RATIO 3 - RAYKO - AMPERSAND - PING PONG - ART 94124 - QUEENS NAILS PROJECTS - VARNISH - SANCHEZ ART CENTER - 01.16.09 (with assistance from DeWitt Cheng)
Ratio 3 Gallery : Ben Peterson - The Pilgrim's Progress.
Comment by AB: I covered a show of Ben Peterson's at Ratio 3 a couple of years back and liked his stuff then. Now I love it. The dude's the total package. He's got the imaginative chops to concoct an improbably preposterous scenario, in this case a "collision between... a golf course retirement development and a historical reenactment theme park," and then the technical skills visually materialize it for all to marvel at, and in excruciatingly exquisite detail. Scads of artists out there have great ideas but fail to convincingly concretize them 'cuz they can't really paint or draw or sculpt or whatever they went to art school for. Peterson does it all. And you know what that means, don't you? Right. A rare mid-month Pick. Unequivocal go see-- the photos don't do the work justice.
Art by Ben Peterson.
The large watercolor on the right in above image closer.
Pinkie cam detail of above watercolor (nice huh?).
Art.
Art.
Pinkie cam detail of another watercolor (love it).
Art.
Art.
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Rayko Photo Center : Hiroyo Kaneko and Betsy Weis - Nature/Nurture.
Comment by AB: Expansive panoramic windswept photographs of Iceland and by Betsy Weis and photographs of people enjoying cherry blossom time in Japan by Hiroyo Kaneko are on exhibit in the main gallery. A group show in the side gallery includes work by Vince Donovan, Jamie Krueger, Saul Robbins, Maggie Mateskon, and Carlos DaSilva.
Photography by Hiroyo Kaneko.
Photos (Hiroyo Kaneko).
Photographs (Hiroyo Kaneko).
Photos (Betsy Weis, left - Hiroyo Kaneko, right).
Photography (Betsy Weis).
Photographs (Betsy Weis).
The side gallery.
A couple of entertaining fashion plates relaxing up front.
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Ampersand International Arts : Jordan Essoe - Semaphores.
Comment by AB: My neocortical sector begins to cramp as Jordan Essoe assays to elucidate me from a standing stop on the not inconsiderable intellectual underpinnings of his show, but basically the deal appears to be that a main thrust of the overall essence is comprised of artified contributions solicited by Essoe from 72 international "thinkers" along the lines of how they might envision life in a better world... I think. Helpful art hint #525B, paragraph 2, subclause c: Have an easy explanation for the amateurs and a more advanced one for the erudite.
Art by Jordan Essoe (nicely done).
Art closer.
Art pinkie cam close.
Art.
Art.
Art.
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Ping Pong Gallery : Brian Wasson - Last Wash.
Comment by AB: Brian Wasson's bittersweet treatise on life's travails engages on several levels-- not the least of which is his artistic proficiency as a fabricator-- with a selection two- and three-dimensional works.
Enlarged icosahedron from a Magic 8-Ball art by Brian Wasson.
Art.
Art.
Curiously satisfying sculpture.
Slightly cocked smiley face art.
Bittersweet defined - a quart of honey dumped on your head.
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Art 94124 : JAZZ!
Artists: Kajahl Benes, Tad Bridenthal, Marsha Ercegovic, Juan Fuentes, James Gayles, Santie Huckaby, Natalie Kauffman, Malik Seneferu, Brian Stannard, Jon Tomlinson, Charles Unger.
Comment by AB: It's all about jazz, African-American heritage and musical influences-- paintings, works on paper, photography, limited-edition prints, and more.
Art.
Art.
Art.
Art.
On the veranda.
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Queens Nails Projects : D'Nell Larson - Under the Milky Way.
Comment by AB: According to the proclamation, tonight's video and performance event "is affiliated with the 2008 California Biennial, organized by the Orange County Museum of Art and is in collaboration with LA/ART Offsite Initiatives with ForYourArt for CB08." Beyond that, color me clueless.
Video art.
Performance to be.
Out front.
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Varnish Fine Art : Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan - Signs of Change.
Comment by AB: Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan of The Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company circus up Varnish Fine Art with a sumptuous selection of their legendary Rock posters plus original works of art plus a poster/art collage running the entire length of one wall of the gallery. It doesn't get much better than these dudes, and frankly, I can't believe they don't get more play in the local media-- and that includes you, SPARK. These are the kinds of people who make San Francisco great.
Art by Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan.
Art.
Nine Hugh Hefner variants (selling well by the each).
Gallery-length collage.
Rock poster art by Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan.
Rock poster art by Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan.
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Sanchez Art Center : M. Louise Stanley - Risking Ridicule.
Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: M. Louise Stanley has been showing her humorous satires on the artist's life for many years in the Bay Area. (She also leads art tours to Europe, which explains her good-natured jokes at the expense of Rembrandt, Correggio, Giotto, et al.) "Risking Ridicule (does it really matter?)" comprises a dozen or so paintings in acrylic on canvas and gouache on paper, with such titles as Anatomy Lesson, Bloody Feat, Great Moments in Art History, Jupiter & Io, and Seven Deadly Sins. Artist's talk Sunday Feb. 8, 2pm.
M. Louise Stanley with Jupiter & Io. The supreme god of the Romans transforms himself into a cloud in order to fool around unseen by the missus.
Great Moments in Art History.
I imagine this is Homage to Duchamp, judging from the bride and bachelors.
The artist¼s sketchbooks.
The Reunion of Art & Nature.
Seven Deadly Sins. Stanley takes the old medieval theme and dragoons various saints (with their martyrdom attributes) into acting out the parts-- St. Catherine with her wheel, St. Lawrence with his grill, St. Agatha with her breasts on a plate.
Seven Deadly Sins closer.
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