VESUVIO - SOMARTS - BACKSTAGE SALON
04.15-16.09
(with assistance from R.W. Miller)

Vesuvio Cafe: Preview for Art in the Alley.

Artists: John Kraft, Mary Ann Scanlan, Adam Gastelum, Lars Laurinovics, Coco Hayward, Hugh Linn, Graham Linn, Vince Storti, Marsha Bellavance, Riki Chen, Ronald Sauer, Fanny Renoir, Jennifer Barone, Edward Barone, Samantha Kopf, Constantina, Phyllis M Grosz, Josephine Ramos, Julia Farrow, David Lovins, Hilary Williams, Zabrina Tipton, Eric Brooks, Jason Pogo, Abi McCannon, Rosemary Manno, Roger Strobel, Danny Machiarini, Rebecca Peters, Emma Macchiarini Mankin, Jessica Loos, Elizabeth Ashcroft, Funky & Fabulous, Van & Ello.

Comment by AB: Kerouac Alley, immediately adjacent to Vesuvio will host Art in The Alley on Sunday May 3, 2009 from noon to 6 pm. This relatively intimate occurrence is a precursor to that.

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SomArts Gallery: Joy and Despair - The World of a Child; Corrections.

Corrections artists: Betty Bastai, Sarah Bindman, Ione Citrin, Donelli DiMaria, Mark Erickson, Virginia Erdie, Juan Rodrigo Piedrahita Escobar, Frank Ettenberg, Cassandra Gordon-Harris, Diane Hill, Bill Jackson, Sun Young-Jin, Elizabeth King, Rivka Kos, Terry Kruger, Harriette Lawler, Pia B. Lehmann, Linsay Locke, Midori McCabe, Christian Moeller, Brad Michael Moore, Neil Nieuwoudt, Marat Paransky, Jasmine Ronel, Billy Rose, Cecilia August Sand, David Trachtenberg, Gadi Veneziano, Solomon Walker, Genevieve Williams.

Review by R.W. Miller: So nice to see this international group of child artists gathered together in the name of friendship and community, expressing themselves and reacting to the pain and joy they experience. The young people of the world are united in desiring and inspiring a better life for us all.

Comment by AB: In the front gallery, "Joy and Despair" presents art by children from around the world. There's a certain undeniable unity to it all which makes you wonder what happens between childhood and adulthood that screws human relations up so royally.

In the rear gallery, Corrections presents a group of "international artists expressing their feelings and thoughts about justice, freedom, abuse of power, good and evil, change, and just the way they would like the Earth to be." In other words, no matter an artist decides to show here, it fits. Maybe next time, the curatorial arm of the operation should narrow the theme down a bit to something like "This show is about everything." Tonight's the closing reception, by the way.

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Backstage Salon: Andrew McPherson and Crystal Dent - 2 Surrealist Artists.

Review by R.W. Miller: Fascinating art presented here makes you think, but the experience is really beyond thinking. You can try to figure these works out, but that is not necessarily the goal.

Andrew McPherson's paintings are puzzling with all sorts of symbols and creatures. His images of the ocean are particularly topical with debates raging now about offshore drilling once again in the news. Fish and birds transform into each other; so fascinating, but not necessarily creatures you would want to eat. There is a lonely boat on the ocean, a tidal wave, and a whale swims through the sky. We look on as they toil at sea. An ear also hangs in the painting listening to our unformed thoughts.

Crystal Dent's macabre digital photographs are of creative sets she has designed. The Goths will feel at home in these images of The October Country, without the startling images of Halloween. There are doorways and mysterious books. The harvest is in. These symbol-filled images awaken bruised emotions. With photography rather than a collage of artificially created digital images, her art puts "real" back into the surreal.

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