JACK FISCHER - CORDEN POTTS - BAER RIDGWAY - CHANDLER

CATHARINE CLARK - SFMOMA PARKING GARAGE

SF ART EXCHANGE - GRAY AREA FOUNDATION

02.20.10

(with assistance from Kathryn Arnold , Anneliese Vobis and RWM)

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Jack Fischer Gallery : Bernardo Roman Palau - Common Places.

Review by RWM: Wonderful to see birds as totems, animal guides, and spirits, even if in abstract landscapes. The birds and other animals are beautifully rendered with an array of natural colors. There is a stillness in the works which might remind one of the surrealists. All sorts of associations can be derived from the paintings with their assemblages of symbols.

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Corden Potts Gallery : Where Nepenthe Flows and All Hallows Eve - Michael Starkman.

Comment by AB: According to photographer Michael Starkman, "These photographs began during the year following my mother's death. For me, they are about opening myself to the darkness at the edge of beauty, mourning, slow healing, and the awe of staring at the Veil." That's all you need to know.

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Baer Ridgway Exhibitions : Paper!Awesome! Curated by Brion Nuda Rosch.

Artists: Joshua Abelow, Ky Anderson, Joe Biel, Libby Black, Michelle Blade, Ernesto Burgos, Ajit Chauhan, Todd Chilton, Creativity Explored, Chris Duncan, Vic Haven, Jason Jagel, Xylor Jane, Matt Kennedy, Mads Lynnerup, Barry McGee, Julio Morales, Danielle Mysliwiec, Tucker Nichols, Mat O'Brien, Matthew Palladino, Kottie Paloma, James Sterling Pitt, Kyle Ranson, Evelyn Reyes, Matthew Rich, Clare Rojas, Zachary Royer Scholz, Mike Shine, Dean Smith, Deb Sokolow, Chris Sollars, Travis Sommerville, TM Sisters, Paul Wackers, Lindsey White, Eric Yahnker, more.

Review by Kathryn Arnold: Baer Ridgeway is a challenge to enter-- all of the space is filled, not just with works on paper, but with people. A wall to wall covering for sure! This exhibition is curated by Brion Nuda Rosch (I cannot begin to imagine the work that went into that and neither will you when you see the shear number of works). I am a fan of works on paper and so love every minute of being here.

Review by Anneliese Vobis: The chosen title really applies to this terrific show. Brion Nuda Rosch has chosen over 150 different artists to tell their stories in the medium of paper. A special highlight is the sculptural paper assemblage done by Libby Black. The extreme detail and surface texture in much of the shown art work forces the public to spend more time than usual with these well-chosen pieces.

Comment by AB: There's over 300 of 'em-- 8 1/2 x 11 inch works on paper-- comprising this spectacle, as much a testament to Brion Nuda Rosch's range of artist contacts as they are in snapshotting the gratifyingly diverse array of art being produced here in the Ess Eff Bay Area today. Every wall is fully bedecked-- mayhem on paper, you might call it-- but if you're dedicated to fine-toothing it, you will surely chance upon the gems.

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Chandler Fine Art : Kuan Chang & Michael Leary.

Review by Anneliese Vobis: Kuan Chang's work is based on strict Asian traditions. His colors are very well chosen and support his abstract screen-painting style. To achieve harmony and forms of transience is one of his highest goals in all the shown compositions.

Review by Kathryn Arnold: Chandler Fine Arts displays Kuan Chang and Michael Leary mixed media paintings and photographic prints. Solemn photographs by Michael Leary in a medley of grays reach the entire spectrum of scale. The paintings by Juan Chang are a delicate contrast of lighter values with meandering lines made with threads.

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Catharine Clark Gallery : Travis Somerville - Rededicated to the proposition; Erin Cosgrove - Happy Am I (in the video room).

Review by Kathryn Arnold: Travis Somerville's exhibition stops my in my tracks. One walks in confronted by large installations that are in themselves filled to the brim with either artifacts or photographs relating to growing up in the South. Each item is selected with a purpose making these installations an immersion experience. The sharing of life to life, of the artist to audience is rich and deep, profound in multiple ways even with his selections of, at times, many everyday objects. This is what perhaps brings it close, as it connects in a personal way. "They" are us, as an experience of recognition sets in.

Review by Anneliese Vobis: Both artists have a strong political voice in all of their different approaches. Picture images on a wooden roof, multimedia reflections in a wooden house construction focus on racial and discrimination issues. Especially the water foundations on the wall lead us with strong imagery from one topic to the next/ A really powerful show, a must-see...

Comment by AB: In the video parlor, Erin Cosgrove's video, Happy an I, "compresses human evolution into a song-and-dance of historical characters." Fun! Worth a visit on both counts-- especially to see Travis Somerville's unrelenting in-your-face escapade in hatred, stereotyping and bigotry.

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San Francisco Art Exchange Gallery : Rosa Sat, Martin Walked, Barack Ran.

Photographers: Ken Regan, Stephen Somerstein, Callie Shell, Jean-Robert Dantou, Lisa Law, Jason Laure, Lawrence Schiller.

Review by RWM: The Civil Rights Movement, beyond the present, into the future, told here with a discerning photographic eye. These are not just actors-- here presented with beauty, idealism, humanity, and inspiration..

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Gray Area Foundation for the Arts : TRANSPOSE - The Work of Aaron Koblin and Robert Hodgin.

Review by Anneliese Vobis: Here I am overwhelmed by all the new technical imagery. This feels like in an otherworldly futuristic place. Uncountable data bits of information continually impinge and made me forget what kind of neighborhood outside exists.

Comment by AB: Superb melds of art and technology at the high end of the science-inspired creative continuum. See Robert Hodgin's magnet sculptures and photography, and Aaron Koblin's video and synchronized sound and video work, and especially the interactive video pieces by both artists. Stop by. Like it!

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Addendum:

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