SAN FRANCISCO ART GALLERIES OPENINGS

FIRST THURSDAY - 09.08.11 - Part II

(with assistance from RWM)



Consulting for collectors from artbusiness.com. Click Here.

***

Altman Siegel Gallery: Fran Herndon. Organized by Lee Plested and Kevin Killian.

Comment by AB: If you want to see some classic Beat Era art, check out this peppy retrospective of North Beach Bohemian Fran Herndon's early work. Beat Era art-- and I'll go so far as to say San Francisco North Beach Beat Era Art-- has a look all it's own, and as far as I'm concerned, has not gotten anywhere near the attention (and appreciation) it deserves. No, it's not easily quantifiable, and those in control are likely not huge fans of commerciality, but overlooking an entire genre based on what it's not makes little sense to me.

***

Toomey Tourell Gallery: Jimi Gleason - Silver Deposit Paintings.

Comment by AB: Seems like a perfect marriage for the times-- art & commodities-- these "silver deposit" paintings by Los Angeles artist Jimi Gleason. Plus it's a perfect two-fer... each Gleason painting is additionally embellished by whatever it happens to reflect.

***

Scott Nichols Gallery: Philipp Scholz Rittermann - The Emperor's River, Photographing Along China's Grand Canal.

Comment by AB: China's Grand Canal is the world's oldest and longest man-made channel-- all 2000 years and 1000 miles worth-- which means that photographer Philipp Scholz Rittermann has plenty of visuals to source from.

***

Corden Potts Gallery: Books - Mary Ellen Bartley.

Comment by AB: In a sense, Mary Ellen Bartley's photographs of pages of books, both open and closed, document the ongoing demise of a vanishing species. With the ongoing onslaught of technological advances, paper books barely make any sense anymore, even the digital kind that you design and print on demand.

***

Bekris Gallery: WordScapes - Wosene Worke Kosrof.

Comment by AB: Lively calligraphic abstractions by Ethiopian-born artist Wosene Worke Kosrof.

***

Patricia Sweetow Gallery: Gail Antokal - Some Drawings.

Comment by AB: Chimerical black & white pastels by Gail Antokal seem like vague recollections conjured up from the past, though she tells me that at least some are entirely based on actual people and events.

***

Rena Bransten Gallery: Matthias Hoch - Train Stations & Night; Ron Nagle - Hamilltoe - New Sculptures & Drawings.

Comment by AB: Is it a potato? Is it a cookie? In the rear gallery, Ron Nagle's enticingly entertaining amorphic sculptures are the perfect curios for confounding the house guests. He complements them with a selection of conceptual drawings. I like 'em. Stop by and see for yourself.

In the front gallery, Matthias Hoch's 1988 photographic croppings of train stations and evening scenes capture the quiet of those vacant late night times.

***

Marx & Zavattero: Minor Inconveniences - Yoon Lee.

Review by RWM: Wild dynamic movement and colors courtesy of Yoon Lee, somewhat more subdued than her past work, but still with plenty of action. Marveling at their style, you might wonder whether these are actually paintings, especially with respect to the jagged swaths of paint that ripple across their surfaces. Great movement and velocity embodied in this cyber world vision.

***

Addendum:

***

Ever get a hankering to support the cause? I sure hope so.

***

First Thursday - August 4, 2011

First Thursday - July 7, 2011

***