FREY NORRIS - CCA WATTIS INSTITUTE

POPULAR WORKSHOP - PUBLIC BARBER

01.19.12



Hey artists-- need help pricing your art? Click Here.

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Frey Norris Contemporary & Modern: Remedios Varo - Indelible Fables.

Comment by AB: This is the first solo show of works by Spanish/Mexican Surrealist Remedios Varo since 1962, a year before her death. Finely rendered and detailed paintings are at times accompanied by their original working drawings. Several of her works are so realistic, you begin to believe that the characters and scenarios actually exist. Recommended viewing; an uncommon opportunity.

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CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts: 101 Collection, Route 3.

Artists: Anthony Discenza, Mungo Thomson, Harrell Fletcher, Alicia McCarthy, Eleanor Antin, Jason Meadows, Rodney Graham, Pascal Shirley, Ari Marcopoulos, Paul McCarthy, James Welling, Catherine Opie, Tammy Rae Carland, Ed Ruscha.

Comment by AB: According to the preamble... This "is the third exhibition in an annual series to be drawn from the 101 Collection based in San Francisco. It examines the essential nature of an art collection-- an accumulation of objects gathered for personal interest, research, or presentation-- and attempts to provide an alternative organizational strategy to that of a thematic structure."

Translation-- It's a bunch of art in a room.

According to the preamble... "The curator, David Kasprzak (MA Curatorial Practice 2011) has completely relinquished the decision-making process, instead inviting the artists in the 101 Collection to select the works themselves. In addition, he delegated his curatorial tasks to colleagues within the Wattis and CCA. The chief preparator, who typically follows the installation plan and instruction of a curator, has installed the exhibition. The institution's designer has created the graphic identity. All texts have been generated by the institution's managing editor."

Translation-- The show has no curator.

According to the preamble... "The exhibition is intended as an experiment in structural and organizational strategy, and responds to two questions. Firstly, will a collection of predetermined artworks ultimately produce the same visual and contextual outcome, regardless of the decisions made on a curatorial level? Secondly, what outcome does an exhibition organized by multiple authors working independently of each other produce?"

Translation-- Nobody has any idea what's going to happen or how people will respond to it.

The upside? Good artists/good art.

In the downstairs gallery, CCA grad students show art based on John Baldessari's teaching notes from when he was a professor at California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts).

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The Popular Workshop: Jet Lag - Luis Urculo.

Comment by AB: Madrid architect, designer and artist Luis Urculo effectively manifests all three categories of his job description. The attention paid to the structural integrity of the art is clearly in evidence. All details are precise. And the individual works are organized and combined in such a way as to create an overall impact and aesthetic. The finely crocheted wall pieces are particularly noteworthy. This one's a YES.

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Public Barber Salon: Art For Your Wall - A Tattooist Art Show.

Artists: Greg Rojas, Eric Jones, Jason Storey, Vinse One, Aiden Monahan, Salem Ofa, Dave Robinson, Dannyboy Smith, Jeramie Hamilton, Beth Gould, Jessica Warren, Justin May, Lisa Chin, Tomi Knox, Taler Nicols, Brad Worthen, Ryan Wilburn, Colin Enwright, Jason Toney.

Comment by AB: Art by tattooists. It's precisely that simple and no more complicated.

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