CATHARINE CLARK - FREY NORRIS - ARC

LUGGAGE STORE - MARKET STREET - THE LAB

ELEANOR HARWOOD - JOEL B. GARZOLI

ART MEETS ARCHITECTURE

11.05.11

(with assistance from Clare Coppel and RWM)



Mat Gleason weighs in on the art world 1%. Click Here.

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Catharine Clark Gallery: Ray Beldner - Portraits; Nicholas and Sheila Pye in the Media Room.

Review by RWM: Portraits that connect to shared experiences leave one guessing as to what the totality is really all about. See impressions of the famous through the mist. The watercolor drawings, on the other hand, exude discontent in unusual forms. Go blame the economy.

Review by Clare Coppel: Portraits of famous people like Oprah and Barack Obama. Some done with gloves, some very out of focus, but you still know who everyone is-- kind of creepy, I like it.

Comment by AB: The gloves accompanying the works on paper in the rear gallery are plastic casts of childrens' hands, which Beldner wore while creating the art. An interesting twist on seeing the world through someone else's eyes. In the video parlor, Nicholas and Sheila Pye take turns eating and then regurgitating roses in an intimate back and forth interplay appropriately entitled "The Flower Eaters."

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Frey Norris Contemporary & Modern: Kate Eric (Kate Tedman and Eric Siemens) - Never Even.

Review by Clare Coppel: According to the artist statement, "Never Even" by Kate Eric is all about "creative destruction", and a pretty interesting perspective on that. The paintings make me think of fabric or bodily tissue flying though space. Or weird birds.

Review by RWM: Zany. Unpredictable. Wild. Quirky. Unexplainable. A little bit of everything flows through the air.

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Arc Studios & Gallery: Decay.

Artists: Phillip Alden Benn, Sidnea D'Amico, Mari Lou Desmeules, Chanel Matsunami Govreau, Philip Hua, Dan Newman, Jenny Robinson, Tim Roseborough.

Comment by AB: This group show chronicles changes over time, mainly with respect to decay and degradation, both physical and spiritual. It's a bit of a stretch as to how some of this art melds with the modus, but the point's well made overall.

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Luggage Store Gallery: In the Moment - a Benefit Exhibition to Support the Luggage Store.

Artists: Danya Aletebi, John Felix Arnold III, Tauba Auerbach, Christopher Burch, Mark Bradford, Thomas Campbell, Monica Canilao, CEKIS, Julian Dash (Holy Stitch), Sean Desmond, Cheryl Dunn, Neck Face, Date Farmers, .t.w.five, Dustin Fosnot, Erlin Geffrard, Os Gemeos, GiGi, Jim Goldberg, Matt Gonzalez, Henry Gunderson, David Gurman, Chad Hasegawa, Frederick Hayes, Maya Hayuk, Terry Hoff, Rich Jacobs, Chris Johanson+Johanna Jackson, Titus Kaphar, Stella Lai, Josh Lazcano, Jack Leamy, Yoon Lee, Hunter Longe, Chris Lux, Ari Marcopoulos, Alicia McCarthy, Barry McGee, Julio Cesar Morales, Gabby Quynh-Anh Miller, Ruby Rose Neri, Kottie Paloma, Nina Pandolfo, Ferris Plock, Johanna Poethig, Steve Powers, Rye Purvis, Ricardo Richey, Jose Riveros, Clare Rojas, Silvio Samora, Jovi Schnell, Andrew Schoultz, Dave Schubert, Yarrow Lazer-Smith, Tavares Strachan, Swoon, Mickalene Thomas, Sara Thustra, Robyn Twomey, Basco Vazko, Ben Venom, Paul Wackers, Will Yakulic, Tobin Yelland.

Comment by AB: Cherry selection of artworks for sale and auction to benefit the venerable Luggage Store Gallery (check out that artist list). But that's not all-- top it all off with an intimate special guest performance by Devendra Banhart. This one's a keeper.

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The Lab: Hypothesis - An Art/ Science Fair.

Artists: Alex Benedict, Elizabeth Bernstein, Jesse Boardman Kauppila, Maria Burr & Brad Danitz, Jamie Forero-Romero, Katherine Hawthorne, Sarah Hotchkiss, Carrie Hott, David Janesko, Judy Johnson-Williams, Todd Lerew, Carey Lin & Wayne Grim, Julia Litman-Cleper, Jen Lowe & Benjamin Levitt, Presley Martin, Clara McClenon, Meredith McDonald, Seana McNamara, Christine Metzger, Jed Miner, Rebecca Najdowski, Emilie Puttrich, Melysa Reiss, Renee Rhodes, Eric Stewart.

Comment by AB: We surely all remember those science fairs from junior high and high school-- your basic vinegar and baking soda volcano kinda deals. Well, here's the artful interpretation of that, presented in conjunction with the Bay Area Science Festival. Not sure how much hard science is at play here, but for a good old fashioned brain stretch, you can't go wrong.

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Eleanor Harwood Gallery: Mel Davis - A Surprising Turn of Events; James Chronister & Jill Sylvia.

Comment by AB: If you don't know much about art, you'll wonder why you're here. If you know something about art, you'll get that a respectable range of skills are necessary to pull this off just right in terms of color, composition and overall aesthetic sensibility. It's almost like, "I know how to paint so well that I can fool you into thinking I don't know how to paint." At least that's about where I am with this right now. Stay tuned for further developments.

In the rear gallery, Jill Sylvia goes architectural with her exquisitely obsessive repetitive ledger page cut-outs while James Chronister demonstrates that he can replicate a black & white newspaper illustration in paint that's better than the illustration itself. Worthy show on all counts; stop on by.

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Gallery 1044: Gerald Huth - Explorations.

Comment by AB: An abstract amble in two and three dimensions by Gerald Huth.

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Art Meets Architecture Gallery: Yarek Godfrey - Imagine.

Comment by RWM: Evocative and erotic. Easy on the mind and imagination.

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Joel B. Garzoli Fine Art: The Magic-Realist Art of Robert Rasely.

Comment by AB: Imaginative blends of realistic elements by Robert Rasely (1950-2005) headline the event. A number of other period and contemporary artists also have works on display.

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Addendum:

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