MARX & ZAVATTERO - CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF INTEGRAL STUDIES

MARKET STREET GALLERY - ARTZONE 461

941 GEARY - MODERN EDEN

01.21.12

(with assistance from Maria Guzman, Mairead O'Connor and RWM)



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Marx & Zavattero: Stephen Giannetti - Spectral Circumstance.

Comment by AB: A different kind of color field painting here as Stephen Giannetti conscripts a poker chip and spray paints various colors around it to create vibrant prismatic pixellated surfaces. The pixels themselves have no color, but are rather defined by the colors and color blends immediately surrounding them.

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California Institute of Integral Studies: Rebecca Solnit - Mapping the Social Geographies of Laramie, Wyoming.

Comment by AB: Everything you ever wanted to know about Laramie, Wyoming and much much more-- from geography to statistics to art-- courtesy of Rebecca Solnit. Assisting Solnit with her endeavor are are Shizue Seigel, Ben Pease, and Kelly Herbinson. The artists are in the process of discoursing at length on Laramie while I'm there. Consider me Laramized.

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Market Street Gallery: JOY - Byron Spicer.

Comment by AB: Viewers are inundated with an opulence of happy faces. Byron Spicer's characters may at first come across as naive in style, but so many of them are combined in so many different ways-- both gridded and layered-- and put together so well, you soon realize there's no dearth of skill and talent involved in the process.

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ArtZone 461 Gallery: Under One Sun - Jane Fisher; Why Paint a Landscape?

Landscape show artists: Randy Beckelheimer, Nicholas Coley, Adam Cahoon, Dale Erickson, Dennis Hare, Heidi McDowell, Gage Opdenbrouw, Ryan Reynolds, Lundy Siegriest, Toru Sugita, James Weeks, William Wolff.

Review by RWM: One may seek out landscape painting in the interest of finding beauty. They may also be interested in seeing places that they will never get to. A good landscape painting can be sublime and help one remember the solitude they have experienced, or to revel in the wilderness that remains. One however will find here certain reminders that all is not well in the natural world. One can see the desire to turn nature into a garden with trees planted in plots and rows. There are are also woods where the animals have been scared away. We can be challenged by changing perspectives. Beauty will occasionally be protected, but abused land reminds us of the mess we are making. The sadness is sometimes appropriate and needed in this world that we share.

Comment by AB: In the side gallery, Jane Fisher provides us with a visual diary of her recent travels. Pretty convincing. I kinda feel like I'm there.

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941 Geary Gallery: Hush.

Review by Maria Guzman: Based in the UK, HUSH's show brings a global flavor to the audience by means of the geisha and Greek siren motifs-- all presented in layered paint and wheatpastes (ultimately suggesting the passage of time).

The installation covers nearly every part of the gallery-- including murals, smaller silkscreens and paintings on wood-- and servs as an excellent survey of the artist's preferred mediums. The black-on-black spray paint on one of the smaller walls is a subtle detail that works well with the larger scale murals.

HUSH also uses the paint to reach down to the floor and keep everyone aware of the dimly lit space surrounding the works. As a result, the amorphous East meets West mythology becomes more palpable. Pretty fun overall.

Review by Mairead O'Connor: Bold colors, strong lines and large scale make Hush's work striking. There are many layers to his patterned collage work. It encompasses graffiti from the street, Eastern and Western aesthetics, and the realistic and abstract.

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Modern Eden Gallery: Soliloquies from the Silent Country - New Works by Lacey Bryant.

Comment by AB: Blood, spiders, Siamese hair, dismemberment and more comprise the reverie realities of Lacey Bryant. As strange as her world gets, there's something undeniably enticing about it.

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