Art Day Part II
After the Frida frenzy...Norma and I indulged in 77 and 49 Geary, 2 buildings packed with art galleries in downtown SF. I was on a mission to see one particular artist, Sarah Wagner, whom my boss had recommended...and rightly so. Her gossamer deer sculptures were absolutely perfectly made. Hanging with their feet just grazing the concrete floor in the unique Patricia Sweetow gallery, were a family of deer. The artist explained that she constructed a cardboard deer form and then tailored the silk organza "skin" around the form which was later removed. The installation is title "Nuclear Family" because the artist is concerned with environmental catastrophe and made these deer to stand in for ghost-like victims of a nuclear disaster.
On our next stop, we cruised through the Marx and Zavattero gallery (but weren't allowed to take photos) of work by Mat Gil. A sort of Jetsonesque set-up, the artist had made a group of sleek ceramic forms that rotated on a shiny steel conveyor belt. On the walls were his paintings of the same objects. I actually enjoyed the shadows that the turning objects made on the wall, more than the work itself. hmmm.
Next door in Togonon Gallery, we checked out another recommended show by Steve Baibak titled An Inherited Dystopia. I loved this work (although it was too crammed in the space) and would go back again for another look. These eerie visceral sculptures constructed from discarded objects, was settled only by the sound of a kinetic piece made from parts of an electric fan that dragged a wire across the concrete floor. It was a soothing sound in a funny way.
Other great shows we checked out: Travis Somerville, Walter Robinson, Ray Beldner installation at Catharine Clarkgallery...outstanding! Christian Marclay at Fraenkel Gallery and Marcos Rosales at Seven Wolf...provocative. Also a nice surprise was Amanda Smith at Jack Fischer Gallery, "Candy Garden and Sparkling Sabers". Just up my alley of cute/cynical, these ceramic friezes are inspired by Indian miniatures and explore questions of class in all societies. Watch the YouTube video for more details.
Had enough art yet? Stay tuned... next Norma & I head to the Mission!
ann, you have to see helen sventitsky's postings. you and she are bound to be yoked in glory and wonder and even the zanyexplosions that propelled salvador dali and federico garcia lorca from simple youthful genius boyfriends to the explosions of joyful creation each in his way -- the one, dali, blossoming early and the other, garcia lorca, pressing the classical into the present and dying young a victim of facism but the victor of art.
here's helen (also known as helen rother because that's her hubster's last name):
As you all can see from my recently installed FriendFeed RSS view on the sidebar of my blog, I’ve been rather ensconced in tracking freedom of speech violations whenever I come across them via Twitter, Digg, et. al.
Others have observed this LONG before I made any statements on it, but to say that the once great nation of the United States of America is quickly sliding down ever-widening circles into the hell of fanatical fascism would be an understatement.
Two examples from the links I have on the side there:
61-year-old woman kicked out of McCain “public” townhall
Man Banned from Flying Flag Upside Down, Gets Death Threat
Just to summarize:
The woman was kicked out of McCain’s town hall meeting that day for carrying a sign “McCain=Bush”. WTF?!?!?!?!!?
The man flying the flag upside down was protesting the Iraq war, not disrespecting the flag in any way, shape or form. In fact, according to many an emergency code, hanging the flag upside signals distress.
Well, we ARE a nation in distress! The economy is in tatters, the price for everything is too high, and our civil rights are being eroded by either uptight, autocratic politicians, misguided, so-called “patriots”, and any number of individuals who wouldn’t know the contents of our Constitution if it hit them with a 2×4.
And then came this “tweet” from Republican Congressman John Culberson. Apparently, he’s gotten too popular on Twitter, so the freaked-out Democrat-controlled congress wants to clamp down on content coming out their chambers, in order to ensure that everything coming out of their sewer provided to the American public is “on message”.
WHOSE MESSAGE
As you all can see from my recently installed FriendFeed RSS view on the sidebar of my blog, I’ve been rather ensconced in tracking freedom of speech violations whenever I come across them via Twitter, Digg, et. al.
Others have observed this LONG before I made any statements on it, but to say that the once great nation of the United States of America is quickly sliding down ever-widening circles into the hell of fanatical fascism would be an understatement.
Two examples from the links I have on the side there:
61-year-old woman kicked out of McCain “public” townhall
Man Banned from Flying Flag Upside Down, Gets Death Threat
Just to summarize:
The woman was kicked out of McCain’s town hall meeting that day for carrying a sign “McCain=Bush”. WTF?!?!?!?!!?
The man flying the flag upside down was protesting the Iraq war, not disrespecting the flag in any way, shape or form. In fact, according to many an emergency code, hanging the flag upside signals distress.
Well, we ARE a nation in distress! The economy is in tatters, the price for everything is too high, and our civil rights are being eroded by either uptight, autocratic politicians, misguided, so-called “patriots”, and any number of individuals who wouldn’t know the contents of our Constitution if it hit them with a 2×4.
And then came this “tweet” from Republican Congressman John Culberson. Apparently, he’s gotten too popular on Twitter, so the freaked-out Democrat-controlled congress wants to clamp down on content coming out their chambers, in order to ensure that everything coming out of their sewer provided to the American public is “on message”.
WHOSE MESSAGE http://bigstarlet.wordpress.com
write her.
you are geniuses and down to earth women.
edward mycue
Posted by: edward mycue | July 08, 2008 at 08:55 PM