VELVET DA VINCI - FIFTY24SF - 1044 - CANESSA

ARATE - RENEGADE - FONAROW - LIVE WORMS

FIVEPOINTS - HATCH (OAKLAND, CA)

08.05.11

(with assistance from Clare Coppel, Harry J. Johnson and RWM)



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Velvet Da Vinci Gallery: unnatural Acts - a contemporary jewelry project from Australia.

Artists: Anna Davern, Caz Guiney, Kath Inglis, Bridget Kennedy, Peta Kruger, Sim Luttin, Natalia Milosz-Piekarska, Lauren Simeoni, Mark Vaarwerk, Melinda Young. Curated by Lauren Simeoni and Melanie Young.

Comment by AB: Natural forms created from unnatural materials by ten jewelry artists from Australia. That's the tale of the tape for this one.

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Fifty24SF Gallery: LUSH Sells His Soul in San Francisco.

Review by RWM: Does drinking too much impact our sex lives? Here you might muse on that. Really raunchy, though maybe not quite pornographic. The body is political, especially the nice ones on display here. Not all fun and games though.

Comment by AB: Some words that might describe this Sodom & Gomorrah of a "solo exhibition and installation" by Melbourne, Australia artist LUSH would be crass, crude, disgusting, gross, lewd, inappropriate, offensive, degrading, insulting, humiliating... and very possibly obscene in certain states as well. The upshot? A bewildering assault on civility. Bad behavior elevated to the level of performance. You might not agree with all you see, but a point is made, though I'm not sure what. One thing I do know-- this "only in San Francisco" experience is a real brain bender. Wish I could show you everything, but I wanna keep it legal...

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Gallery 1044: 2xH20 - Sue Gonzalez and Nancy Stein.

Review by RWM: Beautiful exploration of water. Looking closely you may notice a difference between the painters. Nancy Stein paints the onrushing waves. Evocative yet calming in a way they are, like looking at the sea. Sue Gonzales captures inland passages with her water scenes having boundaries, i.e. islands. You might not notice the difference, but fishermen and anglers sure would. Fortunately we care about these environs much more than we used to, and no longer use them to dump anything we want. Instead, they have become a source of beauty and concern.

Comment by AB: Open sea pastels by Nancy Stein; paintings of Tomales Bay by Sue Gonzalez.

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Fivepoints Arthouse: Tangible Realities, Idealized Landscapes of Life Experience - Adam Fischer and Drew Hertel.

Review and images by Harry J. Johnson: "Art, on a really basic level, is exactly the same thing as experiencing life," says Adam Fischer. "And the inspiration we gain from life experience is as potent, if not more potent, than recreating it in a work of fine art."

Part of this art installation is a golden-brown car-- a 2003 Honda CR-V. "I've taken eight cross-country trips in this car in the past four years, including two with Drew (Hurtel)," says Adam. Both are recent graduates from the San Francisco Art Institute. "I feel it's really important to experience the country I live in before I explore beyond."

Adam has on a wall by the driver side door a hundred or so Polaroid photos, sunsets and landscapes from his U.S journeys. Regarding this ancient photographic technology, which he's used religiously: "I have just 10 unused photos left of the real (Polaroid) stuff. They won't be making any more."

A painting on the wall near the passenger door is by Drew Hurtel. "It's from my travels in Indonesia, where my cousin lives. I went to visit, backpacked with him, stayed in his family's home. When I got back, that (work) came out.

"My paintings are about spiritual and philosophic, more head-space things with these landscapes," says Hurtel, who uses acrylic ink and India ink on canvas and panels.

Of the art down the hall in the back room of the gallery, Hurtel says, "All these paintings are imagined spaces. I was really inspired as a kid by stories of the Silk Road, stories of travel-- going out there in the world. I'm from Kansas, originally. Every summer I would go to Colorado. I remember from the earliest years, seeing that horizon appear from the flat plains of Kansas and, when away from home, from the mountains of Colorado. When I quit thinking and just paint, mountains come out. I'm also really inspired by Sumi (South Korean) painting, and Japanese Gioji painting."

Another hard-to-miss part of this eclectic show is a rough-hewn, handmade cabin. "We built this cabin with found wood and rocks from Marin and up north," says Drew. "We just wanted to create this space, this thinking spot, to reference a human interaction, a human presence. Adam has artist books in here, that he's made, and I have one of my prints inside."

The show runs through August 27, 2011.

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Canessa Gallery: Essence of Luminescence - Barbara Traub.

Review by RWM: Majestic and powerful compositions. Interesting perspectives and use of lighting. Also gathered here are the supernatural and spiritual with color effects to match grand themes. Mythic protests underway.

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Arata Fine Art Gallery: East Side, West Side - Barbara Fracchia.

Review by RWM: The city captured here in somber circumstances. Nice to see the urban scenery and atmospherics even when it's gray.

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Renegade Institute, 454 Columbus Ave., San Francisco, CA 94133: Freedom. Art, Tools, Philosophy and a Way of Life.

Artists: Akira Beard, Andy Linton, Audi Rudzinski, Christopher Jernberg, Helen Bayly, John Florio, Roman Iacobucci.

Comment by AB: This scavenger's galleria is whatever you want it to be. From a glass case full of axes to a hanging wetsuit to maxims stamped onto wooden spoons, you might find it... or it might find you.

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Hatch Gallery, Oakland, CA: While We Sleep - Aaron Hodges.

Review by Clare Coppel: Aaron Hodges makes art based on his friends' and his own experiences in the military. Straightforward human storytelling on a subject that is all to often put out of mind though denial, or misrepresented or distorted by judgmental retoric.

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