Himmelberger Gallery : The Spirit Goes On in Me and You - 40th Anniversary of the Summer of Love.

Artists: Leo Holub, Egor Sovtsov, Jean Weinbaum, Judit Bak, Miroslau Brizis, Alan Kaufman.

Comment: Loosely themed show of mainly art that has nothing to do with the Summer of Love other than that perhaps the artists lived and worked at that time. However the amalgamation is interspersed with 60's SF documentary counterculture photos by Leo Holub, occasional period rock concert posters, and what appears to be a smattering of genuine vintage hippies. Special added bonus-- cameo appearance by Ben Fong-Torres .

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Catharine Clark Gallery : Walter Robinson - Represent; Andy Diaz Hope - Better Living.

Comment: I gotta slap a Pick of the evening, perhaps even of the month, on this formidable double-barreled mind blower. In the vestibule, Walter Robinson gets up in your face with a lambaste of an installation about amuck America and the crazies who run it-- rainbow bombs rain down on a map of the world stamped relentlessly with a Red States silhouhette, the stamp itself resting on a small table in front of the map, dripping and bathed in blood. Robinson decidedly drives home the point-- straight through the heart of every humanitarian on the planet-- with a set of epoxy and resin sculptures, some with text, others shot full of arrows. The upshot's sure to make you weep. (Point of information for Walter et al: The world doesn't distinguish between Red States and Blue States. We're in a bad situation and it's all of our jobs do something about it.)

Meanwhile, in the rear quadrant, Andy Diaz Hope weighs in on overmedication, dicing large color photographs to smitherines and then miraculously astoundingly reconstructing them by progressively rolling and inserting the dices one-by-one into clear gel capsules which he then arranges in perfect order, with scientific precision, symbolically reconfiguring life through the miasma of prescription stupor. Better living through chemistry... er... at the expense of everyone else, that is. Drugs are to make you feel good about doing things you probably shouldn't be doing. But wait; there's more. For immaculate obsession way above and beyond the call of duty, Andy Diaz Hope hereby receives the rare and highly coveted "How Do Dey Do Dat?" award.

Don't miss this show. For you mercenary art players with no particular allegiances, this is a prime example of Catharine Clark's bodacious eye for talent, and you might perchance wager some "investment dollars" here.

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Heather Marx Gallery : Ominous Atmosphere.

Artists: Bradley Castellanos, Jeanette Ch?vez, Christoph Draeger, Al Farrow, Anthony Goicolea, Susan Graham, Jill Greenberg, Antonios Kosmadakis, Trevor Paglen.

Comment: Art about fear-- what invokes it, and how we sense, perceive, respond, unleash, and categorize it.

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Root Division : Home - An Exhibitioin on the Aesthetics & Politics of Home.

Artists: Verda Alexander Eric Araujo, Mr. Ben Venom, Ronit Bezalel, Mark Blaisdell, Jan Blythe, Alexander Cheves, Elizabeth Chiles, Teri Claude, Torreya Cummings, Derek Haverland, Jessica Hayes, Sarah Talia Himmelfarb, Rachael Jablo, Ian Kimmerly, Sarah Klein, Michael Krouse, Seth Lower, Moira Murdock, Sasha Petrenko, Meghann Riepenhoff, Dan Rule, Jana Rumberger, Nadim Sabella, Brian Stinemetz, Chris Thorson, Liena Vayzman, Sanjay Vora, Hannah Pearl Walcott, Donna Wan, Serena Wellen.

Comment: Meandering group romp on the multitudinous meanings, perceptions, perspectives, and impressions of those places we call "home."

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Good Vibrations : Carol Queen's 50th Birthday Party.

Comment: Happy birthday to reknowned writer, speaker, educator, activist, and Doctor of Sexology, Carol Queen . It's not exactly art, but hey-- I'm in the neighborhood.

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Ar+Space Gallery : We, Asian Sex Workers.

Artists: Tracy Quan, Reagan Louie, Mariko Passion, Annie Chen, Surgeon Scofflaw.

Comment: Here's something you don't see everyday-- art by Asian sex workers. Artist and sex worker Mariko Passion tells me that every fine art purchase comes with a complimentary "private in-person conceptual experience," administered by one of the participating artists in a cordoned off cubicle at the rear of the gallery.

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White Walls Gallery : Saber - Close Encounters.

Comment: The gallery is an absolute mob scene as graffiti great, Saber, careens into town from LA to christen a major show of his paintings, sculpture, installation, and if that's not enough, a book release. To promote the event, he strategically places convincing mock-ups of homeless people asleep in their shopping carts around the downtown area. (Now who at 49 Geary has ever hyped a show as effectively as that?) The paintings that look like eerie twilight UFO cityscapes, in case you don't know, are based on what Saber's seen countless times over the years, looking out the window after being abruptly awakened at random hours of the night by the drone of LAPD helicopters overhead. For those keeping score, this is one of those relatively uncommon instances of art with potential to cross over and appeal to broader sectors of the market. If you're one of those galleries with an urban itch you've been resisting scratching, you might give Saber a try. Could be good.

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The Shooting Gallery : Erik Otto - A Long Way Home.

Comment: In his debut solo show, Erik Otto expounds, explains, expands, and dissertates on the concept of home, transforming the gallery into a safe haven for his platform-- and you.

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Tavistock Books : Ten Year Anniversary Party.

Comment: Tavistock Books of Alameda, CA, owned by Vic Zoschak, Jr., celebrates 10 years as an open shop-- a major accomplishment for an antiquarian bookstore these days, the large majority of open shops having fallen victim to the internet in recent years. For you literarians, Tavistock Books specializes in Dickensiana (the works of Charles Dickens), and also offers a respectable selection of quality used and rare books in all fields.

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