Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi : Ashley Hanes and Zefrey Throwell - Eye Work, Line Work.

Comment by AB: According to the prospectus, Ashley Hanes and Zefrey Throwell probe the nascent territory of the underpinnings of the benefits and constraints of the interlocking nature of the interstitial boundary between photography and painting. In other words, Throwell paints on Hanes' photographs. The collaborative synthesis is largely satisfying.

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Micaela Gallery : COLD+HOT 2008 - A Group Exhibition of Glass Sculpture.?

Artists: Mark Abildgaard, Ned Cantrell, Alessandro Casson, Gary Clemenceau (digital media), Grant Garmezy, Taliaferro ("Tali") Jones, Weston Lambert, Karen Nyholm, Lorraine Peltz (painting), David Ruth, Thomas Scoon, James Walker, Sasha Zhitneva.

Comment by AB: Annual group show of works by glass artists from America and abroad. We don't see a lot of quality glass exhibits here in Ess Eff, so if you're a fan of the discipline, don't miss this show.

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Project Artaud : HUM.

Artists: Bert Bergen, David Dempewolf, Corey Fogel, Emily Malina, Sidney Russell, Andrew Wilson. Curated by Cori Crowley & Rachael Cleveland.

Comment by AB: According to the ballyhoo, HUM refers to the "hum" of the environment... with smatterings of technology, alienation, and post-industrialism thrown in for good measure. According to me, this is one disjointed show. I mean the art's good, but I just plain don't get the thread. Anyway, a performance by the B.A.C.H. chorus livens things up while I'm there, and a sizable Bert Bergen wall piece makes for a nice backdrop.

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RayKo Photo Center : Into the Ether - Contemporary Collodion work.

Artists: John Coffer, Will Dunniway, N.W. Gibbons, Quinn Jacobson, Robb Kendrick, Kerik Kouklis, Michael Shindler, Joni Sternbach, Ellen Susan, Robert Szabo.

Comment by AB: We got "10 of the greatest contemporary collodion artists to ever coat a plate," boasts RayKo, and I'm not gonna dispute that. For the uninitiated, collodion is a photographic process popular in the nineteenth century and used to produce ambrotypes (unique photographic images on glass) and ferrotypes or tintypes (unique photographic images on thin metal plates). The work in this show is exceptional, and much of it looks antique, but it's all recent. That said, the vintage treatment of contemporary subject matters imparts a riveting, hypnotic, almost surreal appearance to the images. Definitely worth a visit. In the "Side Gallery," you'll find a selection of photos by Liz Bernstein and images of China by John Torrente.

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Gallery Three : fanee - holla at tha bay.

Comment by AB: That fanee is a naughty naughty artist. If you like it in your face, get sat on here.

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Market Street Gallery : The Dream of Memory - Photography and Assemblage.

Artists: Stacey Carter, John Fitzsimmons, Kat Flyn, Deborah Hayner.

Comment by AB: Photographs and assemblage by four San Francisco artists.

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Gallery 1988 : Strangely Mannered.

Artists: Brandt Peters, Scott Scheidly, Travis Louie, Joe Vaux.

Comment by AB: Four of the more accomplished practioners and purveyors of what's variously referred to as Lowbrow, pop surrealism, underground, or my current preference-- Newbrow art. It's distinctly populist, representational, anecdotal, and in the case of these four artists, distinctly distinguished. About as good as the genre gets. Go see.

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Park Life : Holly Williams / Justin Gabbard.

Comment by AB: Holly Williams tells me she derives her soft shadowy tonal paintings from photographs. She achieves her effects with oversized paint brushes, though the transitions are so they can easily be mistaken for airbrush. Her works remind me of later nineteenth century art movements like Pictorialism and Tonalism , and of artists like Arthur Wesley Dow . Meanwhile, back at Park Life, Justin Gabbard rounds out the event with a delectable assortment of smalls.

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