General comment by AB: My oh my. There's like 35 or 40 openings tonight-- the official blossoming of "spring season," they tell me. Uh... OK. Add Friday and Saturday's openings and, all told, Ess Eff's got in the vicinity of 60 this weekend alone. That's not too shabby for any city anywhere, particularly from a per capita perspective. I mean how many American cities outside of New York or Los Angeles can boast that many openings in a weekend? Or for that matter, that vibrant an art scene? Yes, dear artsters-- we're exceptionally blessed (some might say inundated) with way more art than you can shake a stick at.

But you know what? If you keep shaking that stick, you're gonna miss all the action. So put it down and strap on those hiking boots 'cuz we got some serious artin' to do...

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John Berggruen Gallery : Tom McKinley.

Comment by AB: First off, I just love those one-paragraph press releases from John Berggruen Gallery. They're as clear and concise and easy to understand as can be. And my affinity for Tom McKinley's paintings is not far behind. His eerie postmodern architectural cityscapes and suburbscapes extract out the people and, in so doing, offer mildly incongruous perspectives on contemporary luxury living. The stark vacant nature of his compositions makes you wonder-- are these more the trappings of affluence or of solitary confinement?

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Gallery Paule Anglim : Pamela Wilson-Ryckman - East/West; Leo Bersamina - It's Kind of Complicated.

Review by Gage Opdenbrouw: Pamela Wilson-Ryckman makes risky paintings.? Some of the press materials state she's interested in traditional Asian ink painting, which makes sense given the reductive simplicity of her handling of her images.? She's also drawn to complex subjects, a number of the paintings depict city squares or other open spaces with a great many figures crossing them.? And when I say a figure, I mean a simple blocky brushstroke of one kind or another, simply painted and left unaltered.?

There is a real minimalism in Wilson Ryckman's approach to what she paints;? she always sticks with the bare minimum statement.? This approach is well suited to watercolor, a medium she uses for many of the pieces in the show.? Some depict scenes of urban wreckage, with all their attendant complexity, one in particular reminds me of images of the bombardment of Beirut in summer of 2006.? The watercolors, again, are painted with a minimum of fuss, the complex drawing created by masked out light areas, and the image composed of broad simple washes of darker color.?

One piece suggests a landscape, but is little more than a few too-obvious big strokes of thin paint, and a couple craggy marks suggestive of trees-- not sure why, but I find this painting oddly seductive with it's underdone quality.? Maybe i just admire her moxie in considering something SO simple finished.? All in all, I'd say that this type of work leaves the painter quite naked, and when it doesn't succeed, it's quite obvious.? But when it does, it's very interesting.

Comment by AB: In the anteroom, Leo Bersamina essays on something or other with an engaging yet disparate smattering of works. I sure can't tell what the deal is from the cryptic blurb on the Paule Anglim website. I suppose I'm gonna have to really want to get down to the bottom of this one on my own-- or maybe I'll just enjoy the art and let the cognitive construct slide for the time being.

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Haines Gallery : Yoshitomo Saito - Riprap in Bronze; Noah Wilson - Partial Landscapes.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: Yoshitomo Saito makes beautiful bronze sculptures and installations based on the natural forms of branches and rocks. The word 'riprap' in the show title, "Riprap in Bronze," refers to rough stones placed on river banks and hillside to prevent erosion; his wall pieces appear to jut from the walls as if half-submerged. Saito's tumbleweed-like spheres of loosely-woven branches appear to be cast from willow branches or the like; the'd look very nice with your Brice Marden meander paintings!

DeWitt Cheng writes for Artweek, Art Ltd., www.SanFranciscoArtMagazine.com, www.Shotgun-Review.com, and the East Bay Express.

Comment by AB: Noah Wilson's "Partial Landscapes," according to the official party line, "pull the viewer into unfinished or partially erased images that imply deep space in a vast whiteness." Maybe so, but I can't get much beyond eye strain. Sometimes less is more; other times less is less.

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Robert Koch Gallery : Shai Kremer - Broken Promised Land.

Comment by AB: Large-scale color photographs of land in Israel scarred by 50 plus years of fighting. When will it ever end? A comprehensive monograph on this body of Kremer's work, "Infected Landscape: Israel, Broken Promised Land," is being published by Dewi Lewis Publishing, slated for release in September 2008.

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Gregory Lind Gallery : Will Yackulic - A Prompt & Perfect Cure.

Comment by AB: Will Yackulik's excessively labor-intensive compositions of geometric spheres floating above hallucinatory topographies transport you to faraway places well past the edge of reality. The spheres are gouache and watercolor; the "landscapes" are generated with a typewriter-- by typing the same key over and over and over again. I gotta give this show a Pick Honorable Mention for dedication above and beyond the call of art; the work is really quite mesmerizing. For those of you keeping score, Yackulik's covered some serious creative ground in a relatively short time period.

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Brian Gross Fine Art : Ruth Pastine - Convergence.

Comment by AB: Ruth Pastine gradates color on canvas about as good as it gets. The transitions are so subtle and finely nuanced, the paintings appear to shimmer from a distance. But the surprise ending is that they're at least as tasty, if not tastier, up close on the zoom in where you can indulge in the intricate ecstasy of her brush strokes.

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Elins Eagles-Smith Gallery : Ricardo Mazal - Recent Paintings and Works on Paper.

Comment by AB: Big bold textural abstracts by Mexico-born Ricardo Mazal, who currently lives and paints in New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Prices range $3900-$35K.

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Jack Fischer Gallery : Airyka Rockefeller - Crooked Meadow.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: Airyka Rockefeller's "Crooked Meadows" photos, approximately a dozen of which are being shown, were taken in a small rural town in Czechoslovakia during her artist residency. The photos depict found objects/scenarios that she encountered-- no setups. She uses large format film cameras, then scans the negatives, making minimal digital adjustments, resulting in chromogenic lightjet prints that reveal the mysteries underlying the mundane. A catalogue is available.

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Gallery 415 : Ramses Larzabal - Anda Solo / Walking Alone; Vincente Antonorsi - Natural.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: Dual solo shows of Cuban installation artist Ramses Larzabal (who could not attend) and Venezuelan sculptor Vicente Antonorsi make for a nice study in contrasts. Larzabal's work is composed of industrial materials like wire mesh and rubber tires which he transforms into ethereal veils and matrices, while Antonorsi uses natural materials like shells and seed pods, enclosing them in sculptural containers, almost shrines, of unfinished wood.

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Toomey Tourell Fine Art : Philip Willem Badenhorst, Joris Ghekiere - Zones of Seduction.

Comment by AB: Respectable meta-representational works for the most part by two Belgian artists. While at the show, I think to myself, "Self, Philip Willem Badenhorst's style reminds me of Vladimir Tretchikoff ." And now I possibly know why-- Tretchikoff was South African, and according to the scorecard, Badenhorst was born in South Africa. And we all lived happily ever after.

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Steven Wolf Fine Arts : John Dugger - Mount Analogue.

Comment by AB: Out of the ionosphere careens a show of banners and drawings of mountains by John Dugger. According to the specifications, Dugger, active as an artist since the sixties, currently climbs mountains, makes drawings during those climbs, and then uses a pen carved from a twig found during each respective climb to transcribe those respective drawings onto fabric "using a dye-discharge process." The drawings are then mounted onto larger panels of fabric, then fashioned into banners using "state of the art mountain riggings designed by Dugger himself." And that, as they say, is that.

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Stephen Wirtz Gallery : Michael Kenna - New York, Mont St. Michel, Guilin, Chausey, Hokkaido.

Review by Anise: The Michael Kenna at Stephen Wirtz Gallery is a popular stop tonight. Michael Kenna is a photographer, specific to black & white. The work fills one large room, and also the side gallery. All of his images are of his travels throughout the world. The side gallery is filled with images of New York-- of note is a gorgeous image of the World Trade Center depicted with about four shades of gray. His use of gradient in his black & white images really sets him apart from the rest, in the popular genre. Other impressive images include those of Mt. St. Michel, in France. Here, he really captures the haunting feeling that surrounds that region of France. Overall, the show is comprehensive & well thought out.

Comment by AB: The Michael Kenna magic for me is the brilliant simplicity of his compositions. Sometimes less is less; other times less is more.

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Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art : Alessandro Busci - 8.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: Alessandro Busci is a Milan-based artist who paints industrial subjects like power plants and factories in enamel on acid-oxidized iron plates. The interaction of the media is not predictable, but it yields rich chromatic and textural effects. The paintings, which appear to be based on projected photos, oscillate between abstraction and representation. Although Busci has shown widely in Italy, this is his US debut.

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Marx & Zavattero : Patrick Wilson - Considering Truth and Beauty.

Comment by AB: Precision paintings comprised of overlapping panels, mathematical in effect, the rich velveteen sheen of each panel burnished to perfection. You know what a sucker I am for technical mastery, plus when you look at these babies, they subtly zone you into copacetic halcyon calm. And you know I can use the relaxation. Pick of First Thursday.

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Hespe Gallery : Phoebe Brunner - Recent Landscapes.

Review by Uba Owl: This is our next stop after Newmark Gallery and the afternoon light follows us, as evidenced by the art of Phoebe Brunner. Phoebe is using this light on purpose. She paints Southern California landscapes, and there is a biblical quality about them. The beauty, grandeur, open space, surreal light-- the feeling of something bigger than all of us. She invites us to walk in, contemplate, and get lost.

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Newmark Gallery : Anthony Holdsworth - Cities on the Water.

Review by Uba Owl: "Why water on the streets?" I ask Anthony Holdsworth.

"I express my state of mind through the landscapes," he answers. "As I start to think more about global worming, these images came to my head. And after we attacked Iraq, my mood was very bleak and images that I worked on at that time were too."

All of Anthony's paintings are very bold in color and structure with perspectives that are almost unsettling. He manages to keep everything balanced with his use of natural light. It is the strongest aspect of his vision, always difficult to depict-- he has mastered its sense with every piece. Because of how he works with light, I can feel the weight of building materials and road surfaces. There is gravity here-- not oppressive-- only a reminder. The people in his pictures seem to be aware of it.

Review by Gage Opdenbrouw: Bay Area painter Anthony Holdsworth's new show bends his plein-air practice to new ends.? His work is highly developed, tight, and defined, rather than flush with smudgy effects common to many outdoor painters. The arguable centerpiece of the show is a triptych of large squarish paintings of the intersection of Market & New Montgomery Streets, themed on global warming.? The first depicts the intersection as it now stands; the second shows it innundated with floodwaters and huge waves lapping off the buildings.? The final painting shows the intersection after being abandoned for 100 years, flocks of birds in the sky, an alligator basking in the foreground near a buried skull, and an ominous warning in latin, relating to the fall of Carthage.? Holdsworth traveled to Point Reyes to sketch and study the atmospheric effects he wanted for these pieces, and did many studies on site.? Other offerings include a pair of paintings of the same composition of sunflowers, but in two different types of light, and a selection of various Bay Area street scenes.

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Scott Richards Contemporary Art : Chris Kitze - The Electric Image.

Review by Uba Owl: Chris Kitze shows color photographs that are highly intriguing. He photographs store windows and monumental advertisements that have many layers of shadows, and interiors imprinted on and behind them, They collide and reflect with one another, bringing unexpected meaning and questions about our culture. Decidedly interesting work.

Comment by AB: Here's the best part-- Chrise Kitze tells me his finished compositions are exactly as he photographs them. No fancy tricks, overlays, or computer manipulations. You see what he saw when he shot them-- at various locations around the world.

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Dolby Chadwick Gallery : Alex Kanevsky - Visitations.

Review by Gage Opdenbrouw: OK, I won't pretend to be neutral; I think Alex Kanevsky is one of the most interesting and talented representational painters out there today. A blend of figurative paintings, interiors (sometimes with figures), and a couple landscapes, this exhibit shows Kanevsky only sharpening his already impressive command with the brush (and the knife, squeegee, and who knows what else).? Showing something less of a concern for motion in these paintings than in the past, these pieces are far from still or inert.? Kanevsky is successful at navigating between representation and abstraction, figure and ground, and layered vs direct areas, and for all that, his art is just beautiful.? Color, paint application, drawing, unique pictorial concepts-- it's all there in spades.? There, I said it.? If you enjoy painting, don't miss this show.

Comment by AB: The exhibition is approaching sold out-- but good art's still available. Price range $13K-$35K for paintings; $1900 for limited edition prints.

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SF Camerawork : Mike Brodie - The 2008 Baum Award for Emerging American Photographers; Pablo Pijnappel, Liz Steketee, Melanie Willhide - Past Is an Image We Form in the Present; Jenny Vogel - Your Lips are No Man's Land but Mine.

Review by Anise; photos c/o SF Camerawork (sorry-- lost the images from this one): Upon entering SF Camerawork, you see about fourteen images from Mike Brodie's train series. These photographs are beautiful, and dirty, and colorful at the same time. All of the images document the train-hopping culture around America. It is no surprise that on opening night the gallery is filled with people who look to be train-hoppers themselves-- or maybe they're just the fans of the discipline. Either way, it's quite the scene, and adds to the whole show.

Mike Brodie's images are the far the most interesting of the three exhibits opening at SF Camerawork tonight. If you enjoyed the new Gus Van Sant movie "Paranoid Park," then you'll appreciate Brodie's show. If you can, please check it out. It's an incredible depiction of a small yet distinct youth subculture in America, one that's somehow been overlooked.

The side galleries are devoted to a video installation from Jenny Vogel about unrequited love, and a selection photographs by a trio of artists-- Pablo Pijnappel, Liz Steketee, and Melanie Willhide-- about images from the past and how they correspond to the present.

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Hangart Gallery & Annex : Ivy Jacobsen - Seeing Through (at Hangart); Give and Take - Paul Brigham, Fain Hancock, Phillip Hua, Piero Spadaro (at Hangart Annex).

Comment by AB: Oil on panel paintings by Ivy Jacobsen embody distinct Asian sensibilities. Jacobsen uses materials like bronzing powder and mineral pigments to impart a deep rich appearance. Across the street and up the stairs at the Annex, four artists essay in abstraction.

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Frey Norris Gallery : Jenifer K. Wofford and Christine Wong Yap - Sorry.

Comment by AB: Tight gouache drawings by Jenifer K. Wofford suggest enigmatic occurrences while inventive sculptures and schematics by Christine Wong Yap wax mildly scientific. Quality work on both counts.

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Red Ink Studios : Mash-Up - An Exhibition of Collaborative Ceramics.

Artists: T.L. Cheung, Danny Dastrup, Josh Hershman, Ofra Fisher, Tom Franco, Sara Kagan, Olivia Kent, Joe Kowalczyk, Ginger Markley, Kjell Peterson, Diane Rice, Brenda Soi, Peter St. Lawrence.

Review by Contessa Trujillo; photos by Jessica Whiteside: "Mash-Up" showcases the works of fifteen ceramic, porcelain and mixed media artists. Curated by T. L. Cheung, the show is a mishmash of sculptural objects from tea sets to mischievous creatures, and cast-glass sculptures. The intent is to stimulate ideas on the connections and separations involved with collaborative works of art. Favorites include tiny creatures hidden in the hands of a sinister giant, a congregation of centipede-like insects shuffling through a sea of red sand, and cast glass sculptures of old photography equipment absorbing and reflecting light. The outcome is playful and interesting, almost as if stepping into a childlike fantasy world of gadgets, contraptions and creatures that may be lurking nearby.

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111 Minna Gallery : Vulcan - Style Savage.

Review by Jessica Whiteside: This artist goes by his street name Vulcan, and as you would expect, his style is rooted in his graffiti art background. In this solo representation of his work he blends his street art graffiti style with modern abstraction. His colors are bold and bright and his compositions range from organic shapes to straight edges. Vulcan appears to utilize found materials as his pieces are on every shape and size of all different kinds of wood panels.

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David Cunningham Projects : Bernadette Cotter - STILL LIFE.

Review by Libby Nicholaou: Bernadette Cotter's black, white and red installation titled, 'Still Life,' holds much to comprehend.? The repetition of soft red egg shapes centered on white paper horizontally lining the walls, contrasted against knitting needles wrapped in black thread hanging from the ceiling, presents a quieting atmosphere from the moment you enter the gallery.? The performance, consisting of Bernadette dressed in a black burgundy gossamer cloak, holding wound ball of red thread and broken needles makes room for contemplation and peace.? This exhibit truly is an installation, as there are no prices on any of the pieces and they hold court more for conversation than potential ownership.? Bernadette, originally from Ireland came to San Francisco to do her graduate study in art and found herself staying here for 10 years. She now lives in County Cork, Ireland where she receives a respectable amount of local funding for her various art installations.

Comment by AB: Pure art here. Uncommon in SF. It's not about making money, it's not about getting famous, it's not about the artist or the art dealer or the art gallery. It's about art. And it's about you coming to see it so you don't forget why you're in this game.

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Cafe Royale : Marshall Marice - Recent Work.

Review and photos by Jessica Whiteside: Marshall Marice creates a show of large-scale photographs with gravity defying compositions. Figures seem to float in everyday settings by some inexplicable magic. In speaking with Marice, he reveals some secrets of how he stages his photographs, which I won't give away, but will say that he's definitely clever and creative about composing the images. In explaining the purpose of his work, he talks about an exploration and confrontation of human relationships to the documentary nature of photographs, and asks the viewer to question perceptions of impossibility.

Alicia, the curator, consistently shows compelling and interesting work, and the receptions are always fun to attend!

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Fifty24SF Gallery : Lucy McLauchlan - Restricted Freedom; Slick - Ce N'est Pas Graffiti.

Review and photos by Libby Nicholaou: In the street level gallery, Lucy McLauchlan's framed ink drawings are camouflaged in the larger flowing wall drawing behind them. Resembling cell-like formations, faces morph in and out of leaf-like shapes and into larger definite human organs.? The back of the gallery presents itself like a cave as the drawing becomes denser and extends across the ceiling.? It's an experience where the summation of the parts is greater than each standing alone.

Next door at the upstairs gallery, Slick's intense color panels show experience and control in manipulating the art of graffiti.? He creates depth with his colors with transparency and build up of texture.? The shapes maintain depth with vanishing perspective points and strong curvatures. In the upstairs of the upstairs gallery, multiple rectangular panels assembled in a grid seem to represent a train he painted in the past, or how he would go about painting a series of trains.? Keeping the subject matter on street art, he is able to elevate his compositions beyond objecthood toward intellectual consideration.

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The Tricycle Gallery : The Bathroom Show!!!

Artists: Erin Allen, Kai Althoff, Alexander Bevington, Elisheva Biernoff, Luke Butler, Breean Cox, Christina Empedocles, James Gobel, Patrick Hillman, John Jenkins, Jason Kalogiros, Jeanne Lorenz, Travis Meinolf, Piero Passacantando, Jessica Rosen, Erik Scollon, Maggie Preston, Leah Rosenberg, Justin Hurty, Raphael Noz.

Review and photos by Libby Nicholaou: When asked to do a solo exhibit in the space, Luke Butler says he would rather curate a show, "The Bathroom Show."? The result is a mixture of artworks in different mediums including ink drawings, a textile installation, two video installations, and photography.? The exhibit begins in the front gallery, continues through to the kitchen, and appropriately ends at the bathroom in the back.? It's a conversation starter and tribute to a place not often mentioned, but one frequented daily.

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Hotel Biron : Pete Doolittle - April's Fool.

Review and photos by Libby Nicholaou: Pete Doolittle paints on glass, using old windows with rough wooden frames.? He has a strong sense of color combination and line gesture.? His large pop surrealist paintings have a clay-like texture due to the shiny surface of the glass. Funny thing happened with lighting for the exhibit.? Last year for his exhibit in this space, the lights for the art all went out and they only had the regular bar lighting. This year Pete brought back a couple pieces from that same show and the lights shining only on those pieces went out as well.?

Apologies on image quality-- very low lighting.

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Addendum:

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Those of you who consistently enjoy the artbusiness.com First Thursday experience (not to mention the gas and time and drycleaning bills you save by gallery hopping in your PJ's) might consider consecrating yourselves to the cause . Hey-- it only takes a moment, and it feels really good. And it helps; believe me. And I thank you.

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First Thursday; March 6, 2008

First Thursday; February 7, 2008

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