GALLERY 16 - ALTER SPACE

BACK TO THE PICTURE - SOMARTS

03.08.13 Part I

(with assistance from RWM)



In the unlikely event of your demise, planning your art estate. Click Here.

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Gallery 16: Graham Gillmore - Submersions.

Review by RWM: Fun and playful even if it is not clear that the art has bite. Nice use of color, freeform, spontaneity and expression.

Comment by AB: If you're partial to art with an attitude that actually talks back, then this would be the show for you. The oversized high gloss acrylics with recessed lettering are particularly appealing.

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Alter Space: Some of Its Parts.

Artists: Aaron Hodges, Grady Gordon, Yee Jan Bao.

Review by RWM: Great show which transports one back in history. Fun to the see the crusaders and missionaries on their journeys, painted by Aaron Hodges. Nice to visit the rooms of others. The blue room is an optical illusion still on display. The soldiers evoke another time and the cause.

Comment by AB: Also on display are dark cryptic ink drawings and sculpture by Grady Gordon, and deadpan portraits by Yee Jan Bao. How does it all connect up? Gordon and Hodges studied under Yee Jan Bao while they were students at CCA.

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Back to the Picture/SOMA: Harmonices Mondi - United Ties That Bind Us.

Artists: Tim Burns, Marc Dixon, Doug Lawler, Danny Mendoza, Elliott Nathan, Creta Pullen.

Comment by AB: Meandering group show at Back to the Picture's recently opened SOMA location offers something for everyone.

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SOMArts Gallery: Overturn the Artifice. Curated by Jack Leamy.

Artists: Alexandra Chowaniec, Kristen Van Diggelen, Michelle Foyer, Jack Leamy, Jeremy Morgan, Jefferson Pinder, Friendship House - Association of American Indians Inc. Youth Program members. Opening night performances by Bert Bergen, Ryan Noble, Krizstina Lazar.

Comment by AB: According to the synopsis, the common thread in the various works involves "a shared vision in community healing and catharsis through art as well as an intensely personal and often spiritually-inspired vision." That can mean just about anything, so rather than ponder the totality, I'll opt to assess and appreciate the various works each on their own merits. While there, Ryan Noble performs. Clad exclusively in undies, he slowly and silently emerges from a wood frame structure, anoints himself with powdery black and white substances, and then proceeds to engage in a heroic struggle with a weighty oversized bust. I practically birth a hernia just watching him.

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