General comment by AB: I am honked. Wanna know why? Well dear artsters, there's a dude named Kenneth Baker (writes about art for a local paper called the Chronicle) who's got a big league bug up his ass about Dale Chihuly, his art, and his current exhibition at the de Young Museum. He is so incensed, he unleashes a torrent of elitist vitriol not in one column, but two. In the first, he merely trashes the art, the artist, and the de Young. The second briefly appears to be an apology for the first, but turns even more venomous as he proceeds to denigrate infidels everywhere, remind his readers how stupid they are, and then progressively degenerate into what at its depths sounds strangely like the flailings of a hard-copy has-been lashing out at the Internet.

Here's the part I don't get. According to Kenneth Baker, it's somehow not OK for ordinary everyday people who just plain like art, but who may not know that much about it, to be able to see the kinds of art they like on exhibit at museums (whether or not, depending on who you talk to, it's really art). Is the peasantry that undeserving?

As for Dale Chihuly, no one can deny that the man has elevated the delicate "craft" of glass blowing to unprecedented heights, combining glass, light, reflection, and backdrops in ways that materialize wondrous kaleidoscopic fantasies for all to marvel at. And when I say all, I mean all. Even the most callous arrogant exclusionary art snits have to admit that Chihuly is exceptionally good at what he does. Is it art? Maybe it is; maybe it isn't. Should it be banned from museums? Some people seem to think so.

But Chihuly does something else too-- something we occasionally overlook-- which is that he bulks museum attendance figures wherever he shows, among that bulk being first-time visitors. Why do these neophytes dare to cross the thresholds? Because they finally feel like they'll be seeing something they can understand and appreciate. And once someone visits a museum for the first time, all subsequent visits become that much easier. There is no underestimating this phenomenon.

As for Kenneth Baker, if he had his way, our hallowed museums would show only genuine bona fide art. No superficial garish decorative tripe for this man. He'll show the real cerebral deal-- ouevres that make us think, that adhere to and advance the tenets and precepts of art history, rife with appropriate antecedents and precedents, that assume the requisite levels of graduate or post-graduate study necessary to comprehend them, and that require a lifetime of dedication and discipline in order to be "enjoyed." And a paltry handful of meta-entitled pedants, poseurs, and pretenders will have the museums all to themselves, their own personal sanctuaries, where they'll titter and twitter amongst each other about the ignorant Chihuly-loving riffraff below. Hmmm. The world of Kenneth Baker...

Having said that, I have the greatest respect (perhaps even envy) for Baker's insight, knowledge, intelligence, experience, wisdom, and writing skills. Now if he'd only incorporate a little more kindness. Mr. Baker-- Dale Chihuly never did anything to you, nor did his fan club, nor did ordinary everyday people who enjoy visiting their local museums to see what they believe to be art. Perhaps lighten up a touch.

Ugh. Enough. I hate writing like this. On to better things. Like for instance, how 'bout we see who's starring on the local creative stage tonight? You're game? Excellent.

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Gallery Paule Anglim: Mark Paron and Elena Zolotnitsky; Keith Hale - Hard Looks.

Review by Jennifer Jeffrey: Gallery Paule Anglim is showing the work of two winners of the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award, Mark Paron and Elena Zolotnitsky. The two have vastly divergent styles; Paron forms sculptures and whimsical scenes from insulated wire, plastic flowers and other found objects, while Zolotnitsky paints reflective still-lifes and portraits of women in classic settings. The two styles are almost so different that I find it disconcerting; the wild, playful energy of Paron's pieces clashes with the quiet moods reverberating in Zolotnitsky's work, and I wonder if I'm fully able to appreciate either when they're in the same space.

Comment by AB: Mark Paron transforms Home Depot stuff like electrical cable, rope, plastic tubing, and decorative frills like fake flowers into fanciful sculptural frolics. Wait. What's that? Uh oh. My archival sprite is telling me that Paron's art is so delicate and pliable, it's gonna be really hard to dust without, as they say in the parlance, compromising its integrity. It's a significant tactical issue, but not without remedy.

In the anteroom, we have a set of levity-laden self-portrait drawings by Keith Hale. Normally, I'm cool on the concept of arting onesself up over and over again, but as with Robert Arneson, Hale's drawings are such fun, I can surely enjoy them indefinitely. Plus special added bonus-- they double as playful reminders never to take yourself too seriously.