, Jeremiah Maddock, Leslie Martinez, Terri Olsen Von Schaub, Mike Perry, Shannon Rankin, Dan Szymanowski. Curated by Meighan O'Toole.

Comment by AB: Group show based on two years of artist interviews and art show coverage by Meighan O'Toole on her website, My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses. And that, as they say, is that.

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Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts: 5X5 Pluralism.

Artists: Loriel Beltran, Oscar Grau, Audino Diaz, Sergio Hernandez, Yoshi, Edy Ferguson, Marina Gutierrez, Jeremy Longstreet, Milton Rosa-Ortiz, Rafael Velez. Curated by Luis R. Cancel.

Comment by AB: Exhibition of work by five Venezuelan and five North American artists represents an effort to engage in an artistic dialogue and cultural exchange. And you know-- it's about time too. When the reactionary right gets all apoplectic about Barack Obama shaking hands with Hugo Chavez, you know a hefty helping of dialogue is in order. Good show. Go see.

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Femina Potens Gallery: A Touch of Pleasure.

Artists: Maria Kretschman, Ryan Whittier, Diana Stapleton, Tomcat, Ani Niow.

Comment by AB: As you're all well aware, May is National Masturbation Month, and to celebrate this joyous time of diddling, Femina Potens presents an artful ode to autogenic eroticism. Diversions include a kinetic fucking machine in action (courtesy of kink.com), a demonstration of the world's only turbine powered dildo, ice cream cone dildos hanging upside down from the ceiling by Maria Kretschman, an oversized high-gloss fire-engine-red ice cream dildo you can ride (also by Maria Kretschman), a vintage vibrator collection, painting, photography, and more. Come one come all!

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