Micaela Gallery : Jenna North, Gerald Cannon, David Yun - Digital Delay.

Comment by AB: I'm not exactly sure how the title "Digital Delay" meshes with what's on display here, especially since Jenna North is a painter, but the other two artists are showing digital prints, so that part makes sense. Maybe the title should have been something like "Digital Deuce and a Painter." I dunno.

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Lisa Dent Gallery : Ryan Pierce - Army of No One.

Comment by AB: Ryan Pierce detests war and everything about it so fervently that he's giving away art to underscore his stance. In addition to antiwar pro-environment paintings that are for sale, he offers a free woodblock print on fabric to anyone who takes a pledge to forsake the military, and free pro-environment or antiwar drawings to anyone who agrees to have their images tattooed somewhere on the vicinity of their torsos. Now that's commitment-- on your part as well as his.

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Aftermodern Gallery : Caroline Shepard - Resemblances.

Review by Anise: Caroline Shepard is here for her opening and readily talks about her photographic images. Each composition is complied from about 20+ photographs or textures that she collects, and then progressively incorporates into a finished photograph using Photoshop. She plays with light & shadows in ways that remind me of Gregory Crewdson's early work... minus the disquiet.

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One Taste Urban Retreat Center : Emily Merrill.

Review and photos by Anise: The opening is crowded. There are about six of Emily Merrill's photographs on display. If you visit her website, you see that she typically photographs female nudes, however all of the images in this show are of women clothed, either in trees or out and about in nature-- nothing like the work she's done in the past.

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Gallery del Grotto at Sports Basement : Alexandra Blum - Dreams and Memories.

Comment by AB: Delectable display of paintings and monoprints, lighthearted and fanciful.

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Triple Base Gallery : Starting With Blade. Artists: Joseph Hart, Sumi Ink Club, Takaya Nagura & Instant Drawing Machine, Iben Toft Noergaard, Julian Gatto, Michelle Blade.

Review by Jessica Whiteside: Triple Base curators select galleries in other cities that have similar contemporary artist-centered gallery programming and share a common aesthetic. The galleries involved in the project offer artists and patrons different ways to experience the artwork-- through drawing events, studio visits, lectures, and investigational curatorial projects. Participating galleries include: LOYAL, Stockholm, Sweden; SITE LA, Los Angeles; Nakaochiai Gallery, Tokyo; Charlotte Fogh Contemporary, Arhus, Denmark and Little Cakes, New York City.

This group show makes connections between artists working in a similar styles and creates an international community of compatible art spaces. I'm specifically drawn to a piece that reads "I declare this war is over" which is not only interesting in its message, but has some really beautifully drawn characters in it. There are also some cute little soft sculptures in the gallery's front window of birdlike creatures spooning each other.

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Galeria de la Raza : Victor Cartagena - The Invisible Nation.

Review by Jessica Whiteside: The Invisible Nation is a multimedia solo exhibition exploring all the of the emotions and social issues dealing with moving to the United States from other countries, particularly focusing on the experiences of Latin American immigrants. Cartagena's installation pieces are based on video and photographic portraits of immigrant residents, as well as on 1970s and 80s photos from Latin American archives that the artist has collected over the years. The use of large numbers of black and white passport photos in installation pieces creates a dramatic and striking visual picture of the number of people this exhibition draws attention to. The exhibition also comments on the experience of contemporary life in the age of globalization and mass migration.

Cartagena's show is overall beautifully designed, effective, and exemplifies a very thoughtful point of view with respect to the unresolved issues of immigration policy, and to the surge in anti-immigrant feelings across America. This is definitely one of the most compelling and well-conceived exhibitions I have seen-- the kind of work I would expect to see in a museum.

Comment from AB: Good show; go see.

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Hayes Valley Market, 580 Hayes St., San Francisco, CA: Art is My Bag .

Artists: Leigh Radtke (curator), Ramon Bravo, Tina Calloway, Steve Dehlinger, Kate Dopheide, Gladys Ecock, Marie Ferreboeuf, William Gallo, Virginia Greene, Charlotte Seekamp, David Steinhardt, Roger Thoms, Madeleine Vietmeier.

Comment by AB: Art about and created from everyday objects, the things we throw away without thinking, in this case bags, both paper and plastic. The artists range in age from 9 to 73 years old. Sometimes it's more about the message than the money.

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