Limn Gallery : Lynn Criswell - The Perils of Morality; Diane Jacobs - New Works.

Comment by AB: Childhood memories meet Aesop's Fables in a series of quality mixed-media wall works (paint and hammered lead), and freestanding floor sculptures by Lynn Criswell. Diane Jacobs goes discreetly political with her art, transiting feminism, social justice, motherhood, inequality, and beyond with a medley of works in a variety of mediums including an upside-down map of the world made of human hair, photographic portraits fashioned from woven strips of paper, and a similarly woven American flag. She's wearing a human hair necklace for the occasion.

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Venus Gallery : Mixed, Plates and Metal.

Artists: Kim Smith, Yuko Adachi, Jonah Roll, Alex Garcia, Tim Rose, Karl Blossfeldt (in absentia), Tim Rose, Kristina kada, Rebecca Williams.

Comment by AB: Venus Gallery in Bernal Heights is under new management and guess what? They're showing better art plus better artist jewelry. Highlights of this exhibit include what appear to be pieces of wood with various surface finishes skillfully cut and assembled into De Stijl -like patterns by Alex Garcia, and crisp meticulous collages by Kim Smith.

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20 GOTO 10 Gallery : Nathan Phelps - The Neti Project.

Review by Libby Nicholaou: Nathan Phelps's exhibit is comprised of abstract black & white India ink drawings and wall installation pieces. ?The more geometric images are akin to architectural floor plans and technical circuitry maps. ?They have a Zen quality to them, which is not far from the basis upon which they were made. ?A few years back, Nathan?intentionally lived in a trailer removed from our busy society, to clear his head and get true inspiration for his art. Being one who never received an institutional education in art, his process of listening inside himself is very important for each new element he introduces into his art. ?

There is sense of speed in his work. ?You find your eye tracing the path of a line and picking up the path of a new one as they intersect along the way. Other pieces have a point of origin from where your eye moves to the edge of the paper and then goes back to the center to start over. ?As his artist's statement says, "the art is the statement," as each piece provides a place for meditation and becomes a new entity for each viewer.

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Art Engine : Kathrine Worel - I Could Like You for Money.

Comment by AB: Delicate sensitive capable works on paper by Kathrine Worel consist of graphite and paint over old book pages that have been sanded, finished, buffed, and collaged. The pages are taken from books Worel was required to read as a child, she tells me, the paint and graphite works she adds on top of them representing her perspectives today on those assignments from her past.

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Root Division : Taste 2008 Exibition. Artists: Ryan Alexiev, Beth Alice Cook, Julumarie Joy Cornista, Alan Disparte, Melissa Hutton, Hoyeon Olivia Im, Mary V. Marsh, Carolyn Mason, Megan McCready, Audifax Nodado, Nanda Palmieri, Laura Parker, Walter Robinson, Susan Lynn Smith, Claudia Tennyson, Tonya Solley Thorton, Hui-Ying Tsai, Thomas Wojak. Curated by Sarah Klein.

Review by Libby Nicholaou: As a prelude to their Taste 2008 annual culinary and fundraiser event, Root Division's Taste Exhibition brings food to many levels of meaning. Curated by Sarah Klein, the images for this exhibit explore how we respond to and interact with food, some being more playful than others. Among the attractions are large paintings of desserts and ice cream sundaes, a gourmet soil sniffing (and organic produce tasting) bar, drawings depicting the steps of bread making, paintings of vegetables similar to x-rays, and a sculpture of a steak wedged into a high heel shoe. ?

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Stussy SF : Adam 5100 - Formerfunction.

Comment by AB: Superior industrial-strength stencils by Adam 5100. I actually went to this one twice 'cuz due to a scheduling snafu (mine), the show hadn't opened yet my first time around, but the kind folks at Stussy took pity and let me in anyway, so I was able to shoot the art sans the sellout chaos encountered the second time around.

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The Shooting Gallery : Paul Chatem - Runnin' on Empty.

Comment by AB: A Paul Chatem show is made up of paintings, like any other painting show, but his paintings not only stand alone-- they also tell a story. This time around, the story has to do with an urban couple out for a drive in the country and, in their wake, a trail of suburban houses spits out of the car's exhaust. Then comes the apocalypse and their car ends up in a boat and then it gets crushed by another boat and there's booze and banjos and all kinds of bad shit goin' down and so on and so forth-- not exactly a bedtime story for the kiddies-- but probably not far off the mark with respect to where we're headed.

Chatem is deep in conversation with one person pretty much the entire time I'm there (an avid collector of his art, he tells me later), a perfect opportunity for the following friendly reminder to artsters everywhere... Helpful art artist hint #6462b, sub-paragraph 3, clause 2: All kinds of people have all kinds of questions for you at your openings and you wanna make sure you get to every last one of 'em. Plus you never know who might turn out to be a buyer.

Meanwhile, back at The Shooting Gallery, let's call this one a tale well-told. Go see.

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