SAN FRANCISCO ART GALLERIES OPENINGS

FIRST THURSDAY - 07.11.13 - Part I



Common artist questions answered. Click Here.

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Haines Gallery: Aimé Mpane.

Comment by AB: In what must be an intensely arduous process, Congolese artist Aimé Mpane "paints" by chiseling layers off of squares of thin plywood, adding color as appropriate, and then assembling them all together like puzzle pieces onto gossamer weblike backings to create striking portraits and figures. He also shapes, chips and glues larger plywood sections together in layers to create semi-representational renditions of traditional African tribal masks. You have to see these in person to really appreciate the artistry. Definitely recommended.

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Modernbook Gallery: Jamie Baldridge.

Comment by AB: Jamie Baldridge signs copies of his new book, Almost Fiction, and shows a selection of his hallucinatory fantasy photographs.

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The McLoughlin Gallery: Desire Obtain Cherish - #SideEffects.

Comment by AB: Desire Obtain Cherish basically appropriates everything from everywhere-- including artists' techniques, specific works of art, luxury brand names, material culture, sex, drugs, pop icons, and more-- and twists it all up as if to mock the very system that holds it all in such high esteem. The art is interspersed with zippy conversational anecdotes written directly onto the gallery walls that further point up the absurdities of so many of our judgements, life choices and methods of classification. It's kind of the same punchline over and over again, but well presented, entertaining, and clearly the consequence of great dedication and loads of hard work. Stop on by.

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Gallery Paule Anglim: Richard Shaw; Ken Graves.

Comment by AB: Richard Shaw works magic with porcelain; that's the only way to describe it. In his fifty or so years on the San Francisco scene, he has mastered the discipline to such an extent that he can mimic everything from wood and glass to paintbrushes and playing cards in such realistic detail that you refuse to believe they're anything other than what they actually seem. But they're not; they're porcelain through and through. In the homage department, local art notables have turned out for Shaw's show in droves. In the rear gallery, Ken Graves' diminutive collages depict completely believable scenarios excerpted from a marvelously confounding reality. This one's a yes on both counts.

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Highlight Gallery: Eric William Carroll - G.U.T. Feeling.

Comment by AB: An inventive photographic essay on the past, present, future and continuing impact of science in how we live our lives, explore new horizons and attempt to understand everything around us.

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Here's a thought.... support the cause.

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First Thursday - June 6, 2013

First Thursday - May 2, 2013

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