HESPE - DOLBY CHADWICK - PAULE ANGLIM

HANG - SPOKE ART - EVER GOLD

12 GALLAGHER LANE - CELLSPACE

09.01.11

(with assistance from DeWitt Cheng and Mairead O'Connor)



Self-representation vs gallery representation. Click Here.

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Hespe Gallery: Cities - A Group Exhibition.

Artists: Kim Cogan, Gus Heinze, Patricia Chidlaw, Winni Wintermeyer.

Comment by AB: Art centered around cities. That's it.

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Dolby Chadwick Gallery: Guy Diehl.

Comment by AB: Guy Diehl paints still lifes super exceptionally well. Many have art books in them plus examples of the art that's in those book. So not only can Guy Diehl paint like Guy Diehl, but he can paint like many other artists as well. His compositions are so deceptively straightforward, some viewers might unwittingly overlook their virtuosity. So just to make sure you don't, I hereby christen Diehl's show Pick of the Evening. This is the good stuff.

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Gallery Paule Anglim: Terry Allen - Ghost Ship Rodez, Works from "The Momo Chronicles."

Comment by AB: According to the ballyhoo, "The Momo Chronicles is inspired by an episode in the life of French legend Antonin Artaud, revolutionary artist, playwright and actor. Artaud believed a walking stick in his possession to be the staff of Jesus Christ handed down to St. George, and in 1937 departed to Ireland to return the stick to its rightful home. In Dublin followed Artaud's dramatic mental breakdown where he was arrested and deported to France. The violence and madness of this journey (he was chained, in a straitjacket, to a cot in the hold of the ship) form the thematic core from which Allen's work departs."

Aside from the ghost ship Rodez installation itself, the range of the works on paper is most impressive, encompassing all manner of antecedents from vintage poster art to medical charts, Audubon and Ab-Ex... at least for me. Plus check out the video performance of actress Jo Harvey Allen in the back gallery. Recommended viewing-- all of it.

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Hang Art Gallery: Phillip Hua - Entwined Excess.

Comment by AB: Phillip Hua's mixed media works essay on finance, commerce, nature, the environment and the interdependence of pretty much everything.

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Spoke Art Gallery: September Group Exhibition.

Artists: Handiedan, Charmaine Olivia, Craww, Tatiana Suarez.

Comment by AB: Handiedan's intricate topographical mixed media works hook me here.

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Ever Gold Gallery: Owen Takabayashi.

Review by Mairead O'Connor: Owen Takabayashi's solo show consists of reclaimed materials that are created into works of art at the gallery itself, as part of Ever Gold's Residency Program. Some of Takabayahi's work is rebellious and fun, while others are more serious and reserved.

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12 Gallagher Lane: Artist Jonah Ward.

Comment by AB: The modus here? Strands of molten glass laid down onto panels of exotic wood. Watching videos of the artist at work definitely adds gravity to the art.

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CELLspace Gallery: Chain Gang.

Comment by AB: Group show based on a chain letter sent from artist to artist.

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Addendum:

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