LUGGAGE STORE - 1 AM - ELECTRIC WORKS - 31 RAUSCH
TENDERLOIN COMMUNITY BENEFIT DISTRICT - VENUS
CURIOSITY SHOPPE - EDO SALON - LOWER HATERS
07.10.09
(with assistance from Lynnore Goldfarb)

The Luggage Store Gallery: Paul Wackers.

Comment by AB: The hype has been huge for this connoisseurial convocation and as you might expect, the usual suspects turn out in droves for the official unveiling of this hefty, substantive and satisfying selection of paintings and drawings by Paul Wackers. It's certainly the best work I've seen to date from Wackers, and yes, he continues to evolve his cosmic take on reality, particularly from a dimensional perspective. I mean the dude not only cyphers it out in 3-D, but also suggests that perhaps there might be an additional D or two or three (or more) we haven't even thought about yet. Plus good news for buyers-- the prices are not unreasonable, topping out at $9K for a beefy 60 by 70 inch acrylic and spray paint on panel, but averaging in the $2K-$5K range for the most part. So prepare to place your bets my artful darlings, always keeping in mind of course that it's a long long game.

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1AM Gallery: DIA, Hyde, Ed Hsu.

Review by Lynnore Goldfarb: I arrive at 1AM rather late and it is packed with motionless and speechless guests listening to a three-piece band performing live. I ask a few people if they know the name of the band, but I only get shushes and looks implying that I am being rude. While the band is hypnotizing the audience, I find it easy to quietly slip around the gallery, checking out the art, and I like what I see. Most works are hung conventionally with a few exceptions. Ed Hsu has several sculptural pieces that require the projection of light from an apparatus hanging on the ceiling. DIA on the other hand embellishes his paintings on wood panels, including a door with an installation that includes a full size upright piano and a tree, which impresses as well as comforts. Later after a little bit of misunderstanding, I discover the name of the trio is Get Dead.

Comment by AB: Unlike Lynnore I arrive early, check my watch to make sure I'm here within the allotted time frame-- and I am-- but they're still setting up. Stepping over and around various obstacles, I manage to get off a few shots before being asked to leave. Erk. Looks like a decent show though.

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North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District CBD Gallery: Sarah Beth Goncarova - Lush/Bleak, The Impacted Landscape.

Comment by AB: Sarah Beth Goncarova's premise is straightforward enough. Paintings are paired, a lush landscape alongside a bleak one, the lush one representing nature pristine and untouched, the bleak one representing environmental degradation resulting from human encroachment. The message? There's still time to change our ways, but we better get cracking.

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Electric Works: The Cresting Wave - The San Francisco Underground Comix Experience.

Artists: Mark Bode, Vaughn Bode, Guy Colwell, R. Crumb, Jay Kinney, Paul Mavrides, Dan O'Neill, Trina Robbins, Spain Rodriguez, Gilbert Shelton, Larry Todd, Randy Vogel, S. Clay Wilson. Curated by Dan Fogel.

Review by Lynnore Goldfarb: Walking through the gallery looking at the line drawings of sexy cats and ugly men, catching titles and names, like Zap Comix, Yellow Hat and Robert Crumb, feels like I am following a thread of my life I had never really noticed quite like this before. I am clutching and reading the price list (eleven sheets of regular size paper stapled together) like it is a map of my life. "...oh yeah, Johnny showed me that one when we were totally stoned... I remember seeing that strip on a table at a tiny comedor (restaurant) in Guatemala twenty years after its inception... isn't that one on a tennis shoe?" Every image on the walls of the gallery seems to conjure another one in my head. The show feels so personal, I keep thinking old boyfriends, bad pot, and Led Zeppelin records are lurking behind the temporary walls... or maybe upstairs waiting in line to use the bathroom.

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31 Rausch Street Gallery: Some Drawings by Jeff Benedetto.

Review by Lynnore Goldfarb: 31 Rausch Gallery is an apartment with people living in it and an art gallery. The paint on paper art pieces by Jeff Benedetto line both walls of the hallway, I mean gallery in this SOMA flat. I believe there's some kind of movie or video as part of the exhibit, but I miss it. The vintage decor and art pieces carefully placed, fill every nook and cranny creating a cozy and welcoming vibe.

Comment by AB: If I recall correctly, the works on paper by Jeff Benedetto are a flat $200 each (nice price). He's also makes furniture, and a vintage video playing in the living room at the rear of the flat shows Benedetto and fellow furniture makers back in the good old days. As I leave the facility, these dudes and dudettes on the stoop invite me to come back later, saying the party's just getting started.

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Venus Gallery: Mark Faigenbaum - Periodical Updates, New Prints, Collage and Mixed Media.

Review and images by Lynnore Goldfarb: Venus Gallery on Cortland in Bernal Heights offers a collection of vintage ephemera carefully selected and framed by Mark Faigenbaum. Some of the pieces are presented as undisturbed original prints while others are manipulated with additional materials and sometimes paint. The current exhibit is in the main front area of the store. However, the back room has some art from previous shows and I have the best time riffling through the drawers looking at the art hidden away... they don't mind.

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The Curiosity Shoppe: Little Pink Houses - New Work by Mati McDonough & Lisa Congdon.

Review and images by Lynnore Goldfarb: Little Pink Houses is a collaborative effort between the two artists delivering a cute and sweet display of wooden birdhouses selling for $75 each and brightly colored paintings priced at $175 and $400. The tree branches hand-painted on the walls tie the pieces in the exhibit together in a fun yet sophisticated fashion.

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Lower Haters Gallery: A Series of Thoughts - New Works by Aaron Hodges; The Elegance of Martyrs - New Works by Bradley Platz.

Comment by AB: Aaron Hodges paints up perplexing portentious realities replete with snakes, haircuts and spirits in the sky, while Bradley Platz materializes disquieting deadpan portrait studies from out of a deep distant past.

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Edo Salon: Kristine Reano - Whispering World.

Comment by AB: Soft, subtle and sensitive ink & collage works created with care by Kristine Reano incorporate atypical ingredients such as tree bark and doilies.

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