GREGORY LIND - HOSFELT - FECAL FACE DOT
ARTZONE 461 - GALERIA DE LA RAZA - A.MUSE - ARTS BENECIA
VENUSIAN GALLERY WEST - CLIMATE THEATER - OXENROSE SALON
(plus DeWitt Cheng reporting from Benecia)
10.25.08
The Art of Buying Art
Art Appraisals
Services & Consulting:
Articles:
Product Reviews:
Art Price References
San Francisco Art Openings
Recent Updates
Support This Site
Donor Links
Site Expert
Gregory Lind Gallery: Sarah Bostwick - Landlord White.
Comment by AB: Several fine seriously detailed wall-mounted architectural bas-reliefs by Sarah Bostwick highlight the show, one of which is delicately built out with construction and then partially set into the wall-- all as clean and satisfying as can be. Kudos. There's also three photographs and a larger painted wood sculpture which, to tell the truth, don't necessarily advance the cause, but hey-- the wall pieces are so good, who cares?
Art by Sarah Bostwick (like it). Partially set into the wall art (like it). Art. Art. Art.
***
Hosfelt Gallery: Jutta Haeckel - Whiteout; Jonathan Brand - One for Another.
Comment by AB: Fascinating abstract/representational blends by Jutta Haeckel at first appear completely abstract, but when you get in there and start parsing 'em out, you discover surprisingly realistic elements like graffiti, buildings, tree branches, and more. Nicely done. In the antechamber, Jonathan Brand commemorates his epic five-year rebuilding of a 1969 Mustang which he then sold to buy his fiancée an engagement ring. And we all lived happily ever after.
Paintings by Jutta Haeckel. Art (Jutta Haeckel). Art (Jutta Haeckel). Art (Jutta Haeckel). Art (Jutta Haeckel). Mustang renovation art (Jonathan Brand). Sell Mustang buy diamond art (Jonathan Brand).
***
Fecal Face Dot Gallery: Tiffany Bozic - Symmetrical Balance.
Comment by AB: I remain an abiding fan of Tiffany Bozic's fine animal and creature-esque paintings on maple panel (and also hand-painted prints), so sumptuously subtle and inviting, you just saunter right in and it's bliss from that moment on.
Paintings by Tiffany Bozic. Art. Art. Art closer. Art.
***
ArtZone 461 Gallery: Jane Fisher - Down Time.
Comment by AB: Twenty-year survey of paintings and works on paper by Jane Fisher, portraits and figure paintings for the most part, all adept. What gives Fisher's work depth and bite is that you know there's a story behind each piece-- either the one she tells you or the one you make up yourself.
Paintings by Jane Fisher. Art. Art. Jane Fisher. Art. Art.
***
Galeria de la Raza: Ana Teresa Fernández - Ecdisis.
Comment by AB: Intense heartfelt sculptural installation by Ana Fernández is dedicated to the women of Juarez, Mexico. Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas has witnessed hundreds of murders and disappearances of young women factory workers in recent years-- all of which continue to remain unsolved. Fernández editorializes on this tragedy with glass chard sculptures of children orphaned by the epidemic, carvings on mirror glass, sheet metal sculptures of dismembered body parts and religious symbols, and a lit carved wood construction memorializing a law passed by the Mexican government ostensibly to solve the problem, but which has accomplished nothing of the sort.
Installation by Ana Fernández. Art. Art. Art. Art.
***
a.Muse Gallery: Chester Elmore - The Mystery Behind the Mask.
Comment by AB: Compelling show of scratchboard portraits, some accentuated with acrylic paints, by Chester Elmore. Elmore tells me he's a retired San Francisco policeman who, for fourteen years was a forensic artist for the department, reconstructing facial features of decomposed or otherwise unidentifiable victims, and drawing profiles of suspects provided by crime scene witnesses. He adds that many of the facial expressions in his compositions relate to actual individuals and incidents he encountered and experienced during his tenure with the SFPD. Good art; good show; go see.
Art by Chester Elmore. Art. Chester Elmore - art. Art. Art.
***
Venusian Gallery West, 1286 Folsom Street, San Francisco, CA 94103: The Luminous Art of Eric Ehlenberger; Claudia Cohen - Bronze Sculptures.
Comment by AB: The strange neon wonderland courtesy of Eric Ehlenberger is complemented by Claudia Cohen's enchangingly disquieting polychromed bronze sculptures. Plus there's all kinds of wiggy peeps scurrying about.
Neon art and sculpture by Eric Ehlenberger. Art (Eric Ehlenberger). Art (Eric Ehlenberger). Sculpture by Claudia Cohen. Claudia Cohen - sculpture.
***
Climate Theater: Chance Operations.
Artists: Kirkman Amyx, Victor Cartegena, Reenie Charričre, Luis Delgado, Alan Disparte, Double Vision, Mary Franck, Marguerite Harris, Lynn Kirby, Beth Lilly, Kathleen Quillian and Gilbert Guerrero, Niki Shapiro, Tim Thompson.
Comment by AB: Art, performance, installation, games, video, sound, and more-- all about chance-- taking place in the labyrinthine Climate Theater space. Wander from room to room and onto the roof for one uncommon experience after another. It's pretty dark, unfortunately, so my photographic frolic is limited.
Art. Art. Luis Delgado prognosticates the future. Loteria Cosmologica by Luis Delgado. Art.
***
Oxenrose Salon: The Dirty Hairy Show.
Artists: Anna Billar, Ramon Martins, Carlos Dias, Elisa Sassi, Carlinhos Dias, Apo Fousek, Fefe Talavera, Diana-Sofia, Gustavo Lacerda, David Charles, Melinda Gorham, Vince Montelongo, Manuel Gomes, Cris Seixas, F. Hauck, J.P. Giuseppi, Mike Hughes, Estandelau, Tinico Rosa, Ricardo Portilho + Júlia Vale.
Comment by AB: It's art about hair, but what it's really about is a party!
Art. Art. Dog humping a lime slice art. Art. Relative density.
***
Arts Benecia: Mary Oros and William Harsh.
Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: Mary Oros and William Harsh are Benicia artists who draw on various aspects of Modernism, particularly Surrealism, and create their sculptures and paintings, respectively, through creative dialogue with their materials. Oros' organic forms belie their industrial materials of fiberglass, plaster and concrete, suggesting hives and nests, or traps or tombs; with their emotional ambivalence (and occasional resemblance to animals, our surrogates), they're reminiscent of the psychologically charged sculpture of Louise Bourgeois and Lee Bontecou. Harsh's oil paintings depict stacks or towers of discarded items or junk set in barren landscapes; Picasso and Beckmann are evident influences, as is Chirico, but the works have the power of Abstract Expressionism; his images combine abstraction and figuration but seem to be the results of competing constructive and destructive impulses that have battled to a draw.
Red Wall of Holes (Mary Oros). Diorama (William Harsh). Mary Oros - William Harsh. Indigo Under Lace (Mary Oros). Tripod (William Harsh) vs. Quadruped (Mary Oros).
***