Hosfelt Gallery : Reed Danziger - Inelastic Collision; Liliana Porter - Fox in the Mirror.

Comment by AB: Reed Danziger's intricate abstractions suspended against expansive white backgrounds get better and better the closer you get, culminating in surprisingly dynamic eruptions of activity. From a distance? I dunno. In the anteroom, Liliana Porter's video sequences a parade of unrelated objects-- many of them vintage-- in strangely related ways. You kinda stand there transfixed, attempting to make sense of it all, thinking to yourself that maybe you're figuring it out. In the meantime, you're enjoying the amusing abruptness of every progressive transition.

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The Garage : Water.

Artists: Daniel Blumquist, Claude Degueldry, Brandon Du, Gilles Furtw?ngler, Jesse Hensel, Justin Hoover, Ajna Lichau, Debora Warner, Kathrine Worel, Izumi Yokoyama, more.

Comment by AB: Group show about water-- encompassing art, video, performance, installation, and more. The most exhilarating moment for me? Watching Jesse Hensel vacuum pack and then mount his wood sculpture of a fish on a custom-made pedestal.

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Brown Bear : Reality Blast.

Artists: Mark Cross, Jesse Gellar, George Crampton.

Three artists thoroughly psychedelicize the joint with art, video, and pulsating mesmerizing psychotropic patterns projected onto walls and ceilings. Special added bonus-- it's a three dimensional dealie bob, but only if you suit yourself up in a pair of 3-D glasses, available as a complimentary courtesy to all guests. Like it!

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Electric Works : The ArtSpan Annual Benefit Art Show and Auction.

Artists: Diane Abt, Lauren Alexander, Don Anderson, David Avery, Jenny Balisle, Suzy Barnard, Margie Burke, Brent Bushnell, Chad Cameron, Sofia Carmi, Gregg Cassin, Kathryn Clark, Emily Clawson, Lee Cline, Ilana Crispi, Sidnea D?Amico, Herbert Dang, Larry DeDionisio, Monica Denevan, Robin Denevan, Denise Denis, Raymond Difley, Ren?e Eaton, Bernadette Emrick, Fong Fai, John Fitzsimmons, Kathleen Flyn, Rebecca Fox, Marta Fuentealba, Taiko Fujimura, Katie Gilmartin, Kellyann Gilson-Lyman, James Gleeson, Mirto Golino, Sarah Beth Goncarova, Judi Gorski, Kristin Grahn, Daniel Grant, Jana Grover, Marc Ellen Hamel, April Hankins, Lyall Harris, Mark Harris, Jeanne Hauser, Audrey Heller, Patter Hellstrom, Aisjah Hopkins, Anne Howson, Peggy Huff, Mary Huizinga, Martine Jardel, Mark Jaremko, Carol Jessen, Philippe Jestin, Soad Kader, Dorian I Katz, Marie Kelzer, Mike Kimball, Barbara Kleinhans, Andrew Knipe, Elana Kundell, Denise Laws, Jim Leff, Christopher Leib, Lois Llewellyn, Paulette Long, Leslie Lowinger, Alex MacLeitch, Paul Madonna, Maggie Malloy, Kay Marshall, Alan Mazzetti, Dan McHale, Marti McKee, John F. Melvin, Molly Meng, Marcia Middleton, Marilynne Morshead, Reiko Muranaga, Lisa Neimeth, Julie Nelson, Ronald Newman, Jessica Niello, Hadley Northrop, A.J. Oishi, Priscilla Otani, Silvia Poloto, Jennifer Porreca, Patricia Preble, Nanci Price Scoular, Vlada Raicevic, Shilo Randall, Fernando Reyes, Samuelle Richardson, Carol Rienecker, Rhonel Roberts, Wendy Robushi, Nancy Rodger, Karl Roeseler, Thierry Rosset, Lynn Rubenzer, Lisa Ryers, Ron M. Saunders, Terry Sauv?, Adele Louise Shaw, Stuart Sheldon, Addie Shevlin, Ann Simms, Christopher Smallwood, Wendi Spiers, Toru Sugita, Leslie Terzian Markoff, Deloris Thomas, Kent Tool, Susan Tuttle, William Ulrich, Tito Vandermeyden, Victoria Veedell, Pep Ventosa, Tina Vietmeier, Melissa Wagner, Carolyn Wang, Kay Weber, Audrey Welch, John Whitmarsh, Christopher Wiedmann, Jennifer Wildermuth, Laura Williams, Allan Wray, Melissa Yarbrough, Scott & Leta Zellerbach, Jie Zhou.

Comments by AB: This is the first and surely the last time ArtSpan's annual fundraiser will ever be held at Electric Works. The square footage is grossly inadequate to accomodate the monster turnout and as a result, there's approximately no room to move. The place is so crowded, I can barely get a word in edgewise, even when nobody else is talking. It's so crowded, I try to pick my nose but only get as far as my navel. It's so crowded, I get completely drenched when someone accidentally backs me into a seascape. Yes, dear artsters-- it's just that crowded.

Nevertheless, I persevere, survive to tell the tale, and am here to report that attendees at this year's auction have the opportunity to bid on 140 works by local artists in live and silent auctions, as well as on vacation packages to Oahu, Hawaii and Chateau Whistler, Canada. Proceeds benefit all ArtSpan programs including Art for City Youth and San Francisco Open Studios, the Ess Eff's largest free visual arts event held every October.

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