Catharine Clark Gallery : Julie Heffernan - Broken Homes; Adam Chapman - The Starling Drawings.

Comment by AB: In the main gallery, Julie Heffernan's intricate imaginary realities are mainly about what goes on inside the mind, and as you'll see, the mind is an exceptionally busy place. According to the expository, Heffernan's lush mindscapes, many with cutaways, reference pretty much everything from Biblical events and urban sprawl to the sexual revolution and Leave-it-to-Beaver family values. In the video room, Adam Chapman's hanging flat panel monitors show huge swarms of starlings in flight over Rome. Shot in black and white and with no point of reference, the images are so unrecognizeable, they look more like abstract digital maniuplations than natural occurrences. Good show on both counts; go see.

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Braunstein/Quay Gallery : Paul DeMarinis - New Works.

Comment by AB: Slightly out-of-synch metronomes with soundtracks of hypnotists attempt to hypnotize you, or if that's not your thing, survey artful contemporary renditions of vintage sound, still, and moving picture viewing and listening devices. Or cogitate on long skinny remakes of Jean-Luc Godard's 1967 film "Weekend." And there you have Paul DeMarinis's oblique assessment of what cinematic life was like back in the good old days.

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Hosfelt Gallery : Vocabularies of Metaphor - More Stories.

Artists: Amy Cutler, Shahzia Sikander, Ruth Marten, Liliana Porter, Yuka Yamaguchi, Yelena Yemchuk, Rachell Sumpter, Baseera Khan, Crystal Liu, Henry Darger, Rob Matthews, Sara Stites, Charlotte Schulz, Seonna Hong.

Comment by AB: To quote from the brochure, the show consists of "fifteen international artists exploring narrative through symbolic vernacular." That seems to include pretty much everything.

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San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery : Immediate Future - The 2008 Murphy and Cadogan Fellowships in the Fine Arts.

Artists: Bren Ahearn, Michael Arcega, Elisheva Biernoff, Tom Borden, Modesto Covarrubias, Eilish Cullen, April Grayson, Claire Jackel, Anthony Marcellini, Robert Minervini, Robert Moya, Michael Namkung, Moses Nornberg, Daniel Ochoa, S. Patricia Patterson, Hilary Pecis, Jeff Ray, Gina Tuzzi, Jina Valentine, Annie Vought, Sara Wanie, Andrew Witrak, Imin Yeh, David Yun.

Comment by AB: Murphy & Cadogan Fellowships are annual awards sponsored by The San Francisco Foundation to help art students fund their final year of grad school. Nice job of picking the recipients (and the art). Highlights include a working sauna with video and sound installation by Jeff Ray, a portrait of George W. Bush made from 18,000 cast plastic M-16 rifle shells by Moses Nornberg, and a mound of grass in the corner (part of a performance piece) by Anthony Marcellini. Worth a visit.

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ArtZone 461 : Keith Gaspari - Allegory.

Comment by AB: Intense unfettered colored pencil drawings by Keith Gaspari electrify the gallery. Hold onto your hats!

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Mina Dresden Gallery : Olivia Song Park - White Lies.

Comment by AB: You might call this one "Obsessive Compulsion Meets Repetitive Stress," seeing as Olivia Song Park meticulously saves and then painstakingly revamps myriad multitudes of insignificant daily discards (used Q-tip heads, the little white circles of paper left by a paper punch, etc.) into works of art. But wait; there's more. She also counts the punch holes, Q-tip heads, or whatever so you know exactly how many hundreds or thousands of them are in each work of art. Plus the entire show is in white (except for the makeup on the used Q-tip heads). A curiously engaging endeavor.

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Soap Gallery : Laura Mappin - When Doilies Go Bad.

Comment by AB: Laura Mappin, a highly skilled crochet artist, is justifiably offended by the "dainty old lady" reputation of the profession and those who profess it. She herewith rectifies the situation by lacing her works with expletives, bawdy bon mots, a penile head rest, yet more naughty words, and related displays of inappropriateness. Good art and great fun.

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Receiver Gallery : Hilary Pecis - From the Paradigm Shift.

Comment by AB: Hilary Pecis concocts fascinating otherworldly pattern-rich spacescapes in paint and collage. Her rigorous and seriously proficient approach to art-making results in works that are gratifying from visual, compositional, cognitive, and technical standpoints. Recommended.

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667 Shotwell : 10 Year Itch.

Comment by AB: 667 Shotwell, aka the residence of artist Chris Sollars, plays host to occasional art shows, this one featuring a decade collection (1998-2008) of videos, fashion, posters, handbills, and related miscellany from San Francisco's underground music scene. What I know about Ess Eff's recent underground music history, you can fit on the head of a pin and still have plenty of room left over to grow pot. Nevertheless, I find the show to be educational, informative, entertaining, and well put together.

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Femina Potens : Out of the Bubble - Artists on Queer Travel.

Artists: Dusty Lombardo, Lenore Chinn, Lydia Daniller, Kirstyn Russell, Pamela Peniston, and Yuri Manabe.

Comment by AB: Contemplative documentary photograph show essays on what it's like for queer artists (and queer people in general) to travel around the globe, and in so doing, venture outside their comfort zones.

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Mollusk Surf Shop : Nathaniel Russell - New Heaven.

Comment by AB: Ink drawings, screenprints, and a smattering of cut & painted wood works by artist and musician Nathaniel Russell explore everything from outer space and the supernatural to plants, people, and even a peculiar scientific chart. The art's got a kind of a folky earthy down home feel, but with an edge. Check it out.

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Addendum:

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