OAKLAND ART MURMUR FIRST FRIDAY ART OPENINGS
JOHANSSON PROJECTS - BLOOM PRESS - HATCH - FORT
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS COLLECTIVE - FRONT - 21 GRAND - MAMA BUZZ
STUDIO QUERCUS - RED DOOR - SLATE ART & DESIGN - SCOTT HOVE
ACCORDION CENTER - BLANKSPACE - THE COMPOUND - LOBOT
07.03.09
General comment by AB: Woah! Barely a peep outta artistic San Francisco tonight. But I'm not gonna let something dinky like no SF shows diminish my prodigous jones for culture glut. Uh uh brother. I'm headin' to Oakland, that Mediterranean oasis by The Bay, to check out their First Friday Art Murmur. Care to hop in the hupmobile and putter on over the bridge? OK. Off we go...
.... and here we are. That was easy, wasn't it? According to the cognoscenti, we must now wend our merry way to the epicenter of visual art in Oakland-- 23rd Street and Telegraph Avenue-- where just like they said, the minions are beginning to gather. Artsters mill around and about the half dozen or so galleries in the extremely immediate vicinity as they also enjoy a panoply of curbside diversions including live music, deejays, street artists plying their wares, gourmet-grade edibles, sundry agenda-ites handing out fliers, and so on and so forth. All very casual, laid back, and freeform. (Pssst-- I'll tell you a secret in advance. I had a great time. Highly recommended. See for yourself if you don't believe me.) And now back to our impending adventure...
The starting gate - 23rd and Telegraph, Oakland, California, US of A.
Yes my artful darlings, you can see that conditions are perfect to art ourselves up. All the way up...
***
Johansson Projects : Evan B. Harris + Alisha Wessler - Back Channels.
Comment by AB: Spiffy panel paintings by Portland Oregon artist Evan B. Harris are rife with symbolism, references, archetypes, tales of the sea, love, loss, romance, balladeers, and the like. Alisha Wessler, meanwhile, concocts a cavernous walk-in appurtenance where I suppose you can experience what's it's like to be swallowed whole and digested. Yum yum eat 'em up!
Art by Evan B. Harris.
Art (Evan B. Harris).
Art closer (Evan B. Harris).
Evan B. Harris - art.
Art closer (Evan B. Harris).
Art closer (Evan B. Harris).
Man-eating creature art outer (Alisha Wessler).
Man-eating creature art inner (Alisha Wessler).
Tunes (Dude tells me they're gonna have electricity in Oakland soon).
***
Bloom Screen Printing : Poster Show.
Comment by AB: Bloom Press principal Nat Swope tells me he usually doesn't open for Art Murmur, but tonight he's got the establishment up and running with a display and sale of limited edition silkscreened posters and prints that he's produced for a variety of artists and events. Good stuff.
Nat Swope of Bloom Screen Printing.
Silkscreen art.
Silkscreens for sale (including one by Jeff Soto on the right).
Prints published by Bloom Screen Printing.
***
Hatch Gallery : Mark Inglis Taylor & Porous Walker - BROZONE LAYER.
Comment by AB: A two-fer torrent of art features the finest in cultivated poor taste by Porous Walker and poignant works on paper by Mark Inglis Taylor. Loads to choose from and it's all priced real right.
Wall of art by Mark Inglis Taylor & Porous Walker.
Art closer (Mark Inglis Taylor & Porous Walker).
Art closer (mainly by Mark Inglis, I think).
Art by Porous Walker. (Hey-- my butthole writes art reviews too!!)
Art by Mark Inglis Taylor.
The price list is as hilarious as the art.
Art by Mark Inglis Taylor.
Art by Porous Walker.
Altitudinary.
Enjoying the good life out back.
Enjoying the Art Murmur out front.
***
Fort Gallery : Marie Rich - So Long Ago, I Don't Remember.
Comment by AB: The front gallery presents contemplative portrait and figural works on paper by Marie Rich. Enjoy a group show by Fort Gallery artists in the circuitous back part of the gallery.
Art by Marie Rich.
Art (Marie Rich).
Art (Marie Rich).
Art (group show).
Art (group show).
Art (group show).
Facade.
***
Mercury 20 Gallery : Mary Curtis Ratcliff and Anna Vaughan - Wood and Water; Julie Alvarado, Aaron Geman, Kathy King, Joan Weiss - Forecast.
Comment by AB: Group show of gallery artists plus delicious confections courtesy of Tortoise and Hare Chocolates.
Art.
Art closer.
Art.
Bee-esque sculpture hangs from the ceiling.
Art upstairs (like 'em).
Art upstairs. Wanna see what the dude's lookin' at? OK.
What the dude's lookin' at. Kinda like the installation.
Standing lighting made out casette cases. Kinda like it.
Installation + video art + artist.
The basic idea.
***
Front Gallery : CJ Mammarella, Gale Hart, Shelly Cournoyer - Choice Parts.
Comment by AB: Sensitive works on paper by CJ Mammarella, jewelry and small sculpture by Shelly Cournoyer, and narrative paintings with cryptically anonymous characters by Gale Hart.
Art by Gale Hart.
Art by Gale Hart.
Bracelet by Shelly Cournoyer (nicely done).
Shelly Cournoyer reveals the secret compartments in her bracelet.
Art by CJ Mammarella.
Art by CJ Mammarella.
***
21 Grand Gallery : Recent Work by Cage Norman - Reworking Duchamp.
Comment by AB: According to the fact sheet, "Cage Norman is a drag king persona taken on by Krystle Ahmadyar." Tonight, "Norman" sits practically motionless onstage in a black suit and bowler, holding a wine glass, seemingly rapt in a trance, and being irregularly accompanied by two base violin players offstage to her right. Her art and installations are positioned about the room. Highlights include a bright red pump sitting on a cutting board and de-toed by a meat cleaver, a sculpture on a slender fabric-covered pedestal transformed by light into a phantom painting, and a video projection of a chess match between "Norman" clothed and "Norman" clotheless. The aggregate is so curiously consummately captivating, I'm slappin' a Pick of Oakland First Friday Art Murmur on it's ass. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Krystle Ahmadyar's artful antics.
Cage Norman (Krystle Ahmadyar), left & accompanists in performance.
Performance from the side.
Truncated pump art.
Art.
Phantom "painting" from the front.
Phantom "painting" from the side.
***
Studio Quercus, 385 26th Street, Oakland, CA 94612: Leonard Van Noord.
Comment by AB: Quirky iconoclastic forty-year retrospective of paintings and sculpture by Leonard Van Noord.
Art by Leonard Van Noord.
I think that's Leonard Van Noord in the blue shirt, left.
Sculpture by Leonard Van Noord closer.
Sculpture by Leonard Van Noord closer.
***
Red Door Gallery and Collective : Shedding - Kimberley Campisano, Yasmin Lambie-Simpson and other artists.
Comment by AB: I arrive in the middle of a Flamenco performance which is followed by a singer, and then by a poetry reading. The place is packed and it's tough to see much of the art, but the performances range from heart-rending to entertaining.
Here we are - Red Door Gallery and Collective.
Flamenco performance in progress.
Interior.
Art.
Art.
***
I pass by 23rd & Telegraph on the way back to the car (about 90 minutes since I started), now a complete zoo and approaching impossible to navigate (especially attempting to turn right up 23rd Street there at the intersection). And so we're off to phase II of the evening-- galleries further uptown...
***
Slate Art & Design : Jessica Martin - Imaginary Landscapes, New Paintings and Sculpture.
Comment by AB: Appealing acrylic paintings by Jessica Martin are complemented by several refined and engaging sculptures fashioned from ingredients like wax, plaster, plastic cord, fabric, and hot glue.
Art by Jessica Martin.
Sculpture closer by Jessica Martin.
Art.
***
Scott Hove Studio : Scott Hove - Cakeland, An Art Installation of Deluxe Artifice.
Comment by AB: Scott Hove transforms the storefront portion of his studio/residence into a wonderland of cake. You can't eat it, but you can walk through it, sit in it, stand in it, and last but not least, you sure can enjoy it.
Scott Hove's Cakeland studio/residence from the side.
Cakeland from the front.
Cakeland detail.
Sometimes the cake eats you (art by Scott Hove).
Deep in the heart of Cakeland.
More carnivorous cake art by Scott Hove.
Studio & residence in the back.
Bonescape in the patio.
***
Blankspace Gallery : Sam Lopes, Joy Fritz & Friends - Just Because There Are Questions Doesn't Mean There Are Answers; Spirit Orb Color Field - An installation by Emily Sevier.
Comment by AB: Upbeat collaborative installation in the main gallery includes a kaleidoscopic wall fiesta composed of myriad painted wood strips, a peppy paper mache fireside scene, and an array of bright buoyant paintings with a funky folky feel. In the Project Room, Emily Sevier keeps the fan base happy with a festive installation of circular hanging fabric works.
Wall treatment by Sam Lopes, Joy Fritz & Friends (like it).
Installation by Sam Lopes, Joy Fritz & Friends.
Art by Sam Lopes, Joy Fritz & Friends.
Art by Sam Lopes, Joy Fritz & Friends.
Fabric art installation by Emily Sevier.
Statistical sample.
***
The Compound Gallery : Kari Marboe and Adrian Van Allen - Anatomies.
Comment by AB: Adrian Van Allen arranges and labels numerous prints of animal skeletons along a wall according to directives laid out in Pliny the Elder's "Natural History." Where Pliny left anatomical or evolutionary gaps, Van Allen fills them in with her own renditions of animate creation. In the adjacent gallery, Kari Marboe sculpts up a wall of wounds based on injuries and afflictions endured by family members. As if that's not enough, she gussies it up with a selection of miscellaneous bones, and animal organs preserved in formaldehyde. Good show; worth a visit.
Art by Adrian Van Allen.
Art closer by Adrian Van Allen.
Adrian Van Allen.
Wound and affliction art by Kari Marboe.
Kari Marboe - wound art.
Preserved organ art by Kari Marboe.
Group show and artists studios in the rear.
***
LoBot Gallery : Extreme Animals, Bulbs, Teengirl Fantasy & Nero's Day at Disneyland.
Comment by AB: The Art Murmur may be over, but the fun's yet to begin here at the LoBot afterparty featuring four bands and scads of energized artsters who just can't get enough. Of note from an aesthetic perspective is Paul Morgan's poster for the show-- a refreshing upgrade of the idiom. Tres contemporain.
Here we are - LoBot Gallery.
Inside LoBot.
Paul Morgan & his poster for the show (like it).
Fashion.
Tunes.
***
Addendum:
Group show at Rock Paper Scissors Collective
.
Art by Elizabeth Travelslight at Rock Paper Scissors Collective.
Group show at Mama Buzz Cafe Gallery
.
Snort art at Mama Buzz Cafe Gallery.
Accordion meister Kimric Smythe of Smythe's Accordion Center
. He buys, sells and restores accordions (among other things), and his shop is in the front of the 21 Grand Gallery building.
Functioning miniature cable car parked in front of 21 Grand.
***