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new stuff

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What a weekend! - SF OpenStudios week 3

Is ArtSpan’s

http://www.artspan.org/

Open Studio declining? Here’s my mini-review of weekend 3.

More reviews of bay area art are to be found in artfever (http://artfever.blogspot.com/) or fecalface (http://www.fecalface.com/SF/) .

Fri. (10-20-07)

Met with the King and Queen of Open Studios. Artaud goes its own way.

The fun started Fri. eve. with pre-show receptions (parties) at the two Art Explosions and 1890 Bryant. There was lots of food and drink at most studios and live music at some. Great fun but really hard to see the art as the studios were dimmed for the receptions. Hard to say which was more impressive for musical entertainment: the quintet of Jeremy S. or quartet of Cynthia T. You could do both events since they were a short distance. They were the King and Queen of the weekend. I almost stumbled over something (was it art or somebody’s dog?) because it was so dark. Since I had to drive, I couldn’t imbibe on the sumptuous cocktails. Great fun as a party, you could actually meet (or shout with) the artists. It was too difficult to appreciate the art amidst the partying crowd . We put the viewing off until daytime after the parties left.

I had the sobering vision of “more of the same” the next day. Was there really anything new from C.L. (besides a crab), Laura P. (now doing installations), Wendy M., Mike S. (”on top of old smoky” ), on and on…. OK, I digress. Yes, there were some interesting new monoprints from Annie Arrasmith. The paintings of Peggy Gyulai were brilliant, high-key “photoshopy” inspired music & lawn party themes. Inspired by neighbor/roommate Jeremy S., perhaps, but they were actual paintings.

We arrived at Workspace Ltd. Sat. at noon but felt like we were early as many studios were not opened or that some of the artists were just arriving and setting up. Tana Powell had ONE (maybe 2) interesting ariel landscapes. Wish there were more. Transitions a lot smoother than Thiebaud’s. R.R. - what happened to you? You had some great pastel landscapes (a muted Wolf Kahn), but too little this time.

We trekked on to Blue Studio and Project Three. As usual, I was pleased with Matthew Frederick’s (http://www.mjfrederickart.com/) sumptuous landscapes. He also has a show at the Reaves Gallery (http://www.reavesgallery.com/) worth checking out - just not on Halloween! [A note to the people at Reaves - fix that website of yours - like this page: http://www.reavesgallery.com/Featured_Artists.html and the jumbled text around Frederick’s area, also the title of the site - sheesh!]

OK - so there were only 6 artists combined in Blue & Project 3. I didn’t step over homeless people sleeping on the sidewalk and dodge the ethnics rude driving habits for so little to see! I was knocked out (not by a reckless driver) by Kate Nichols figure paintings. They were multiple exposures of a figure on a bed that took on a level of abstraction. Seemed as though they were paintings on panels . She was sharing a space with a pigeon painter who I at first mistook as the artist. When I tried talking to Nichols, she disappeared. I came back later only to find her obliviously engaged in conversations with other 20-somethings, so I left. Not even a mailing list! All that talent wasted! Pity, that. I was similarly knocked off my rocker by the display of multiple palettes of toilet paper at the 99 cents store across the street - almost pure Warhol!

But, back to Art Explosion to make me forget my disappointment of the meager showings so far. Check out Ian Hart’s figure paintings (http://www.ihart.net/figure.htm ) not for the realism that others seem to achieve easily (such as Michelle Osman http://michelleosman.com/index.php?type=2 or Paul Morin: http://www.studiomorin.com

disappointed in that latest figure, Paul ) [c’mon, put down that camera] but for the color vitality that working from live models achieves, and the compositions. OK, so you could go really abstract with Bonnie Dominguez’s ( http://bonniedominguez.com/index.htm ) gestural works! Unlike the older generation artists, many of these younger artists have websites that they actually update frequently, so these links are useful bookmarks for those who are interested in contemporary figure art (I have a post on the subject coming up soon).

The 3 mega-art compounds (art explosion I and II an Workspace Ltd) are enough to take your entire weekend. We still found time to check out Belcher studios and a few single sites. 2 very painterly artists at Belcher: Tracy Grubbs http://www.tracygrubbs.com/

and Paul Ferney: http://www.paulferney.com/

are worth checking out. Grubbs’ paintings had heavy oil vapors, as though they were recently completed. Cars! Cars! and more cars! I wish I were so fond of cars - if I didn’t have to live with their dangerous blight! Remember the cute “beetle” volkswagon - and all that noise and smog it produced! Luckily, they’re extinct here except in Grubb’s painting. I cannot say that I remember that trashy little car as fondly at she depicts it (romantically) . Perhaps it is a symbol of the 60’s generation? Ferney’s work was uneven, early works a bit awkward. Later works had interesting atmospheric transitions in the backgrounds, but awkward foregrounds (IMHO).

OK - now for the best kept secret: the still lifes of Takashi Ishii (sorry, no urls, ask me for a contact). Classic still lifes in oil at $60. His flower paintings a bit too tentative, but the lemons and pears are well worth the $$. Sorry, no prints!

And what about Project Artaud? no artist from there was listed in ArtSpan, but they were alive and well, all (perhaps) 20 of them. Artaud was in Open Studios from almost day 1 (some say they started the event). Now they have defected! Is this a comment about ArtSpan? Can Artaud wing it on its own? Is this the future of Open Studios - everyone doing their own? BTW, DE tried to open its doors but nobody stepped inside the house of horrors. Eventually the artist put his prints on a table outside the door, but even that generated little interest.

We browsed the ArtSpan gallery - really weak showing. There are piles of programs still lying on the floor - a sign of no takers.

In summary, this may be an omen for an underwhelming art event (at least as far as what ArtSpan can deliver). More on this in a future post - weekend 4?

posted by Brisbane Senior Artists @ 11:18 AM 0 comments

test of google docs

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Fashion Show at Abu Grebe

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