CHESTER'S BLACKSMITH SHOP - ELECTRIC WORKS - GALLERY 16

SATELLITE66 - PHOTOBOOTH - FIFTY24SF



01.13.12

(with assistance from Kristen Farr, Clare Coppel and Neal Strickberger)



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Chester's Blacksmith Shop: From the Vaults....

Artists: Apex, Andrew Schoultz, Barry McGee, Ana Teresa Fernandez, Sam Flores, Sergio Galli, Ron English, Ken Light, Alex Gross, Gary Baseman, Mike Davis, Tracey Emin, Tom Bolles, Leigh Wells, Jo Jackson, Date Farmers, Blek Le Rat, Highraff+Tchrais (Brazil), Scott Musgrove, Kim Cogan, WK Interact, Logan Hicks.

Comment by Clare Coppel: My Favorites are Ana Teresa Fernandez's paintings of which I really like the mystery+shoes, and the Sam Flores painting-- I'm really into religious themed works.

Comment by AB: Chester's Blacksmith Shop, formerly of Park City, Utah, pops up for a limited run here in San Francisco with a peppy selection of art from local collections as well as from the artists themselves. Check it out.

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Electric Works Gallery: At Long Last - Katherine Westerhout; Jim Haynes - Disaster and Its Opposite.

Comment by AB: Katherine Westerhout continues to document America's stunning decline by photographing how what was once the best looks today. Locations include Oakland, California; Yonkers, New York; Rantoul, Illinois and Gary Indiana. Her images of Grossinger's Resort in Liberty, NY are perhaps the most telling-- architecture dating from as recently the 1960s and 70s already long gone, largely forgotten and likely never to make a comeback again. Sad. In the Project Space, Jim Haynes complements Westerhout's work with rust/photography/sound installations. Worth a look.

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Gallery 16: Carol Selter - Animal Stories.

Comment by AB: Carol Selter takes taxidermy specimens and animal skeletons, places then into natural settings and documents the results in photography and videos. Her works are meant to serve as reminders or more aptly, warnings to pay attention to our environment, but a number of them are so incongruous, they're just plain entertaining. Also on display are a number of rather striking vintage castings of actual animal heads including patches of what appear to be original hair-- creepy but excellent and priced $2500-$7500. Stop on by.

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Photobooth Gallery: Descry Arts Projects Presents - We Dream in the Daytime Too.

Photographers: Emma Powell, Dexter Fernandez, Alethea Norene, Dinah DiNova, Bonnie Lane, Joshua Field, Susanne Willuhn, Colm McCarthy, Rachel Mosler.

Comment by Clare Coppel: This show by the Descry Arts Projects is about dreams. I particularly like Colm McCarthy's strange photoshop creatures.

Comment by AB: One-night group show "investigates the possibility of waking life and dream integration." It's precisely that simple and no more complicated.

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Fifty24SF Gallery: Twixt sc. 83 - Jimmy DiMarcellis (aka Porous Walker), David Hopp, and John Paul Goorjian.

Review by Kristen Farr: When's the last time you went to the Lower Haight and saw a Hollywood-grade, hand-built set from the latest Coppola film? Fifty24SF gallery has been magically transformed into scene 83 from Twixt, a new horror film featuring art direction by the one and only Porous Walker. Working under the pseudonym Jimmy DiMarcellis, the artist and his collaborators (David Hopp and John Paul Goorjian) rebuilt mechanisms, walls and floors to create a fully loaded, immersive installation. The place is packed with bird and bat houses, fancy props, film stills, spiderwebs, dirt, glitter and Poe.

The gallery is unrecognizable and the set is so authentic and intricate that it almost feels like you're not supposed to be there. Lemonade and celebrity sightings are served at the opening, which is a full-fledged spooky cabin party complete with a blood-stained curator and bartender. Porous Walker never rests and the results always turn out like a huge surprise gift. He'll soon be installing another exhibition in the streets; keep your eyes peeled.

Comment by AB: Wanna go somewhere strange, fascinating and slightly paranormal without ever leaving San Francisco? Go here. Not to be missed.

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