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FIRST FRIDAY; 08.05.05 Springer-Croke Fine Art: Concerning the Spiritual in Art & Home. Artists: Patrick Healey, Reiner, David Starfas. Comment: I think this might be the gallery's Grand Opening, located on the dapper stretch of Sacramento Street. Good turnout, chipper ambience, live jazz, not sure about the spiritual aspect of the art-- looks like your basic paintings to me. So I'm scoping the scene when an attractive well-dressed woman offers her hand and launches into a chat, acting very interested. It takes me about ten seconds to figure out she's crocked to the gills and babbling incomprehensible drivel. And here I am thinking it's my smoldering libidinal charisma. Oh well. Art. Art. Art. Art. Circumstance (above Haute Home). *** Pigman Gallery: Paper Awesome curated by Brion Nuda Rosch. Artists: Ky Anderson, Carl Auge, Blen Baldridge, Kelie Bowman, Randy Colosky, Nancy Chan, Chris Corales, Renee Delores, Rita DiLorenzo, Sacha Eckes, Jeff Eisenberg, Julia Elsas, Tia Factor, Tara Lisa Foley, James Gallagher, Alicia Gibson, Robert Gutierrez, Joseph Hart, Harrison Haynes, Drew Heffron, Phillip Hua, Ryan Jacob Smith, Jordin Isip, Rich Jacobs, Xylor Jane, Denise Kupperschmidt, Brad K Alder, Kyle Mock, Issac Lin, Paula Malesardi, Allyson Mellberg, Nickolas C. Mohanna, Mat O'Brien, Kelly Ording, Dennis Parlante, Chad Pfarr, Kyle Ranson, Daniel Reneau, Don Roller, Christine Shields, Casey Smith, Jen Smith, Sarah Smith, Derrick Snodgrass, Sto, Clint Taniguchi, Sara Thustra, Ryan Wallace, Liz Walsh, Jessica Williams, John Wood, many more. Comment: Over 150 artists create over 550 works of art, every piece on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper (that's the rule). Prices range from $16 to about $600 with most in the $100-$250 range (one's NFS and one's available for trade). Unquestionably better than last year's installment; I'm not sure whether there have been one or two previous. They used to be at Mimi Barr. You can tell the artists take the show seriously; everything's done with care. If you want to see all kinds of players, styles, and flavors, dense and together-- a tight sum-up of the San Francisco art scene-- this is the show to see. Plus you've got the treasure hunt aspect-- so much hangs so close that you have to zoom in hard in order to access the winners (of which there are plenty). Art Art. Art. "Books on Tape" (Kottie Paloma) - Project Room (Andrew Vogt). Art Art. Back Room installation (Jill Bliss, Suzanne Husky, Jovi Schnell). Art Art. Art. Performance art. *** 310 Studio, 310 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103: Who We Are - Paintings by Michael Page. Comment: Michael Page kind of updates the reknowned big-eye ethos of Fifties and Sixties art star Margaret Keane-- with a bit of a wicked twist, and compositions ranging from pretty to pretty gruesome. He works smooth and polished, he's got potential, and if he lightens up on the blood, he could show on Geary Street (just above Union Square) or Beach Street (near Ghirardelli Square), or pretty much anywhere else where galleries cater to patrons who prefer their art benign. Don't laugh. And don't think for an instant that hangin' at your local MOMA is the only game in town-- the art world's a big-ass place. Play the commercial sector right and you can make major mega mucho monster moolah. But watch yer step-- big dough can be a treacherous pal. Art. Michael Page (left) - art. Art. Art. Venue. *** Low Gallery: Daily Dose - Today's Dose - Sacha Eckes. Other Daily Dose artists: Daniel Tierney, Nathan Cordero, Zenaida Sengo, Rebecca Miller & Nancy Spoelhoff, Jon Hittner, Bigfoot, Julia Petho, Vincent Perea, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, John Casey, Charlie Callahan, Aiyana Udesen, Daren Rabinovitch, Sacha Eckes, Kelly Tunstall & Riley McFerrin, Kari Byron, Matt Furie, Amy Yvonne Yu & Friends, Alika Cooper & Mike Parks, Porous Walker, Adam Schwarcz, Kottie Paloma, Kyle Ranson & Friends, more. Comment: Sacha Eckes shows a group of works on paper based on Goya's "Disasters of War." Her show is one in a series of shows called "Daily Dose," a plot hatched by Low Gallery owner and Fecal Face Dot Com father John Trippe. Here's how it works-- one artist (sometimes more than one) gets Low Gallery for a day for a show, and this goes on for a month. It's an outstanding concept, not only for artists who may not get many solo opportunities, but also for Low because it gets warm bodies through the door, and for the local artist community because it brings the creative contingent together, and for art addicts who jones through the August drought. Art. Art. Sacha Eckes - "Daily Dose" concepticator John Trippe. Art. Innards. Campus. *** Femina Potens: Mixed Media Works by Billie Mandel. Comment: Paintings, drawings, sculpture. Art. Art. Billie Mandel - art. Art. Ingress. Egress. *** Root Division: Conversations with the Wall. Artists: Jeong-Im Yi, Theresa Gooby, Emily Kuenstler, Sarah Barsness, Roger Ngim, Hiroyo Kaneko, Robin Ward, Vanessa Blaikie, Eila Kovanen, Joey Piziali. Comment: Root Division appears to be a relatively new organization dedicated to supporting the arts for artists as well as for the community at large. They provide arts education for children and adults, create and produce shows and events, and offer studio space to volunteer professional artists. Decent mixed-bag show in a decent exhibition space under construction. Art. Art. Art. Art. Art. Threshold. |
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