D-STRUCTURE - EDO SALON - DRIFTWOOD SALON

ARATA - RARE DEVICE - MERCURY 20 (OAKLAND)

09.03.10

(with assistance from Harry J. Johnson, DeWitt Cheng and RWM)

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D-Structure: Magnetic Fields - Sean Chapman.

Review by Harry J. Johnson: "The whole idea of this show is based on my fascination with space, spatial space and outer space," says artist Sean Taylor Chapman, "I like the heavenly bodies, the celestial, weightless aspect of space."

Sean is showing his latest work, Magnetic Fields, at D-Structure, a clothing store in the Lower Haight in San Francisco, through September.

"I hand-build these frames out of poplar and Masonite," continues Sean. "They're all 24 by 24 inches. I've been fascinated by album artwork and the harmony of the square. I import a pencil and charcoal drawing into Photoshop and do a bunch of trickery there. Print it out at my printer shop on this nice cotton rag paper that is really substantial, mount it and then lay down thin coats of encaustic wax."

Pointing to his work, Moonchild, the piece that inspired the show, Sean states, "It's of an Asian girl with really graphic tribal makeup. This sent me into the creative momentum that delivered the rest of the works."

The show also includes his first attempt at a triptych, Every Shadow, No Matter How Deep, Is Threatened by Morning Light. According to the artist, "I was going for the infinite fabric of time kind of thing."

"I sold a couple of pieces at a previous show here. With this show I wanted to attempt something similar that I knew would sell in this market. I approached these works with the San Francisco fog. Most of these works have that foggy approach."

In this installation, Sean integrates the use of vintage-style lights, which hang down from the ceiling in front of or above each piece. At times he has included a small green six-sided symbol within the artwork. "With the hexagon," Sean says, "I focus on the simple building blocks of life, honeycombs, beehives-- that type of structure."

When Sean is not creating art or involved in other heavenly activities, he pours drinks at Grumpy's American Pub, near Levi's Plaza in San Francisco.

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Edo Salon: Ehren Reed - Sink & Swell.

Review by RWM: Find here the evocation of the past. Long before digital there was stitching, these thread works by Ehren Reed tantalizing viewers with questions of meaning and intent. The style is suitable for her portraits from the past, though if you look closely, there are also those who kiss within the delicate rectangular webs of stitching.

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Driftwood Salon: A Place of Her Own. Curated by the Asian American Women Artists Association.

Artists: Solongo Tseekhuu, Irene Wibawa, Xioajie Zheng, Vivian Truong, Isabelle Thuy Pellaud, Angie Chau, Nancy Hom, Suzan Kitazawa, Beverly Quintana, Shari Arai DeBoer.

Review by RWM: Witness here the results of the continuing search for beauty. Depictions of the outdoor green healing world promise hope for a permanent garden with permanent plants. You can also find peace in the beautiful colors of abstraction, or in figurines surrounded by glass. There is even a note of fatality with fortune cookies being memorialized. Perhaps not everyone here will find the perfect place for them, but not lost on the assemblage is the caution that one should also be careful about what they wish for.

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Arata Fine Art Gallery: The Boys are Back in Town.

Artists: Jesse Allen, Peggy Magovern, Jason Griego, Bruno Aguirre, Arianna Siegel, Patricia Boyle, more.

Comment by AB: A motley miscellany here with distinct focus on North Beach art and artists.

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Rare Device: Spin - Mati McDonough and Jennifer Judd-McGee.

Review by RWM, images c/o Rare Device: Not only gaming, but also gambling. Take note of the roulette umbrella in the rain. Spin on display? There appears to be a Global Warming spin as well. And of course, those animal people so familiar of Mission District art shows make their expected appearances.

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Mercury 20 Gallery, Oakland, CA: Mary V. Marsh - Everybody Needs a Story; Laura Van Duren - Not for Sale.

Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: Mary V. Marsh and Laura Van Duren show work sharing, to generalize a bit, the theme of escape. Marsh's linoleum cut prints depict engrossed readers that she sketched on her commutes to work; the images are fittingly printed on newspapers, old library cards and pages taken from discarded books, as well as on printmaking paper. Van Duren's wall-hanging assemblage sculptures and large walk-in installation, "Truth Scope," combine text (painted and collaged) with symbols of freedom and growth (birds, branches, and roots). A portion of her sales proceeds goes to nonprofits opposing the international slave trade.

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