PATRICIA SWEETOW - GREGORY LIND - BRIAN GROSS

HAINES - CATHARINE CLARK - VARNISH

09.08.12 Part I

(with assistance from RWM)



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Patricia Sweetow Gallery: Gail Wight - Prints and Video; Laura Corallo-Titus - Paintings.

Comment by AB: Stanford Professor Gail Wight configures bones and bone fragments into intricate mimimalist patterns and actualizes the consequences as digital prints. The abstract paintings of Laura Corallo-Titus for the most part hint at lush foliage in landscapes.

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Gregory Lind Gallery: Don Voisine - Paintings.

Comment by AB: Dan Voisine's precise black-positive configurations are certain to please the persnickety. According to the deposition, "The adherence to strict geometries, while summoning formalistic techniques, is simultaneously meditative in its evocation of endless depth, emptiness, and dynamic movement within specified constraints." Talk about scintillating descriptives...

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Brian Gross Fine Art: Roy De Forest - A Figure of Our Times.

Comment by AB: Splendid Funk Art specimens from the estate of noted Bay Area artist Roy De Forest.

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Haines Gallery: Binh Danh - Yosemite.

Review by RWM: All daguerreotypes by Binh Danh have been taken this year (mostly this Spring). His Yosemite show and accompanying book capture the timelessness of the what is considered by many one of the most special places in America. The Yosemite Valley is such a wonderful place that tourists gather there from all over the world. Surprisingly, despite being raised in The Bay Area, Danh (1977- ) did not go to Yosemite until recently, producing this book and exhibit from a more educated perspective than just a bunch of rocks and cliffs. Yosemite helped enact the idea of having a National Park system.

The experience in the valley can be uplifting and awe inspiring. It is also good for one's posture. In Danh's work, the images are timeless. One can see here the influence of other historical photographers like Carleton Watkins and Ansel Adams who also found inspiration from this place. He actually took photographs of some of the same places as Watkins, imbuing the images with an historical sense.

In the short interview included in the book Danh says, "One cannot photograph Yosemite Valley without Watkins and Adams peeking over his shoulder."

Danh's images are not in full color, but they are also not just in black and white. They do not show rich colors, but they do suggest color alterations with additions of sky blues, light yellows and some dark historical greens. The waters and clouds are moving in his mostly still images. His daguerreotypes on silver plating give the works an appearance of mirrors, i.e. he having stated that he wanted the observer to see their own image looking in in his silver daguerreotypes. One, in the process, becomes part of the experience of the land.

As Carl Pope is quoted in the book and exhibit, we are a nation of immigrants and we are rooted to the American landscapes, especially the National Parks. Danh has become caught up in this fascination and history.

The book produced for this exhibit is slim, but may have to suffice for now. It contains background information about the artist and an interview. There are also the images on display.

The exhibit comes at a good time where visitors are now being warned to stay away from Yosemite due to an animal disease outbreak. One can instead through October 27th visit vicariously, and for some, in a postmodern way at The Haines Gallery. The book and exhibit are welcoming and one will find themselves drawn to see the valley by this exhibition even if they have already been there.

Comment by AB: These daguerrotypes are challenging to photograph and are really best seen in person. Plus there's a wonderfully ordered meditative installation by Al Weiwei composed entirely of porcelain sunflower seeds-- on exhibit towards the rear of the gallery. Recommended viewing all the way around.

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Catharine Clark Gallery: Chris Doyle - Idyllwild .

Comment by AB: Chris Doyle update's Thomas Cole's The Course of Empire, waltzing us from pristine beginnings right on through to the bitter end in watercolor, light box panoramas and video. I'm bettin' my bankroll that we're far closer to the end than the beginning. Go see.

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Varnish Fine Art: Smoke & Mirrors - Ransom & Mitchell.

Comment by AB: It's not painting; it's not photography. It's the fantastically fascinating fantasy realms of Stacey Ransom and Jason Mitchell. No matter what you want to be in life, this pair will make that happen. Guaranteed. They can artify anything. Materializing the concoctions of even the most expansive imaginations into reality is not an obstacle. Even the gallery is transformed by their magic. Worth seeing.

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