STEVEN WOLF - RAYKO - MISSION 17 - A.MUSE - LOWER HATERS - SPARE ROOM PROJECT - 02.13.09 (with assistance from Jessica Rosen)
Steven Wolf Fine Arts: Molly Springfield - Translation.
Comment by AB: I'm a major fan of Molly Springfield's art. She makes painstaking precision labor-intensive pencil drawing replicas of photocopies of open books (I guess you might call it Photocopyrealism). For this show, the photocopies she reincarnates as drawings are entirely from various editions and printings of Marcel Proust¼s "In Search of Lost Time." And they're for sale only as a lot-- $75000-- not individually. Interestingly, the drawings are exhibited as actual books might be-- at waste level and angled out from the walls-- so that viewers are more inclined to read them than they would be if they were framed like works of art and hung on the walls. Excellent show; go see.
Drawings by Molly Springfield.
Pinkie cam detail of drawing. Pretty impressive, don't you think?
Pinkie cam detail of drawing.
Molly Springfield.
Pencil drawings of edited manuscript pages (for sale individually).
Detail of page on left in above image.
Art.
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Rayko Photo Center: 81 Bees Photography Art Show and Sale.
Photographers: Jason Andrescavage, Liz Caruana, Clare Coppel, Julio Cortez, Waki Hamtsu, Shamila Jensen, Bryan Krueger, Chiha Moriyoshi, Bob Nishihara, Nicole Newsom, Matt Osborne, Barry Rabbits, Candace Silvey, Hung Tran, Rachel Wallace, Morgan Edward Womble-Dahl, Sylvia Wun.
Comment by AB: Group show by 81 Bees, a collective of local fine art photographers whose members include working professional photographers, scientists, students, and a photography professor.
Photography.
Photos.
Photographs.
Photography.
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Mission 17 Gallery: imPOSSIBLE! 8 Chinese Artists Engage Absurdity; Cantocore - Free on Board.
Artists: Yang Zhenzhong, Shi Yong, JD Beltran, Deer Fang, Wang Ge, Misako Inaoka, David O. Johnson, Guy Overfelt, Jon Phillips, Lin Fang Suo, Zhou Tao, Katherine Worel, Huang Xiaopeng. Curated by Deer Fang, Justin Hoover, Jon Phillips.
Comment by AB: It's a two-fer. imPOSSIBLE features the work of eight Chinese artists "who engage absurdity and theatricality in video and photographic works that respond to recent socio-political and economic circumstances in China." Two of the artists, Yang Zhenzhong and Shi Yong, have videos showing here at Mission 17. One of the videos shows the progressive whiting-out of a wall of books, book by book; the other video simply shows people saying "One day I am going to die" (if I recall correctly). Both are excellent. The remaining six imPOSSIBLE artists (and the rest of the show) is currently on view at the San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery at 401 Van Ness. Cantocore, in Mission 17's rear gallery, results from an exchange between San Francisco Bay Area and Guangzhou, China artists. The show focuses on "globalized conditions of contemporary culture." Good show on both counts, and worth a visit.
Wall of books video before being whited out (like it).
Wall of books almost entirely whited out (except for lower right).
"One day I am going to die" video.
"One day I am going to die" video.
Cantocore group show.
California in a box art at Cantocore.
Cantocore group show.
Cantocore group show.
Cantocore group show.
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a.Muse Gallery: Little Vagabonds - Hugh D'Andrade & Mati McDonough.
Comment by AB: Mati McDonough concocts a land of fanciful animals, populated with the likes of birds, wolves, reindeer, and elephants inflating large multicolor balloons through their trunks. Hugh D'Andrade waxes creature-esque with winged devils on bicycles, crazy striped cats, Siamese men joined at the beard, and women traveling atop the backs of fish.
Art by Hugh D'Andrade.
Art by Hugh D'Andrade.
Art by Hugh D'Andrade.
Art by Mati McDonough.
Art by Mati McDonough.
Art by Mati McDonough.
a.Muse owner Lori Shantzis - Cupid (played by Lee Wolfer).
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Spare Room Project: For Lovers and Fighters.
Artists: Kim Anno and EG Crichton, James Bradley, Patrick Hillman, Randall Miller, Ranu Mukherjee, Elizabeth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle, Anna Whitehead, Imin Yeah. Curated by Elisheva Biernoff and Adrienne Roberts.
Review and images by Jessica Rosen: For Lovers and Fighters is a group show that, according to its curators, "considers the relationship between love, politics, and identity. Considering the unifying force and empowerment of community based activism and the recent political shifts, the artists examine love as a motivation and foundation from which change is enacted within our personal lives and our communities."
Art by Annie Sprinkle.
Zines.
Curators Elisheva Biernoff and Adrienne Roberts.
Art.
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Performance Night in Bernal Heights hosted by Michael Hunter: Fight Therapy (Melissa Wyman), Seth Horvitz, and Joshua Kit Clayton.
Review and images by Jessica Rosen: Fight Therapy is a project developed by Melissa Wyman (CCA alum currently based in Seoul, Korea) that uses the Brazilian ju-jitsu form to address the full gamut of modes of communication; from international diplomacy to interpersonal relationships. Participants get down on her wrestling mat to learn real fighting strategy and techniques and spar with a partner. This edition of Fight Therapy also features the age-old dispute of Art vs. Craft. Andrew Tosiello represents "Art;" Travis Meinolf stands for "Craft." It's an intense battle but eventually Art takes the belt!!
Seth Horvitz (a.k.a. Sutekh, MFA candidate at Mills College) does a sound-performance piece where he sits cross-legged on the floor wearing a ski mask and a pair of shorts. His "setup" consists of two battery-powered amplifiers, two speakers, and two contact microphones that he uses to make sounds that are at once uncomfortably screeching and yet somehow melodic. There are also a number of other enigmatic props; bowls of food-ish substances that he mixes together while he directs his screeching melody, and also a set of colored bells that remain untouched.
Joshua Kit Clayton (Current Bard College MFA) performed a piece called Reflect-ology. In this performance he leads a group-building workshop of sorts based on reflexology techniques. He first collects ideas from the group about what they think best embodies the overall issues of the past year. Then everyone finds a partner and takes on roles as interviewer/interviewee to share in a discussion about a negative personal experiences in the past year. Then Clayton introduces a reflexology chart that he makes based on the issues identified by the group. The interviewer then offers a foot rub to the interviewee tailored to soothe the ills identified on the chart. Clayton says, " In my opinion, it functions as an encouragement of increased verbal, visual, and tactile communication through an ironic and arbitrary systemization of human psychology, expertless evaluation, and physical treatment of one another."
Art vs Craft.
Art wins.
Joshua Kit Clayton leads Reflect-ology group.
Seth Horvitz.
Seth Horvitz performance from above.
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Addendum:
Phil Holt multiples at Lower Haters.
Phil Holt paintings at Lower Haters.
One more from Phil Holt PRAXIS show at Lower Haters.
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