ROSS MIRKARIMI - LUGGAGE STORE - JANCAR JONES
RED INK STUDIOS - AMPERSAND - A.MUSE
03.21.08
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Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi: Nowruz Deed-o Bazdeed Celebration.
Comment by AB: Persian New Year's celebration features the work of three noted Iranian artists-- Nasser Ovissi, born in Tehran in 1934 and one of the most popular painters inside and outside Iran; Zaman Zamani, one of the most popular mixed media artists inside and outside Iran; and Mohammad Hourian, born in Hamedan, Iran (the capital of ancient Persia) in 1955, and the youngest artist ever to be elected to the Iranian National Academy of Fine Arts (at age 20).
Art. Art. Art. Literature. Art discussion. Art. Traditional Persian music in the rotunda.
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Luggage Store Gallery: Monica Canilao and Swoon - Feral.
Comment by AB: One of the best collaborative efforts I've seen in a long time, as Swoon and Monica Canilao meld talents to transform the Luggage Store into a topsy-turvy edge-of-consciousness adventure "populated by wicked women and feral girls" where chaos is queen, and nothing is as it was a moment ago when you left conventional reality behind. You know the old homily, "Hard work pays off?" Well, if you don't believe it before you see this show, you sure will after. Excellent and overwhelming installation. Go see.
What it is. Art by Monica Canilao and Swoon. Art. Swoon - Monica Canilao. Art. Art. Art (Monica Canilao - perfectly displayed - love it - buy). Art. Art. Art. Art. Art. Art. Overview.
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Jancar Jones Gallery: Inaugural Exhibition.
Artists: Lucas DeGiulio, Bill Jenkins, Chadwick Rantanen.
Comment by AB: It's at the end of a long winding hallway, up a staircase in the middle of nowhere that only leads to them-- the brand new Jancar Jones Gallery. According to the handbill, the three artists at the gallery's debut event "share an affinity with the minimal," and that's a damn good thing 'cuz the space measures maybe 8 by 12 feet soaking wet. It's so small, I ask my shadow to wait outside. It's so small, it not only takes the cake; it takes the entire bakery. It's so small, I'm thinkin' maybe I'm really not my own best friend. OK. Enough cheap jokes. The upshot? Conspicuously progressive selection, all of it good art.
Here we are. Art. Art. Art. Art.
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Red Ink Studios: Two Mural Projects.
Comments by AB: As you stroll down Market Street between Sixth and Seventh and pass by Red Ink Studios, check out the front window and experience two eminently worthy murals-- "Xzistance on the Edge of Chaos," an eighty-foot collaborative magnum opus by Chor Boogie, Maxx Moses, and Joshua Mayesan; and a precision geometric site-specific oeuvre by Stephanie Leung.
Stephanie Leung - mural art. Stephanie Leung - mural art closer. Xzistance on the Edge of Chaos - Chor Boogie, Maxx Moses (pan left). Xzistance on the Edge of Chaos - Chor Boogie, Maxx Moses (pan right). Xzistance on the Edge of Chaos - Chor Boogie, Maxx Moses (detail left). Xzistance on the Edge of Chaos - Chor Boogie, Maxx Moses (detail right).
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Ampersand International Arts: How Fast Your World is Changing.
Artists: Harrell Fletcher, Christine Hill, Hope Hilton, Jessica James Lansdon, Jennifer Delos Reyes, Markuz Wernli-Saito. Curated by Lori Gordon; critical essay by James Servin.
Comment by AB: It's kind of a meandering participatory art carnival where you can do stuff like take home a free sample of trash (courtesy of Jessica James Lansdon); mail back rolls of film negatives to the people who Markuz Wernli-Saito, as part of a project, once asked to take the photographs for him; and enjoy an ode to curator Lori Gordon composed and performed by Jennifer Delos Reyes. My favorite? Precious maxims printed up as red, white & blue broadsides in a style reminiscent of 1950's small town variety store advertising by Christine Hill.
Free garbage art (Jessica James Lansdon). Art (Markuz Wernli-Saito). Art (Markuz Wernli-Saito). Top row - Lori Gordon, Jennifer Delos Reyes. Aphorism art (Christine Hill). Art. Art. Art. Looking west.
Bottom row - Lori Gordon, Lori Gordon.
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a.Muse Gallery: Joshua Hagler - The Art of the Boy Who Made Silence.
Comment by AB: Exhibition and book release for artist and graphic novelist Joshua Hagler. Hagler's graphic novel, a series actually, called "The Boy Who Made Silence," is about a young deaf boy who has the ability to create silence around him and allow all people within the radius of that silence to access each other's memories. Hagler tells me this show is not only about his art and writing; it's also about the process of crafting a graphic novel, including working sketches, ideas that didn't make the cut, organizing and developing the storyline, and how his creative mind works.
Art by Joshua Hagler. Art. Joshua Hagler - art. The Boy Who Made Silence by Joshua Hagler - book one. The Boy Who Made Silence by Joshua Hagler - book two. Art. Art.
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