LIMN - THE DUMP - VARNISH - ART SPACE 712

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS - A.MUSE

(with assistance from RWM and Pilar Vree)

09.18.09

Limn Gallery: The Work of Yang Yongliang; China Avant Garde, part XI.

China Avant Garde photographers: Yu Hang, Han Bing, Wang Ningde, Zhang Xianyong.

Review by RWM: Yang Yongliang presents clearly Asian exploration of our disturbing urban footprint. One can watch as we export our technology and the pollution it produces into the sky. Yongliang's work is a fascinating combination of detail and cloudscapes. A close look is rewarded. Astounding, but at the same time disheartening. The concern over Global Warming has not been adopted by everybody.

Comment by AB: Yang Yongliang's digital reincarnations of traditional Chinese landscape paintings are in fact complex collaged images of billowing factory smoke, skyscrapers, electrical towers, cell phone antennas, elevated highways, construction cranes and similarly unnatural impositions on once pristine environments. Quite remarkable imagery. As RWM says, look close and achieve an uneasy enlightenment. In the right gallery, enjoy a group show of current Chinese avant garde photography by Yu Hang, Han Bing, Wang Ningde and Zhang Xianyong. Good show; go see.

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Art at the Dump: This Sugar is Raw by David Hevel; Systemic Obsolescence by James Sansing; Living in Ruins by D. Cherie Johnson.

Comment by AB: Flamboyant flapdoodle by David Hevel, guaranteed excessive but always on the mark, pokes fun at America's characters, conventions and values. James Sansing reinvigorates abject orphaned odds and ends with complicated assemblages and strange photo essays... plus a terrific rendition of a forsaken swimming pool, epitomizing the American dream gone bust. In the gallery down the block, D. Cherie Johnson materializes curious little landscapes that could be extraterrestrial or right around the corner (possible promise here).

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Varnish Fine Art: Wrecking Ball.

Review by Pilar Vree: Faced with closure due to eminent domain, Varnish has decided to go all-out with what may well be its last show. In the upper gallery, the cream of the crop has been displayed and is for sale, featuring excellent work by artists such as JennyBird Alcantara, Kevin Peterson, and Michael Page. Live painting and creative anarchy on the main floor add to the fun. If Varnish must go, it will go out with a bang.

Comment by AB: Special attraction tonight only-- a heavy metal kinetic sculpture whacking a photographic effigy of Supervisor Chris Daly in smack the center of his head.

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a.Muse Gallery: Rebecca Kerlin - Constructions, Painterly Alterations of Photographed Landscapes..

Review by RWM: To the driver and riders the landscape has changed. You can't help notice the alteration from the floral and landscaped world to the concrete jungle. The view of the rider has become increasingly urbanized. We are required to find our way around streets which are now designed for cars, not necessarily people. This change does not need to be permanent. Urban landscaping to the rescue.

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Art Space 712: I'll Bet You Can't Paint a Portrait - The Genesis of Bay Area Figurative Art Now.

Artists: Jeff Bellerose, Lin Fischer, John Goodman, Randy Kirksey, Barbara Lawrence, William McElhiney, Tom Mogensen, David Molesky, Kevin Moore, Ursula O¹Farrell, Shilo Randall-Ratner, and Gary Ruddell. Juried by Theophilus Brown.

Comment by AB: Figure painting extravaganza opens tonight in this fine exhibition space. I hear it's a kick-ass affair as I'm making my rounds early in the evening, but I can't make it until later when it's basically me, assorted stragglers, the band and the art. No biggie. I inquire as to the proprietors and it's owned by a firm called A & B Construction-- so thank you A & B for your exceptionally generous support of the arts.

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Addendum:

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