SAN FRANCISCO ART GALLERIES OPENINGS

FIRST THURSDAY - 02.03.11 Part II

(with assistance from Clare Coppel , Kathryn Arnold , Neal Strickberger and RWM)



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Corden Potts Gallery : Camille Seaman - The Last Iceberg.

Review by RWM: The North beckons again. You cannot help but be amazed by what has been captured in these photos-- the emptiness and the wilderness, portrayed in a way that fans of Edward Hopper will appreciate. There is an alien sense to this work. The ice has taken on odd forms. The North, the Ice, continues to fascinate. The photos are timeless and majestic. You can see the layered deposits of time in the surviving ice. Afloat these glaciers are, but we have to recognize that we are all connected and are making an impact. Camille Seaman has helped document the changes underway, and in the process, reminding us of what has been lost.

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The McLoughlin Gallery : Jan Peter Van Opheusden; Duke - Windows, Eyes of the Imagination.

Comment by AB: In the main gallery, experience a range of figural works with a distinctly Fauvist feel by Netherlands artist Jan Peter Van Opheusden, while in the antechamber, find reverse paintings on salvaged window glass by Duke.

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Museum of Crafts and Folk Art : E is for Everyone - Celebrating Sister Corita.

Review by Clare Coppel: Currently on exhibit at the Museum of Crafts and Folk Art-- "E is for Everyone," a retrospective of silkscreen prints by Sister Corita (aka Sister Mary Corita & Corita Kent), former head of the art department at Immaculate Heart College. Beautiful colorful images combined with text from this influential activist Pop Art figure of the mid-twentieth century. Direct bold graphic design at its best. Great colors... and the writing on these pieces is worth reading too.

Comment by AB: This one's a definite go see.

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111 Minna Gallery : Fresh Air - Ian Robert Mullen, William Edwards, Mike Kimball.

Comment by AB: Tasty triumvirate here. Wall-hanging wood sculptures and patterned woodworks comprised of cross-grain sections by Ian Robert Mullen; sets of glazed ceramic spherical sections by William Edwards; slick high-test automotive imagery displayed beneath Plexiglas coated to appear as though water has condensed on it's inner surface.

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Hang Art Gallery : Gridlock - David Lippenberger.

Review by Kathryn Arnold: Nice combination of what appear to be embedded typefaces / numeric forms with 3D elements (rubberbands?) attached and connected. Hanging side by side these works are the slick smooth figural compositions that one expects to see in David Lippenberger's paintings, some of which have underlying grids of embossed numbers. The juxtaposition of it all eludes me, but is interesting nonetheless.

Along another wall, a non-featured artist but well-worth mentioning- recycled paint tubes, the tubes of colors the artist traditionally uses, are placed assemblage and grid style on the support. So clean-- defies the fact that they once were used to make a painting-- and now laid out with unfathomable neatness.

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Ever Gold Gallery : Chris Ritson - In the Kingdom of Charisma.

Review by Clare Coppel: Chris Ritson's installation consists of artified animals, crystals, faces, artified plants and a fish tank, the upshot both peaceful and ominous, as if one has wandered out of the Tenderloin and into some strange magical forest pond type setting.

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Kokoro Studio : Bomba 4 - Ignacio Murúa.

Review by and images by Clare Coppel: New art by Chilean artist Ignacio Murúa consists of large paintings along with several small ones, all of nude female figures done in paint and mixed media. The figures are often distorted, wildly posed, faceless and dramatic. Lots of intense sexual pinks, reds, blues and blacks.

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Fifty24SF Gallery : INSA - MORE.

Review by RWM: Youthful, yet bold. Vulgar, yet inspired. Beautiful, yet decadent. Nude, but not pornographic.

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Arts of Pacific Asia at Fort Mason, Festival Pavilion.

Comment by AB: The first weekend in February signifies yet another wondrous episode of the Arts of Pacific Asia exhibition, produced by Caskey Lees, where 70 top dealers from here and abroad display offer top quality Asian, Middle Eastern and Pacific ethnographic art, antiques, antiquities and artifacts including rugs, ceramics, jewelry, weavings, clothing, scrolls, sculptures, furnishings and more-- from several thousand years old to contemporary. As if that's not enough, enjoy an extensive exhibition of pictorial wartime and propaganda kimonos circa World War II with images of everything from soldiers, tanks, planes and horses to ships, trains, battles and action.

Wending your way up and down the aisles of Fort Mason's Festival Pavilion is kind of like walking through a museum except for the special added bonus that everything's for sale. Yep. If you like it, you can take it home and add it to your collection. Wanna see what's to like? OK... here...

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Addendum:

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Ever think about flipping a little of that saved gas or BART or MUNI money my way? It's never too late to DONATE .

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First Thursday - January 6, 2011.

First Thursday - First Thursday - December 2, 2010

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