Mission 17 Gallery : Karin Smith - Jonestown Had A Garden, A Taxonomical Installation.

Review by Libby Nicholaou: Karin Smith's documentation of the Jonestown massacre reminds me of an artistic take on a history project. ?While it's hard at times to read her handwriting, it adds a personal touch (handwriting, for those who don't know much about Jonestown, was key to the progression of events). ?Her diagrammatic intertwined tree of history, people, political movements is a helpful resource purposely positioned at the start of the exhibit. ?You can talk with her for hours about her research and how and where it leads her next with her work. ?Her concept of an art exhibit is hopefully one we'll see more of in the future.

Comment by AB: The project originates from Smith's Masters thesis, and is certainly a unique blend of art and history-- and likely entirely viable in an educational setting.

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Encantada Gallery : Jesse Aguirre - Mexican Pilgrim.

Comment by AB: Jesse Aguirre's life experiences include a stint as a migrant worker, attending Stanford University and Harvard Law School, working for the Peace Corps, and a major engagement as a global corporate beer exec. He sees himself not so much as employee, but rather as a pilgrim or colonist on a mission regardless of who he works for or represents. His paintings are vibrant and direct, and range in flavor from biting political commentary to family portraits. His prices, considering the bio and resume available for perusal at the show, are, shall we say, prodigiously ambitious.

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Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts : The Question is Known - (W)here is Latin American / Latino Art?

Artists: Vicente Antonorsi, Adri?n Arias, Jos? Bedia, Claudia Bernardi, Luis Camnitzer, Victor Cartagena, Rolando Castell?n, Enrique Chagoya, Ana de la Cueva, Lewis deSoto, Miguel Farias, Juan Fuentes, Rupert Garcia, Manuel A. Gomez, Matt Gonzalez, Luis Gutierrez, Sylvia Ji, Rob Keller, Geraldine Lozano, Manuel Lucero, James Luna, Manuel Neri, Bernardo Roman Palau, Liliana Porter,?Gustavo Ramos Rivera, Clare Rojas, Claudio Roncoli, Raymond Saunders, Robin Savinar, Nahum Zenil.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: "The Question is Known: (W)here is Latin American/Latino Art?" is a Mission Cultural Center show of thirty contemporary Latino artists. A wide variety of styles and aesthetics prevails, from magic realism to abstraction to conceptual video and installation, verifying the thesis of curator Anthony Torres that Latino art should no longer be seen in the stereotyped ethnic or political terms of the past, and that Latino artists, like other previously culturally sidelined groups, are now able to join the global art dialogue as equals. Great reception.

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

Comment by AB: The verbositositousness of the fact sheet is a smidge oppressive, but there's this-- "Latino artists and art practices are diverse" and this-- "it is the artists themselves who are the most powerful agents in articulating, through their works, who they are and what may or may not be considered Latin American or Latino Art." The exhibition? An all-star revue, certainly among the best Bay Area contemporary surveys I've seen. Highly recommended.

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Secession Art and Design Gallery : Secession Art and Design.

Artists: Paintings by Jonah Burlingame and Georgianne Fastaia; jewelry by Fluidance; design by Al's Attire, Donna Lou Clothing, Funk Divine, Mariposa Baby, and Yellow Field Hats; vintage and original jewelry by Twelve Designs; jewelry by Colleen Mauer; art by Heather Robinson.

Comment by AB: Art and design options include paintings, jewelry, fashion, and more.

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Hardware Store Gallery : Self-Storage.

Individuals/organizations: Archigram Archive, Fern Bayer, Alejandro Cesarco, Joshua Churchill, Dexter Sinister, Trisha Donnelly, Patricia Esquivias, Buckminster Fuller, Ryan Gander, The John Fare Estate, Kristan Horton, Iman Issa, Marie Jager, Stephen Kaltenbach, Micah Lexier, Steven Leiber's Basement, The Long Now Foundation, Chip Lord, Tom Marioni, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, Lisa Oppenheim, The Prelinger Library, Lisi Raskin, Amy Robinson, Sean Snyder, Andrew Tosiello, Frances Trombly, Tris Vonna-Michell, The Winchester Mystery House.

Comment by AB: Under the auspices of the entity Curatorial Industries , and founded on the conceptualizations of Buckminster Fuller, we have a presentation of file boxes-- some containing actual files, others conceived and executed as works of art-- the whole shootin' match aimed to examine how people and institutions archive and store their stuff. The actual boxes are stored at a separate location and available for viewing (visit the Curatorial Industries website for details). Here at the Hardware Store Gallery, we have a slide show of the various boxes in the exhibition, several box-related videos, and a healthy turnout.

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31 Rausch Street Gallery, San Francisco, CA 94103; 415.552.8708: Ellen Shershow - Piece of Me.

Review and images by Jessica Whiteside: Local artist Ellen Shershow's solo show at 31 Rausch Street pokes fun at current pop culture icons and reality TV. Across one side of the hallway are a number of photos of girls waiting in line to try out for the "Make Me a Super Model" show. According to Ellen, some of these girls wanted to be on the show so badly, they had been camped out in line since the night before. On the other side of the hallway Ellen displays digitally altered photographs into which she inserts herself to look as though she's appearing alongside iconic images of pop-stars and celebrities like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears. The photos give the illusion that Ellen is actually there at the times the photos are taken-- witty and seamlessly composed.

Ellen's work is an interesting commentary on celebrity culture, and the roles that paparazzi play in our everyday lives. Her show, titled "Piece of Me," references the title of Britney Spears' latest single-- a song about her relationship to the paparazzi.

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Ways & Means : Group Show - Artists from the San Francisco Art Institute.

Artists: Lior Bar, Will barclift, Barry Beach, Jan Blythe, Christopher Burch, Hannah Piper Burns, Sarah Drasner, Nncy de Y Elkus, Kelly Falzone, Anne Haara, Robert Jackson Harrington, Cameron Hockenson, Hoyeon Olivia Im, Stephanie Sari Inagaki, Greg Ito, Josh Keller, Emmanuelle Namont Kouznetsov, Paul Kyle, Jennifer Rarick, Jonathon Sajda, Kate Torgersen, Mario Trejo, Ryan Verzaal, Donna J. Wan.

Review and images by Jessica Whiteside: Ways & Means (WAM) is currently showing work by emerging artists from the San Francisco Art Institute. The majority of the pieces focus on the use of the installation as medium and as conceptual sculpture. Several stand-out works include a hanging sculpture composed of circular cardboard discs that sort of remind me of Ruth Asawa's work. Another piece titled "The Puppet Master" looks deceivingly like a photograph but on closer inspection you see that it's actually a charcoal drawing. Some photographs on the wall contain images of figures where the artist has created convincing looking burns that bubble from their skin, grossing me out considerably but memorable nonetheless. I also enjoye the closet video installation piece mainly because it's a challenge just to figure out how to view it. Overall this is an admirable group show.

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Gallery Three : Adam Flores - A Fool's Errand.

Review by Jessica Whiteside: Adam is an artist who works a lot! His first solo exhibition illustrates dedication to his craft with his intricately detailed paintings. Adam is currently a student at the Academy of Art University and is already making waves on the Lowbrow scene as a noteworthy emerging artist. Adam has the work ethic of many artists I admire, and says his dedication is inspired by working with Richard Coleman, and observing artists like Andrew Schoultz.

His paintings are on a small scale but have kind of a monumental, mural sort of feel to them, many containing brick towers overgrown by green serpent-like vegitation. Technically very solid, Adam's work has a nice balance of organic materials along side brick and wooden structures. Flores creates a world of his own, or the world as he sees it. One notable aspect of his art is the absence of living creatures like humans or animals, though his vegitation seems alive, and his towers positioned like standing figures. Adam says his work is influenced by Flemish Baroque painters like Jacob Jordaens and Peter Paul Reubens.

Review by Libby Nicholaou: Adam Flores's paintings on wood panels remind me of illustrations from Medieval and Renaissance time periods. ?This exhibit?plays with nostalgia and fairy tale fictions. ?He has dragon tails (or vines, depending on how you see them) breaking up castles next to orange construction cones and pinatas hanging?from?stone walls. ?He creates texture and depth with thick line patterns and makes the images seem larger than the space that contains them by having them run over the edges. Great turnout and several pieces sold. ?

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Design Guild San Francisco : Econnovation - Bay Area Green Design.

Artists, companies, organizations: Adrien Segal, Ahmed Khouja, Chambers Design, Grace Street, Han Pham, Jeremy Faludi, Josh Jakus, Joui Turnadot/Vagadu, Knoend/ReLife Clinic, Leilani Nisperos, Lynda Grose/CCA Fashion Student Designers, Project Frog, Public Architecture, Mike Ricca, Miranda Caroligne, Modern Slant, MK Think, New Leaf Paper, O2 Bay Area, Sustainable Energy Partners, Teacher with a Bus, Valerie Casey/Designer's Accord.

Comment by AB: "A multidisciplinary showcase of innovative sustainable design projects pioneered in the San Francisco Bay Area." That's about the size of it.

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Images from SOMA Spring Open Studios :

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