HAINES - CHINESE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA

CONSULATE GENERAL OF JAPAN - RAYKO

WORKSPACE LIMITED - PAUL MAHDER

04.12.12

(with assistance from RWM)



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Haines Gallery: John Chiara - Crestmont at Coral.

Comment by AB: The photography of John Chiara just keeps getting better and better. For those of you not familiar with his process, he hauls his oversized handmade camera around on the back of a flatbed truck, parks, aims and shoots. The results are eerie atmospheric one-of-a-kind time-exposed images, perhaps even a bit post-apocalyptic in feel. They're all photographed locally, mainly in the Potrero Hill, Excelsior, Diamond Heights and Mission District neighborhoods of San Francisco. Definitely worth seeing. Like it!

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Chinese Historical Society of America: Remnants - Artists Respond to the Chinese American Experience.

Artists: Nancy Hom, Michael Jang, Lenora Lee, Cynthia Tom, Flo Oy Wong.

Comment by AB: The Chinese Historical Society of America is a San Francisco treasure I never knew existed. Historical art and artifacts specifically relating to the Chinese experience in California and the West are on regular exhibit. For this show, five contemporary artists present art and installations that focus on their own personal experiences, families and memories, as well as on various aspects of the Chinese American experience in general, from both historical and contemporary perspectives.

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Consulate General of Japan: Japanese Translations... Landscapes and Umbrellas - Michelle Sakhai.

Review by RWM: Fascinating show plays on the idea that some want umbrellas for the sun, and what a landscape painter does whether rain or shine. The art displayed is fun and whimsical. The subjects are painted on canvas with gold foil sometimes adding to the images, but not in a chaotic way. It is interesting to see the how they shine. One can imagine themselves there in the compositions even though the works are stylized. The umbrellas abound, perhaps telling a story which now includes the sad fact that the ozone layer is not what it used to be.

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RayKo Photo Center Gallery: Unfolding Lives in Tohoku - Photographs by Hiroyo Kaneko and Asako Shimazaki.

Comment by AB: This exhibition coincides with the first anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake in Japan. Both photographers were born in Japan, but have each lived in San Francisco for over ten years. For the show, they returned to the Tohoku region to document both the beauty and resilience of daily life and the remnants of disaster.

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Workspace Limited: Mission Artists United Spring Open Studios Juried Show.

Comment by AB: Tonight's opening party heralds Mission Open Studios which runs all day Saturday and Sunday at multiple locations.

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Paul Mahder Gallery: Scapes - New Oil Paintings by Elena Zolotnitsky.

Comment by AB: Appealing portrait, figure and still life paintings by Elena Zolotnitsky plus several appetizing compositions of gourmet chocolate candies to round out the show. While you're there, you might also want to check out an impressive polished copper and bronze sculpture complete with living plant by Kotomi Lemi Yoda that looks like some kind of Back to the Future time machine.

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