JOHN PENCE - MUSEUM OF CRAFT AND FOLK ART

ELECTRIC WORKS - SOMARTS

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS

10.12.12

(with assistance from Anne Ross)



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John Pence Gallery: Greg Gandy.

Comment by AB: Virtuoso exposition of paintings by Greg Gandy. At the top of my like list-- tromp l'oeils of vintage film projectors, center city street scenes, and a killer composition of clothes hanging out to dry on a fire escape. Worth a visit.

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Museum of Craft and Folk Art: Fiber Futures - Japan's Textile Pioneers x2.

Artists: Mitsuko Akutsu, Jun'ichi Arai, Tomoko Arakawa, Tetsuo Fujimoto, Dai Fujiwara, Kyoko Ibe, Kiyomi Iwata, Naomi Kobayashi, Kinya Koyama, Kyoko Kumai, Hitomi Nagai, Rei Saito, Hisako Sekijima, Reiko Sudo, Hideho Tanaka, Atsuko Yoshioka.

Comment by AB: Part II of a two-part show features a selection of works by some of Japan's pre-eminent contemporary fiber artists. But the art on exhibit here goes well beyond traditional perceptions of fiber art and crosses boundaries into painting, sculpture and installation. Some of the less conventional ingredients used by these artists are recycled cocoons, antique paper scraps, jute, and stainless-steel filament. Check it out.

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Electric Works Gallery: Grand Birds of the Philippines - David Tomb.

Comment by AB: Lush mixed-media works on paper by David Tomb remind us that we'd better do what we can now to protect our endangered species before it's too late. The particular birds spotlighted here are all native to the Philippines.

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SOMArts Gallery: Calling on the Spirits to Face the Future - Día de los Muertos 2012. Curated by Rene Yañez and Rio Yañez with assistance from architect Nick Gomez.

Artists: Miranda Bergman, Ana Luisa Cardona, Nina Serrano, Kathy deRosas, Ellen Vogel, Keiko Kubo, Betty Segal, Irene LaChance, Nikolas Sikelianos, Martha Rodriguez, Howie Katz, many more.

Review by Anne Ross: The SOMArts Day of the Dead exhibition eloquently expands beyond a traditional altar of remembrance. Over eighty artists explore delicate issues, from personal loss to universal hopes and fears, from individual stories to global concerns. Selected media include video, installation, silk-screen, textiles, paper cut-out, painting, sculpture, photography, illustration, and performance.

Niloufar Talebi's video installation, "everyonedies", displays narratives on life and death with quotes from the dying, their families, and 14th Century Aztec poetry. "Death of the Ara Macao Spirit," an installation by Denise Richards, pays homage to the macao (Scarlet Macaw) with a life-size diving parrot, a written piece explaining the bird's symbolism, and the species' current endangered plight. Dean and Juliet MacCannell's "The Romney Family Dreams its Future" satirizes current events with a series of well-executed cartoons.

The exhibit overall is elegant, haunting, touching, at times melancholy yet wholly uplifting. In the tradition of the Day of The Dead, "Calling on the Spirits to Face the Future" attentively honors the dead and cherishes the living.

Comment by AB: One of my favorite shows of the year. Runs through November 10. Go see.

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Yerba Buena Center for the Arts: Free!Love!Tool!Box! - Nayland Blake; The Parade - Nathalie Djurberg.

Review by Jenny Wantuch: The solo show "Free!Love!Tool!Box!" by Nayland Blake, can also be called "Show and Tell", a concept that the multi-talented artist has developed. The show is an interaction between the artist and audience participation, consisting of several stations where the visitor is encouraged to engage via different mediums, for example...

* By bringing an article of clothing to donate to the exhibition. The items will later be incorporated into artworks made by the artist, and become part of the exhibition.
* By becoming a DJ in a section of the gallery and selecting music from Blake's private music collection of over 3000 LP's.
* By creating their own videos, using their own devices in a designated video booth, and answering questions like; "What is the best thing about your body?" or "When was the last time you felt free?" Selected videos will be displayed on YBCA's YouTube channel.
* By writing down their thoughts with a sharpie on the walls of a white hallway.

Comment by AB: Nayland Blake's exhibition homages the era of San Francisco's vibrant unbridled pre-AIDS gay underground. I can fill in a number of the blanks on this one myself because I was living here at that time, but overall, the installation comes off as somewhat flimsy, arcane and slapdash from visual as well as cognitive perspectives. The exhibition space is huge, granted, and I have no idea whether the show's budget and set-up constraints were adequate or otherwise, but in the end, the presentation is either pulled off with panache or it's not.

Also on the docket, Nathalie Djurberg's fantastic menagerie of birds will have your eyes dancing. Complementing this feathery procession are her strikingly bizarre claymation videos, captivating in their narratives, scripted with a distinct Outsider Art feel. This show's a winner.

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