One-stop Gallery Hopping at Arc

On Saturday night, I finally made it out to Arc Studios and Gallery, a two-story gallery and studio complex that opened in SOMA last year. In the large gallery downstairs, a national juried photography exhibit was on display, featuring a number of local artists. 

From left: Pep Ventosa, George Kaplan, and Hye ryun Son

From left: Lisa Knoop, Sharon Beals

 Upstairs in the "skylight" gallery is another photography exhibit, featuring works from the Bay Area Photography Collective. Both gallery shows will be on display through March 26.

From left: Irene Imfeld, Erin Malone

What was interesting about how the Arc space is set up, is that during the opening reception for the gallery shows, resident artists have also opened their studios and filled in additional wall space with their works. The result is an opening event that is one part gallery exhibition and one part open studios, with lots of varied work on display. 

Resident artist William Salit

Resident artist Pricilla Otani

Resident artist Mike Kimball has taken this a step further, operating MKSF Gallery out of his studio. Focused on works on paper, the MKSF show on display during the opening was a selection of linocuts from Mr. Kimball's private collection, including works by Noah Dasho, Sarah Newton, and Katie Gilmartin. His next exhibit will be industrial scenes by himself and Eric Rewitzer, "Panamax", on Saturday, March 19 from 6-10pm.

Top row from left: Eric Rewitzer, Sarah Newton,  Dormain (Geyer) Drewitz
Bottom from left: Thierry Rosett, Noah Dash (x2), Katie Gilmartin (x2), Peter Mann (x2)

Given the additional works on display and artist studio access, opening events at Arc pack a great deal of  art-per-visit and is well worth a visit. Follow the gallery's twitter feed at @ARCSF to stay informed of events. Also, for artists, the gallery is taking submissions for it's next juried exhibition, "Flow", until March 15.

States of Kinesis show at Nieto Fine Art

So, I know things have been lying fallow around here, but I just stopped buy the new Nieto Fine Art gallery to get a preview of the new States of Kinesis show opening tonight (565 Sutter from 6:30-8:30pm). I heard about the show months ago when discussing Fernando Reyes' work with Sharon Reaves out in New York. Fernando has several awesome paintings in the show, along with paintings from Eric Bailey and Peggy Gyulai. 


Fernando's work, of course, I know and love. This show focuses on his paintings and it's great to get to see his large works in the setting Nieto has launched in. In my view, his figurative nudes drive the "kinesis" of the show. Non-representational abstract work can be difficult to discuss, but a couple of Peggy Gyulai's pieces had that incalculable mix of color, texture, and balance that hit the spot. Eric Bailey's series was a joy to discover: at first, the formal composition of many of his works gives you the immediate impression of a Renaissance painting. The details, however, piece together a story of the sugary-sweet modern world juxtaposed against natural elements. I love how the notion of high/low culture permeates the collection, but without being vulgar.


The show will be up until December 11. Here are a couple pictures to give you the visual flavor:

Nieto Fine Art's grand new space on Sutter

This painting by Eric Bailey greets gallery visitors

Paintings by Fernando Reyes (left) and Eric Bailey (right)

Wednesday Recap 8.27.09

Last night I made it out to ArtSpan's mixer at Dick Blick Art Materials on Van Ness. Attendees enjoyed refreshments, a glass painting demo, and 20% off purchases:


Although registration for fall Open Studios has closed, the organization is still looking for volunteers for the opening weekend gala and to gallery-sit during the month of October. Click here to sign up!

Next, I headed over to One Otis Street for the Lincart's Flamenco and Frog legs party. Rebecca Goldfarb's Align a Line greets visitors in the stairwell up to the gallery space:

Upstairs is another set of works by Goldfarb, YES NO (below):


Detail of YES NO:


Charles Linder's Truck Nuts:


In one corner was an installation by Bill Culbert , as well as a drawing by Barry McGee (upper right) and Red Shirt by Pip Culbert:

Graham Gillmore's There is Hope:

Charles Linder's Narcissus de Tijuana:


As usual, I arrived on the early side. When I left, the room (below) was packed and the flamenco performance was about to begin:

The party continued outside on the roof of the Enterprise Rent-a-car:


Spencer on the Go morphed into Spencer on the Roof, serving up delicious lamb stew and escargo pastry lollipops, but, alas, no frog legs:


Organize your life around art shows featuring artists interviewed by Arteaser with our handy-dandy Arteaser Calendar. Or just wait for the weekly Weekend Guide.

Weekend Recap 6.21.09

We headed over to Fecal Face Dot Gallery (FFDG) for the latest installment of their "In-N-Out" series, which featured Brett Amory:

I really enjoyed a new series of small paintings (above) based on a dream:

Amory also had a couple of new pieces from the "Waiting" series up:

Sadly, the show was only up for four days and is already down. As the name implies, the "In-N-Out" series are week long shows with openings on Thursdays.

Amory (below right) was in attendance taking questions. If you missed the FFDG show, keep watching the Arteaser Calendar to find out about future Bay Area shows with Amory's work:

On Friday, I ventured back to Hayes Valley for the opening of "Dive In" at Zonal:

Featuring aquatic themed prints and paintings by Leslie Morgan, the show will be up through July:

The nostalgic elements of Morgan's work fit well with Zonal's aesthetic:

Live music by Grinn & Barrett:

Most of the work in the show was paintings over photographs, including some from the "Pool Glee" series:

A couple of Morgan's oil paintings from the "In-Sync" series were downstairs:

Grab your suit and don't forget the sunscreen!

Weekend Recap 5.17.09

On Thursday, Anthony and I made our way to the SF offices of architecture and design firm, Gensler, for the opening of their latest staff-curated exhibit. The "Re:" show will be up through August 14 and focuses on works that use common or discarded materials:

I found one of Dale Eastman's "One Moment at a Time" pieces in a conference room (above). Her "Re:" word was "Re:member," reflecting how her work is a recording of thoughts an feelings over time.

Jeff Hantman (above and below) chose the word "Re:condition," reflecting his mixed media work with salvaged wood:

Nanci Price Scoular had several pieces from her new "Journeys" series:

Philippe Jestin was also among the six artists in the show:

I was really happy to see that one of Jestin's mobiles was in the show. Behind is Christine Lee's installation in the window, called "Shims":

Looking up at Jestin's "Lips Mobile" gives a better sense of how light and movement interact with his colorful resin work:

Lee's site specific installation was almost hard to notice at first, but we confirmed it with our map guide. Incidentally, if you are planning to visit the show during public viewing hours of 8:30am-5:30pm (M-F), be sure to stop by reception on the 4th floor to collect a map and get any special instructions, as some pieces are in conference rooms.

On Friday, I stopped by the Hyde Street Gallery to see Manny Fabregas' show, "Borrowed Time":

Fabregas has amassed a collection of thousands of photographs from thrift stores and antique stores, which serve as his source material for his paintings:

The notion of collective memories interests Fabregas, so the images are familiar and nostalgic: 

The show closes on May 24, so there is only one more week to get over there and check it out!

For more details about shows and events featuring artists interviewed by Arteaser, check out the Arteaser calendar.

Sketch Tuesday and Ted Lincoln

Despite the office and finance gods conspiring to keep me working late, I managed to stop by Sketch Tuesday last night at 111 Minna, which is a monthly live drawing event:

I was there on the earlier side of the 6-10pm event, so not all the artists had shown up, but those that had, were diligently producing:

In addition to the table of invited artists, most of the other tables around the bar filled up with local artists:


It's a casual atmosphere (note the frequency of flannel and untamed beards in the picture below) where enthusiasts can watch artists at work in a variety of mediums:


Completed works were posted on a wall and available for sale:


Brett Amory was among the invited artist and came prepared to work on one of his small portraits:

More "audience participation":

The bar was filling up by the time I was heading out, but the night was still young and a lot can get done in four hours...


Sitting across from Brett at the main table was Ted Lincoln, who also had a show up in the gallery:


Ted uses sumi ink, which was familiar to me after doing my piece on Freya Prowe. I really enjoy the medium's rich blacks:


The show is probably only up for another week or so, so be sure to check it out!