SAN FRANCISCO ART GALLERIES OPENINGS

FIRST THURSDAY - 08.04.11 - Part I

(with assistance from Anneliese Vobis, DeWitt Cheng and RWM)



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Dolby Chadwick Gallery: Joe Macca - Echoes in the Ether; Vanessa Marsh - The Space Between.

Review by RWM: Beautiful use of color atmospherics, the ebb and flow, minimalist in conception but not execution.

Comment by AB: Exquisitely gradated acrylics on panel by Joe Macca, so flawless I think for an instant that they're photographs. As adept as they are, something in the recesses of my mind sees them as backgrounds, the foregrounds of which are yet to be painted. They're that convincing. In the rear gallery, Vanessa Marsh photographs hand-built models against actual skies, resulting in dreamlike edge-of-the-world floodscapes, beautiful yet ominous. Stop on by.

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Gallery Paule Anglim: Lynn Hershman Leeson; Benji Whalen.

Review by Anneliese Vobis: Lynn Hershman Leeson exhibits digital media combined with sculpture and drawing to reflect on her intense search for social identity. The old doll houses are especially strong elements of her visual language which is highly socially encoded.

Benji Whalen's recent sculptural polymer clay works present expressive human life formations. His work appears like a contemporary new form of Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights. There is so much going on, that you really have to look closely and over and over again to get his endless stories.

Review by RWM: Lynn Hershman Leeson's work is gothic to an extent and shown with style. Ghosts and ghouls and a haunted house. A disenfranchised perspective, but modern for many.

Benji Whalen's works capture rivalries and one-upmanships between humans. Fascinating idealized battle scenes where not all is bad nor everyone ugly. So much wrestling, there's barely any room to dance.

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The McLoughlin Gallery: Expressive Flow - Patter Hellstrom; Layers - Evan Wilson aka ESK.

Review by RWM: Bright colors frozen in motion and abstraction. Wonderful and accessible. These artworks meander their way into your consciousness.

Comment by AB: In the side gallery, urban goes 3-D at the hands of Evan Wilson aka ESK.

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Corden Potts Gallery: Selections from Lens Culture FotoFest Paris 2010.

Photographers: Sabine Delcour, France; Peter Eriksson, Sweden; Per Johansen, Denmark; Rubi Lebovitch, Israel; Ellen O'Connell, Switzerland; Ida Pimenoff, Finland; J. Scriba, Germany; Larry Snider, USA; and Helena van den Enden, The Netherlands.

Comment by AB: First time in San Francisco for this select group of international photographers. I'm partial to J. Scriba's engaging overhead views of people walking and riding escalators (taken in Hamburg and Berlin, if I recall correctly). It's difficult to believe they're not posed, but I suppose if you shoot anything long enough, you're bound to corral a smattering of immaculate instants.

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Stephen Wirtz Gallery: Idyll.

Photographers: Mike Brodie, Jim Goldberg, Todd Hido, Justine Kurland, Melanie Pullen, Doug Rickard, Paul Schiek, Alec Soth, Larry Sultan, Catherine Wagner.

Comment by AB: At a glance, the word idyll seems eminently applicable to every one of these peaceful photographic scenes, but as you look closer or are informed of the rest of the story, you soon discover that hardly anything is as it appears on the surface. Stop on by and see for yourself.

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Addendum:

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Do you enjoy this ongoing coverage of artland San Francisco? If yes, here's an opportunity to show your support.

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First Thursday - July 7, 2011

First Thursday - June 2, 2011

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