Update on the Adel Abdessemed exhibition "Don't Trust Me" (second review on the page) flap and cancellation at SFAI which somehow refuses to go away: First off, regarding threats of violence made to anyone at SFAI, let me say that I neither support nor condone such behavior in any way, shape, or form. Period. That said, apparently the San Francisco Art Institute doesn't want to slink away quietly on this one and admit that perhaps they experienced a mild lapse in judgment. Instead, they've issued a rather indignant, perhaps even defiant, press release which can be experienced in its entirety here .

The text includes the following statement: "The artist," continued (SFAI) President (Chris) Bratton, "participated in an already-existing circuit of food production in a rural community in Mexico. The animals were raised for food, purchased, and professionally slaughtered. In fact, what causes the controversy is that Abdessemed, an artist, entered this exchange, filmed it, and exhibited it."

My questions are as follows:

Were the animals purchased for food, for art, or for art and then for food?

Were the animals fully mature and ready for slaughter, or were some or all of them purchased before they were mature?

Were traditional Mexican rituals and procedures for slaughtering animals for food altered in any way for artistic purposes?

Were the slaughters scripted in any way for artistic purposes?

Where exactly did the slaughters take place? Where they normally take place, or elsewhere, perhaps in better lighting or on cleaner ground?

How was the slaughterer compensated? Was he compensated any differently than for normal slaughters? If so, how?

Was anything else about any of the slaughters altered in any way for artistic purposes such as how the animals were tethered, how they were hit, what time of day they were slaughtered, and so on?

Do you think it's appropriate to alter any form of slaughter or execution, or the traditional rituals or procedures surrounding a slaughter or execution for artistic purposes?

Do you think it's appropriate to video any form of slaughter or execution for artistic purposes?

Do you think it's appropriate to publically present a video of a slaughter or execution for artistic purposes?

Ugh. And now for today's show reviews...

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Museo Italo Americano : Immaginario Barocco - Photographs by Giuseppe Leone.

Comment by AB: Black and white photography by Giuseppe Leone. Leone has been photographing the Val di Noto region of Sicily for twenty years capturing its Baroque-rooted art, architecture, landscape, character, culture, and people-- and quite effectively, I might add. Spend time with these photographs and you'll begin to feel like you're there.

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San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery : Make You Notice.

Artists: Lisa Anne Auerbach, Kate Gilmore, Laura Swanson, Jenifer Wofford.

Comment by AB: Four women artists comment via performance on various societal conventions and social structures, and then immortalize those performances as enduring works of art-- the art in this show. The language in the statement trumps my talent to de-inscrutabilize inscrutability, so I can't tell you much more than that.

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Consulate General of Mexico : Ana Teresa Fernandez - Cleaning Borders / Aseando Fronteras.

Comment by AB: The Consulate General of Mexico invites Ana Fernandez to show her work at their gallery, an invitation which she enthusiastically and respectfully accepts. The show consists of early as well as current work, so I suppose you might call this her first retrospective.

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Bottle Capp Gallery, 180 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA 94110: Pictures of Your Friends - Christelle Imperial de Castro.

Comments by AB: Photo show by local street and band photographer Christelle Imperial de Castro includes a handful of nicely done backlit images in "light boxes.

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