Braunstein/Quay Gallery : Transparencies - Invitational Fiber Arts Exhibition.

Artists: adam (the late Paul Cotton), Charissa Brock, Linda Hutchins, Marie-Laure Ilie, Ali Naschke-Messing, Susan Taber Avila, Connie Utterback. Curated by Myra Block Kaiser.

Comment by AB: It's a group show structured around fiber, but there's also abstract architecture, Burning Man, mail art, and more. For a complicated combination like this, the curatorial arm of the operation (aka Myra Block Kaiser) does a pretty spiffy job of weaving it all together (pun intended).

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Meridian Gallery : Where There's Smoke - A Grand Opening and Closing Event Celebrating the Fiery Spirit of Meridian Gallery's Early Occupant Tessie Wall.

Comment by AB: "I Shot Him because I loved him, damn him" and Salon Oblique of Venice, California in collaboration with Meridian Gallery present this strange agglomeration of I dunno. Part of it is about resurrecting (in the name of environmental awareness) the essentially extinct practice of hang-drying clothes, the short-term goal being to convince George and Laura Bush to put up a clothesline at the Whitehouse and use it. And there's a website and petition and stuff for people who want to take action or learn more. The rest of the show is about Tessie Wall, a notorious San Francisco Madam who once inhabited the Meridian Gallery building, and is also known for shooting her husband. It's that simple and no more complicated... I think.

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Femina Potens : Joni Younkins-Herzog and Susan Latta - Twisted Elements.

Comment by AB: Interesting, and at times unsettling, display of sculpture by Joni Younkins-Herzog and Susan Latta includes glass, bronze, mixed media, and more. According to the handbill, it's about when science meets fetish. Works for me.

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Root Division : Joshua Aaron, Jon Casey Clary, Kevin E. Taylor - Three Angles.

Comment by AB: Works of art by these three artists complement each other with colors and?quirkiness. Kevin is working on some new pieces he includes in the show, which have more color than his previous pieces. Jon Casey's retro postcard paintings provide entertainment. Joshua Aaron's paintings take me by surprise with their clean rendering and depth created using oil and acrylic paints. The art is not priced; the artists want the focus to be about what they've created recently.

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Lobot Gallery : FasTrak.

Artists: Alexis Amann, Nicholas Bohac, Colette Campbell-Jones, John Casey, Nancy Chan, Amanda Curreri, Michael Cutlip, Mark Edwards, Will Gurley, Martha Sue Harris, Darren Hawk, Daniel Healey, Raymie Iadevaia, Kara Joslyn, Mary Anne Kluth, Liz Maher, Leticia Ramirez, Dickson Schneider, Shawn Sloan, Charlene Tan, Task1, Karen Thomas, Ryan Verzaal, Bryan Von Reuter, Raymond Wong, John Writer.

Review by Libby Nicholaou: A group exhibit featuring 25 artists from San Francisco and the East Bay. The show's curators, Danielle Healey and Mary Anne Kluth, set out to create an environment inside the gallery and are successful. Pieces that contribute to that affect are, Liz Maher's trees, John Casey's larger than life human/creature sculptures, pastel shingling inside the gallery, hanging replicas of old rock banners, Martha Sue Harris' fabric sculptures coming out of the wall, and listening stations on the floor in the gallery's center. For those who don headphones, the exhibit's experience is complete. The sounds travel through your head as your eyes wander about the art-filled room.

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