LAKE GALLERY - YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS - SWALLOWTAIL - DAVID CUNNINGHAM PROJECTS - 01.22.09 (with assistance from R. W. Miller)

Lake Gallery: Jet Martinez - Order | Chaos | Light.

Review by R. W. Miller: Surrounded by live plants at Plant'It Earth on Divisidero Street, painter Jet Martinez revels in the natural world with a celebration of plants, water, sunlight, and variety. The assembled paintings are alive and vibrant like their floral subject. Though abstract, the work is still transcendental and inspiring. Martinez, it can be ascertained, would revel in the beauty that one would find on the park trail. No goofing around or transgressing on the trail here-- instead revelation and appreciation of the sublime and endangered wild world.

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David Cunningham Projects: Trying To Cope With Things That Aren¼t Human (Part One).

Artists: Marcus Coates, Johanna H”llsten, Mariele Neudecker, Alex Pearl, Annika Str–m, Ryan Gander, Alan Currall, Ian Brown, Heather and Ivan Morison, Paul Rooney, Richard Hughes, Richard T. Walker, Francis McKee.

Comment by AB: A contemplative multimedia excursion into our quest to understand and come to terms with the things around us, the life forms around us, the world around us, and the stuff we invent and manufacture and then surround ourselves with. From serious to amusing to absurd-- you'll find it here. The exhibition is off to AirSpace Gallery in the UK in March, and will continue to tour from there. A book published in conjunction with the show is also available at the gallery. Check it out; good stuff.

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Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: Irreverent - Contemporary Nordic Craft Art.

Artists: Frida Fjellman (Sweden), Tuva Gonsholt (Norway), Eva Hild (Sweden), Per Lysgaard (Norway), Trine Mauritze Erikson (Norway), Louise Nippierd (Norway), Anders Ruhwald (Denmark), Ulla West (Sweden), Anni Rapinoja (Finland) and Janna Syvanoja (Finland). Curated by Kate Eilertsen.

Comment by AB: "Crafts" by artists from Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland blur distinctions between art and functionality. (So shouldn't the show's title be "Contemporary Scandanavian Crafts" instead of Nordic? Makes sense to me.) Options include shoes and clothing fashioned from plant parts, a Land of the Midnight Sun insallation, some remarkably labor intensive hanging lights made from recycled plastic bags, and over-the-top fashion accessories. Try it-- you'll like it.

She's not part of the show, but the trash bag hairpiece and bicycle tire innertube necklace c/o Kue King are worth noting.

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