SAN FRANCISCO ART GALLERIES OPENINGS

FIRST THURSDAY - 02.04.10 Part I

(with assistance from Anneliese Vobis )

Comment by AB: First off, my profusely effusive apologies to all of you whose names I can't recall, or who look sort of kind of familiar but who I'm not really sure if or where or when I saw you or what we talked about or even if I took your picture standing in front of your art (erk), or to whom I respond to with facial expressions ranging anywhere from quizzical to totally blank. You see, I suck at names to begin with, and that fact, in combination with creeping senility and infused with core obliviousness can only spell one thing-- trubble. So I hope you're not overly offended by my Achilles brain, and always remember-- it's me, not you.

But gee willikers Batman, have we got some art on the docket tonight, and I mean gallery openings galore. It's almost like an aesthetic pandemic (with no known cure, I might add), which consequently prompts a brief epistle to you establishments out there in Botswanaland who think having an opening on First Thursday is a good idea: Either stay open late, until at least 9pm, preferably later (the only way you stand to get any decent blow-off from the vortex) or reschedule altogether. And now, from the soapbox to the walls and pedestals of our hallowed creative purveyors...

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Gallery Paule Anglim : James Castle.

Comment by AB: James Castle (1900 - 1977), was born deaf and never learned to sign or read lips. His small paintings, sculptures, drawings and books are comprised of materials he found around his rural property near Boise, Idaho-- used milk cartons, matchboxes, chimney soot and the like. He combined these with ingredients which included his own saliva and colors extracted from wet tissue paper. A retrospective exhibition of Castle's art, organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, is on view at the Berkeley Art Museum thru April 25th, 2010.

Prices top at $140K--some pretty hefty bread for some comparatively diminutive art, and therefore worth an investigation. So I whip out my appraiser's hat and spring into action. High auction record for Castle is $15K. Woah! That's a major league disparity.

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Robert Koch Gallery : Joshua Lutz; Eadweard Muybridge - Motion Studies.

Comment by AB: Yet another photographic dose of American detritus, this time, suburban style. Joshua Lutz here documents the Meadowlands area just outside New York City, the results of a 10-year project that began as a search for the remains of Jimmy Hoffa. Lutz also shows European images which reflect a similar ethos. In the side gallery, experience fascinating classic 19th century bird, animal and human sequential freeze-frame locomotion studies by early California photographer, Eadweard Muybridge,

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Toomey Tourell Gallery : James Kao - Possible Worlds.

Comment by AB: Reductivist, vaguely representational still lifes of oranges on tables by Chicago artist James Kao. It's precisely that simple and no more complicated.

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Bekris Gallery : Les Chimeres - Soly Cisse; Malick Sidibe - Other Africa.

Comment by AB: Vibrant creature, character and symbol-rich canvases by Dakar Senegal artist, Soly Cisse, are contrasted with straightforward sensitive black & white photographic portraits by Malick Sidibe of Mali. How fortunate we are to have a gallery right here in Center City Ess Eff showing significant contemporary African artists. Good stuff. Stop on by and support the cause.

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George Lawson Gallery : Angela Baker - Trace; David Maxim - Solstice.

Review by Anneliese Vobis, images c/o George Lawson Gallery: Angela Baker's abstract paintings with shaft-like linear flourishes and David Maxim's loosely figurative works on paper confront us with their lively animated styles. The expressive nature of the art engages the viewer in intimate conversations with the work.

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Patricia Sweetow Gallery : Assembled - Julie Weitz, Weston Teruya, Taha Balal and Bernhard Haertter, Jonathan Burstein.

Comment by AB: Jonathan Burstein's remarkable collaged portraits immortalize denizens of Market Street (and a pigeon), and they just keep gettin' better. You zoom in for a close-up and can't help but wonder how he does it. I gotta lay a Pick of First Thursday on this dude. The rest of the show's reasonably peppy as well. Sidle on by for a gander.

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Marx & Zavattero : Bradley Castellanos - North Woods.

Review by Anneliese Vobis: New York artist Bradley Castellano's new painting/photo collage works make you look twice. Several overlay techniques are applied which transport the viewer away into otherworldly situations. In particular, the photo overlays add a 3D feel to the natural colored compositions.

Comment by AB: Bradley Castellanos has finessed himself up a conspicuously atypical technique of collaging intricately cut sections of photographs over painted backgrounds, sourcing his images of abandoned industrial sites and rural landscapes from sojourns through Eastern Pennsylvania. The rather disquieting and aberrantly unreal results suggest what things might soon look like if we don't act now to mend our environmentally profligate ways. Worth a visit.

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Addendum:

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Uh oh... you taking me for granted again? How 'bout one of them walks on the flip side for a change? Who loves ya baby?

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First Thursday - January 7, 2009

First Thursday - December 3, 2009

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