Galeria Zapatista at Mission Grafica - Mission Cultural Center : Oaxaca - !!Testimonios De un Pueblo en Lucha!!

Comment: Prints (woodcuts) and stencils by ASARO (Asamblea de Artistas Revolucionarios de Oaxaca), a group of reactionary activist artists who plaster their art all over Oaxaca's walls to inform the local population and to denounce repressive actions of the Mexican Federal and State governments. Powerful imagery, professionally executed; go see.

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All Over Town: Geospacial Mashup.

Artists: Jonathon Keats, Bernadette Bohan, etc.

Comment: According to the doctrine conceived by songstress Bernadette Bohan with assistance from conceptual conceptor Jonathon Keats, hundreds of vinyl records will spin at various locations around Ess Eff at exactly 9:56 PM on Wednesday, March 21, 2007 for approximately four minutes, in a cacophonic concerto for the collective consciousness. I choose Cafe du Nord for my 9:56 moment at which instant the band goes silent, and with punctilious precision, Jonathon Keats spins a little of that good old down home funky ass Tannhauser by Richard Wagner. For about half a second, the oblivious patrons wonder what the f's up, and then return to their libations. The four-minute Wagnerian breather is followed posthaste by Bernadette Bohan performing live on stage.

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New Langton Arts : Katrina Lamb and Lansing-Dreiden - Myth by Method.

Comment: New Langton Arts must think that everyone on the face of the frickin' earth has plenty of free time to spend deciphering the synopses of their shows, and what's even more laughable is that that's how they'll opt to spend it. Or maybe it's more like, "If you don't know, we don't care." So OK. Fine. Be that way. I'm comfortable with cluelessness, though a sentence or three for the pikers might be nice. One thing I will say is that Katrina Lamb draws just about anything extremely well. Usually an artist's repertoire is limited to this genre or that, but Lamb's dexterity appears to know no bounds, and that's what reels me in. Good show; go see.

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The Hamm's Building,1550 Bryant Street, San Francisco, CA 94103: Dan McHale - 36 Views of the Hamm's Brewery.

Comment: Dan McHale grew up with a reverence for the Hamm's Brewery building, particularly the monumental 3-dimensional neon beer glass atop its tower. The brewery closed in 1972 and its trademark hallmark is long gone, so McHale revives the good old days with a series of odes to that capstone glass and the company it kept.

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CELLspace Gallery : Making Space.

Artists: Luke Butler, Katherine Mitchell, Jocelyn Shu, Kate Van Steenhuyse.

Comment: "Space becomes an entity by the elements that define it." This show is about that. I kinda like the oversized works by Jocelyn Shu, particularly this cut, stitched, painted abstract figural composite called FhIeXaElD (I have no idea what it means).

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Live Worms Gallery : Eight at the Gate.

Artists: Jack Freeman, Jessica Snow, Kristen Wetterhahn, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Matt Gonzalez, Mery Bernard, Rebecca Peters, Ronald F. Sauer.

Comment: A little bit of everything plus a shitload of fun. Lawrence Ferlinghetti shocks the body politic with a handful of paintings priced $300 and under (you're way too late-- they all sold instantly). There's plenty more to buy, though, with most pieces well under $500 like, for instance, Matt Gonzalez collages at $325 each. It's artin' time all over the place, but for one night only. Don't fret, my pretty petunias-- there'll be more like this in the future.

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