FIRST FRIDAY OAKLAND ART OPENINGS

HATCH - MAMA BUZZ - ROCK PAPER SCISSORS

SLATE ART AND DESIGN - JOYCE GORDON - KROWSWORK

MERCURY 20 -FM - 21 GRAND

07.02.10

Reported by Pilar Vree and DeWitt Cheng

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Hatch Gallery : Rio Babe International.

Review and images by Pilar Vree: Despite the twinge of embarrassment felt by viewers walking into a pro-Brazil soccer themed art show the day that Brazil lost to Netherlands, this brilliantly colored and lively show perfectly captures the fervor of World Cup fever through neon lights, brightly colored artwork, flashy clothing and even bleachers erected before a flat screen TV. Every team that made it to the World Cup was memorialized in simple pieces that were hung according to the team groupings. Rio Babe International has jackets and handkerchiefs for sale.

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Mama Buzz Gallery : Celebrity Meat Seizures - Erica B. Sheets.

Review and images by Pilar Vree: The title of this show says it all-- celebrities, meat, and some sort of repulsive reaction to the whole. In a town with a reputation for a large population of vegetarians and vegans, pieces replete with various cuts of bloody red meat mind make some viewers gag. The juxtaposition of butchery and various movie stars, their eyes replaced with crazed black and white renditions, conjures up immediate ideas of the celebrity as commodity. In a day when anyone can become a reality TV show, the emetic reactions of the subjects seem like self-gratification ad nauseum.

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Rock Paper Scissors Collective : The Good, The Bad, The West - Ward Joiner.

Review and images by Pilar Vree: An ongoing love affair with West Oakland seems to be the cornerstone of the Downtown Oakland art scene. A video of life in West Oakland may be familiar to many locals, but to others, images of urban decay seem so distant from this vibrant Downtown nexus. Photographs of West Oakland natives and a wall asking viewers to "write the truth about Oakland" add to the "keeping it real" ethos of a show that seems stark in contrast to the festivities of the Art Murmur. In lieu of the Oscar Grant verdict, a sign in the window proclaims, "There is peace in Oakland," an ambiance of awareness that sounds like the voices of an ever narrowing minority of locals.

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Slate Art and Design : Lines, Lanes and Planes.

Artists: Anne Subercaseaux, Patricia Thomas, Mel Davis, Justine Lo, Toru Sugita, Chris Nickel.

Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: Summertime and thus group shows are here. This one, however, hangs together stylistically, featuring the abstractions of Justine Lo (oils on canvas) Chris Nickel (color photos), Toru Sugita (etchings and installation), Anne Subercaseaux (oils on canvas), and Patricia Thomas (drawings).

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Joyce Gordon Gallery : Glimpse In Time 2010: In Honor Of Imogen Cunningham.

Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: Glimpse of Time is an international photo competition hosted annually by Joyce Gordon Gallery. This year's show, judged by SF photographer Linda Connor, is dedicated to Imogen Cunningham. Thirty-six photographers working in all styles. An August show will feature the prizewinning artists.

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Krowswork Gallery : What If? In the Days When the Tiger Smoked - Torsten Zenas Burns & Darrin Martin.

Images c/o by Pilar Vree.

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Mercury 20 Gallery : Summer Group Show.

Artists: Julie Alvarado, JoAnn Biagini, Eric Bohr, Margaret Chavigny, Chela Fielding, Polly Frizzell, Peter Honig, Maya Kabat, Kathleen King, Mary Marsh, Jill McLennan, Dave Meeker, Charlie Milgrim, Jamie Morgan, Mary Curtis Ratcliff, Julianne Sterling, Laura VanDuren, Joan Weiss.

Review by Pilar Vree: The "20" in Mercury 20 stands for the 20 core artists who show in the gallery. A variety of work in different media and different subject matters adorns the walls.

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FM Gallery : Welcome to Hobo-opolis - Mike Lee.

Review and images by Pilar Vree: With a subtle stab of irony, Mike Lee's show "Welcome to Hobo-opolis" depicts hoboes and other impoverished scenarios on the walls of a gallery here in the rapidly gentrifying Downtown Oakland art district. Violent and delicately desolate pieces on clean white walls tell stories of decay and addiction, decrepit houses and trash laden streets. The pieces are largely effective, an lawless netherworld of homelessness and filth against the sterile, harrowing negative space of white paper. Expertly rendered figures and a dirty color palette hammer home dilapidated scenes reminiscent of Ghost Town and Lower Bottoms-- two dangerous West Oakland neighborhoods-- that can be carefully observed from safety of a pristine clean art gallery. However, as Downtown Oakland becomes more and more upscale, and the homeless and poor get continually pushed out by new art scene money, one wonders whether a more appropriate title for this show might be "Goodbye to Hobo-opolis."

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21 Grand Gallery : I Really Want You to Like Me - Kathrine Worel.

Review and images by Pilar Vree: Giant Braille letters and texts are attached directly to the large walls of 21 Grand, the individual bumps of traditional Braille blown up as cast thumbprints. It's a show that begs to be touched and touch back, as the Braille letters variously as studs and thumbprints reach back out to the viewer. Colored Braille and a letter at the top of a ladder take the idea of visual art to a new level, bringing in the sense of touch to a generally color-free installation.

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