ALTMAN SIEGEL - NOMA - RAYKO - CBD - 31 RAUSCH
SPARE ROOM PROJECT - GALLERY 1988
05.29.09
(with assistance from RWM, Lynnore Goldfarb, and Laura Chenault)

Altman Siegel Gallery: Devin Leonardi - Shallow Bower.

Review by RWM: Nice depictions of old time characters in rural settings under the night sky. The work is pleasant to behold and commemorative. Experience scenes of people by railroad tracks, shacks, the seashore, lake, and rivers, in the twilight. Devin Leonardi's depiction of a bygone era is evocative, terrific, and impressive.

Comment by AB: Arresting hypnotic acrylics on paper by Queens NY artist Devin Leonardi are, according to the fact sheet, based on American photographs from the 1860's. Employing a limited palette, Leonardi reconfigures select compositional elements from these photographs into dreamy twilight or early evening scenarios, ever so delicately preternatural, and in so doing, recalls the mystery and romance of the New Land. And you know what's killer about 'em? They're so exceptionally well-painted and believable, you can walk right in and be there. I hearby and heretofore lay an uncommon mid-month Pick on this show. Excellent. The photos don't come close to doing the art justice, btw; you gotta see 'em in person. $9K each.

***

NOMA Gallery: Charles Anselmo - Structure.

Review by RWM: Disturbing display of decay and breakdown. That there was a past is remembered in these photographs of old building interiors, but there has been no maintainence. We have moved on and forgot.

Comment by AB: Photographer Charles Anselmo documents urban decline and decay, and the aftermath of disaster, here presenting mainly interiors of buildings in Cuba, but also several images from post-hurricane Katrina New Orleans. What engages about Anselmo's compositions is that they viewer is gifted the opportunity to ruminate on what these edifices might have been like in their heyday.

***

RayKo Photo Center: Michelle Sank - Becoming; Photography Students from the Out of Site Youth Arts Center.

Out of Site photographers: Devannay Greer, Fu'kayna Castellanos, Simone Evans, Samantha Roberts, Chjanna Delaingzes, Dovanna Tillman, Shiva Rashedi, Victoria Contreras, Zahnen Garner, Frances Weisberg, Gabriela Flores-Rabinowitz, Hannah Hill, Jacqueline Gutierrez, Jamie Lin, Jennifer Nguyen, Maxx Gavrich, Michael Mejia, Michaela S. Creedon, Natalie Villalobos, Quinn Finerty, Victoria Serra.

Review by Laura Chenault: The beautiful large color portraits created by Michelle Sank provide a glimpse of the cusp of adulthood. A series of young adults, posing in their neighborhoods is a beautiful reflection of hopeful futures and dreams. Each teen is captured simply; their clothing, posture, and neighborhoods define them. As a group their faces are stoic-- no happy prom pictures here, but rather a diverse group of photographs that are extremely thoughtful and provocative.

The photographs from the Out of Site Youth Arts Center, exclusively in black and white, convey hope for the future. Some are playful, some are documentary, and others personal. As a whole, the formal qualities are there, but from perspectives not typical of beginning photographers. The works are personal and intriguing.

Review by RWM: Out of Site's Year in Pictures is a great show where youth explore the possibilities of impending adulthood.  The photographs on display comment on these young people's situations, and show them exerting their potential.  All sorts of life paths are in the works; all sorts of life sagas are alluded to here.

Comment by AB: Deceptively disarming, effective and impactful essay in adolescent portraiture by London photographer Michelle Sank documents young people on the cusp of adulthood. Her subjects may hale from the UK, Europe and America, but the cross-cultural similarities of this particular stage life are plainly evident.

***

31 Rausch Gallery: Andrew Mills - Beneath the Lightning and the Moon.

Review and images by Laura Chenault: Andrew Mills fills this narrow gallery with identically sized paintings of people and landscapes. At first glance they seem fairly straightforward, and then a second look reveals a darker side. Night scenes with silhouetted trees or hazy moons have a dreamy quality. The portraits look like family pictures, but with something not quite right. Especially effective is the featureless family portrait where all three family members have blank faces.

***

North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District CBD Gallery: Mike Kimball and Stephen C. Wagner - People, Places, & Things, Depictions of Contemporary Life in the City.

Comment by AB: Classic architectural images of urban San Francisco in etchings by Mike Kimball are complemented by futuristic "portraits" in collage, photocopy and paint by Stephen C. Wagner. Kimball and Wagner will be curating this new gallery space on Golden Gate Avenue in the Tenderloin, and they're looking to book shows. So there you go, artists. Reflection from the lighting makes it difficult to shoot the art on the walls, so I photograph select pieces from the flat files.

***

The Spare Room Project: Freedom in a Familiar Place - Discovering Community and Promoting Unity through Photography and Narratives.

Photographers: 9, 10, and 11 year-olds from The Rising Stars Photojournalism Project.

Review and images by Lynnore Goldfarb: The Spare room Project is literally a tiny makeshift room in the basement of a house in Bernal Heights. The room itself, is turned into a gallery and refreshments are on a table just outside of it, in the basement under exposed pipes and in front of rough cement walls. The lobby, where one may socialize, is the backyard.

The exhibition consists of photos on the walls and several dioramas, created by the students from The Rising Stars Photojournalism Project, celebrating the release of their first book, "Freedom in a Familiar Place: Discovering Community and Promoting Unity through Photography and Narratives." The kids I see are beaming with pride and excitement that seems to reflect the art in the exhibit. At most galleries I attend, I do not find myself surrounded by children. Coming in contact with that kid energy makes my experience absolutely delightful.

***

Gallery 1988: Matt Dangler - Searching for Satori.

Comment by AB: New Jersey painter Matt Dangler materializes a mysterious surreal realm, heavy on atmosphere, and populated with iconoclastic creatures inhabiting somber expanses of muted open space.

***