Bucheon Gallery : Jenny Dubnau - Recent Paintings; Elena Sisto - Works on paper.

Comment by AB: Admirably accurate and entrancing portraits by Jenny Dubnau present people as human rather than perfect. That might ordinarly sound not-so-good, but Dubnau accomplishes this tightrope walk with the greatest of respect for her subjects. Like 'em. Elena Sisto's curious works on paper have a naive quality about them and are unpretentious in appearence, but once you start looking, they seductively draw you in.

***

North of Market/Tenderloin Community Benefit District : Patricia Araujo and by Mark Ellinger - Heart of the City.

Comment by AB: An ode or perhaps an homage to The Tenderloin. Patricia Araujo's colorful uplifting paintings abstract out architectural elements from the neighborhood and focus on the upside, while Mark Ellinger's photographs present the often overlooked streets and buildings of the neighborhood from perspectives that we rarely see or even think about.

***

Aftermodern Gallery : ?Kelly Nicolaisen - You Are Here.

Comment by AB: San Francisco artist Kelly Nicolaisen weaves mysterious photographic narratives by posing friends and acquaintances, one at a time and often facing away from the viewer, into settings that, rather than clue you in to the perameters of the situations, leave antecedents and possible outcomes totally open to interpretation. The works are digital prints on canvas.

***

NOMA Gallery : Abstracted Realities.

Artists: Hawk Alfredson, Nikolai Atanassov, Gina Brezini, Georgi Tushev, Irene Kononova, Grigor Malinov, Mark Millene, and Kosio Minchev.

Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: Noma Gallery is a new gallery on Maiden Lane showing modernist art with a strong grounding in art-school craft. For their second show, owners Plamen Minev and Nikolai Atanassov are showing both Bay Area and international artists. Great space, packed reception.

***

ArtHouse Gallery, 1360 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103; 415.552.2183: Goodman2 Artists Show.

Artists: Onyx Williams, Jakub Kalousek, Anahid Arslanian, Lois Llewellyn, Brent Bushnell, Sofia Carmi, Tony Vaughn, Maya Cain, Carolyn Crampton.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: This ArtHouse (1360 Mission) group show features nine artists sharing a Potrero Hill studio space named after a previous building on Geary (confused yet?). Good show, up til Jan. 23. Reception features improv performance by Marcia Kimmell and The Next Stage Ensemble.

Comment by AB: Group show of art by artists from the Goodman2 Building located in Potrero Hill. ArtHouse Gallery is part of ArtHouse , a clearinghouse for information about artist studio and live/work spaces and cultural facilities, founded in 1986 by California Lawyers for the Arts (C.L.A.) and the San Francisco Arts Commission.

***

Triple Base Gallery : Dream With Everything That Fades Away.

Artists: Guillermina Baiguera, Chris Duncan, Linda Geary, Scott Oliver.

Comment by AB: Good art at affordable prices courtesy of four of our more proficient creative practitioners.

***

Needles & Pens : Other (aka Troy Lovegates) - Stolen Land.

Comment by AB: The gallery sector of the establishment is dense with paintings, linoleum block prints, photography, and installation by Other (aka Troy Lovegates), currently residing in Montreal, Canada, but an inveterate international traveler. He's an accomplished outdoor artist as well, arting up urban walls from Berlin and Paris to Fez, Morocco and Lima, Peru. A number of items in the show are sold. I'm partial to the paintings, rich in detail and eminently delectable in quality, but everything's good. Go for it.

***