Darren Waterston Studio: Christophe Piallat ; You Are Here <> Portals.

Comment: Why am I resisting covering this show? The premise works; the bleak otherworld imagery works; the art is tight, unified, themed, it makes it's point, it portrays the world in a way I haven't seen it before. So? Why? Ah! It's the presentation.

Photographer Christophe Piallat seeks out stark concrete ruins in places like Marin Headlands; Christmas Valley, Oregon; Goshen, Utah; and Valley of Fire, Nevada. He incorporates details of these ruins into his landscape photography resulting in desolate bombed out post-cataclysmic abstractions. But then he goes and displays his photographs on professional semi-gloss presentation board, support-framed from the back, the kind architects use to propose new buildings, or advertising agencies use to unveil their latest campaigns.

I'm so struck by the extent to which this commerciality compromises the impact of the art that I commit a major no-no, and share my impressions with the artist (something I rarely do-- unless I'm being paid-- and ESPECIALLY rarely do at openings). But I do, and I apologize. So the artist replies "We all see art in different ways." Well, yes, but those of us who see lots of art generally agree on certain fundamentals. For example, we generally agree that Picasso, Warhol, Rembrandt, and Thomas Kinkade are among the greatest artists who have ever lived, right? We won't be seeing any of their art "in different ways" anytime soon. At least I don't think we will.

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A handful from HAPPY, the ArtSF fourth year anniversary party: