JOHN BERGGRUEN - SCULPTURESITE - RAYKO PHOTO
CALIFORNIA STREET STUDIOS - TURK+TAYLOR
06.25.09
(with assistance from RWM)

John Berggruen Gallery: Robert Kelly - New Work.

Comment by AB: Fine hard-edge abstracts with a distinct vintage look and feel by Robert Kelly are so exquisitely executed, I'm delirious with bliss. The paintings, some of which are painted over collaged museum posters and other pieces of printed matter, are immaculate in their construction, and as superb from the sides as they are from the fronts (in fact, some of the most aesthetically appealing sides I've seen on paintings). They're equally engaging from any perspective, and as such, you might even consider them sculptures. And if they're this good from the front and sides, I'd love to see the backs. Hey-- with this level of attention to every conceivable detail, you can probably hang 'em backwards and they'll look just as good as they do from the front. Supreme professionality. Yo! An unequivocal go-see.

You know, my artful darlings, in the visual arts it's not enough to have a fine creative mind. You also need the skills and wherewithal to compellingly transition your thoughts, insights and inspirations into the material realm. I mean if you ain't got the skills, you can't really call yourself an artist. It's like someone who has a brilliant idea for a novel, but doesn't know how to write. Capiche? That said, there's no shortage of slapdash crap out there representing itself as the real deal.

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Sculpturesite Gallery: Mark Chatterley - Beings, Clay Musings on the Human Condition.

Comment by AB: Detached expressionless animal and figure sculptures-- solo and in groups-- have a meditative reverential essence about them.

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RayKo Photo Center: Lisa Kanemoto - We Are... Portraits of San Francisco's Gay 80s; Meghann Riepenhoff - Instar (RayKo Artist-in-Residence).

Review by RWM: In the right gallery, Meghann Riepenhoff, Artist-in-Residence at Rayko Photo, explores the inner and outer cosmic muse. The images presented evoke science fiction, astronomy, and outer space paintings we have seen. They also compete against them making us evaluate the relative significance of the artistic process involved. The colors are wondrous in this trip through the astral maelstrom, freeform psychedelics are evident in these otherworldly images. Join in this journey to strange new worlds where odd new suns contrast boldly with the darks of vacant space. 

Comment by AB: The left gallery honors Gay Pride week with a retrospective exhibition of portraits of San Francisco's gay community taken in the early 1980s by Lisa Kanemoto. The significance of it all? Stereotyping people based solely on how they look is not only inaccurate, but totally counterproductive to us getting to know and appreciate one another better. That's what Lisa Kanemoto found out. Have a look and see if you don't agree.

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California Street Studios/Gallery, 2829 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94115: James Walsh - The False God, Exposing the Money Myth.

Comment by AB: It's one of them filthy lucre kinda deals.

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Turk + Taylor: Nick Ackerman.

Comment by AB: I learn a new word from Turk + Taylor co-proprietor Andrew Soernsen tonight-- "pop-up shop." A pop-up shop is a store that springs up in a vacant retail space and lasts for maybe a few months until the new tenants are ready to move in. This particular pop-up shop features fashion, including T-shirt designs by Soernsen, and mystical futuristic abstractions by Nick Ackerman (works on paper only $400 each, if I recall correctly).

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