General comment by AB: I am honked. Wanna know why? Well dear artsters, there's a dude named Kenneth Baker (writes about art for a local paper called the Chronicle) who's got a big league bug up his ass about Dale Chihuly, his art, and his current exhibition at the de Young Museum. He is so incensed, he unleashes a torrent of elitist vitriol not in one column, but two. In the first , he merely trashes the art, the artist, and the de Young. The second briefly appears to be an apology for the first, but turns even more venomous as he proceeds to denigrate infidels everywhere, remind his readers how stupid they are, and then progressively degenerate into what at its depths sounds strangely like the flailings of a hard-copy has-been lashing out at the Internet.

Here's the part I don't get. According to Kenneth Baker, it's somehow not OK for ordinary everyday people who just plain like art, but who may not know that much about it, to be able to see the kinds of art they like on exhibit at museums (whether or not, depending on who you talk to, it's really art). Is the peasantry that undeserving?

As for Dale Chihuly, no one can deny that the man has elevated the delicate "craft" of glass blowing to unprecedented heights, combining glass, light, reflection, and backdrops in ways that materialize wondrous kaleidoscopic fantasies for all to marvel at. And when I say all, I mean all. Even the most callous arrogant exclusionary art snits have to admit that Chihuly is exceptionally good at what he does. Is it art? Maybe it is; maybe it isn't. Should it be banned from museums? Some people seem to think so.

But Chihuly does something else too-- something we occasionally overlook-- which is that he bulks museum attendance figures wherever he shows, among that bulk being first-time visitors. Why do these neophytes dare to cross the thresholds? Because they finally feel like they'll be seeing something they can understand and appreciate. And once someone visits a museum for the first time, all subsequent visits become that much easier. There is no underestimating this phenomenon.

As for Kenneth Baker, if he had his way, our hallowed museums would show only genuine bona fide art. No superficial garish decorative tripe for this man. He'll show the real cerebral deal-- ouevres that make us think, that adhere to and advance the tenets and precepts of art history, rife with appropriate antecedents and precedents, that assume the requisite levels of graduate or post-graduate study necessary to comprehend them, and that require a lifetime of dedication and discipline in order to be "enjoyed." And a paltry handful of meta-entitled pedants, poseurs, and pretenders will have the museums all to themselves, their own personal sanctuaries, where they'll titter and twitter amongst each other about the ignorant Chihuly-loving riffraff below. Hmmm. The world of Kenneth Baker...

Having said that, I have the greatest respect (perhaps even envy) for Baker's insight, knowledge, intelligence, experience, wisdom, and writing skills. Now if he'd only incorporate a little more kindness. Mr. Baker-- Dale Chihuly never did anything to you, nor did his fan club, nor did ordinary everyday people who enjoy visiting their local museums to see what they believe to be art. Perhaps lighten up a touch.

Ugh. Enough. I hate writing like this. On to better things. Like for instance, how 'bout we see who's starring on the local creative stage tonight? You're game? Excellent.

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Gallery Paule Anglim : Mark Paron and Elena Zolotnitsky; Keith Hale - Hard Looks.

Review by Jennifer Jeffrey: Gallery Paule Anglim is showing the work of two winners of the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award, Mark Paron and Elena Zolotnitsky. The two have vastly divergent styles; Paron forms sculptures and whimsical scenes from insulated wire, plastic flowers and other found objects, while Zolotnitsky paints reflective still-lifes and portraits of women in classic settings. The two styles are almost so different that I find it disconcerting; the wild, playful energy of Paron's pieces clashes with the quiet moods reverberating in Zolotnitsky's work, and I wonder if I'm fully able to appreciate either when they're in the same space.

Comment by AB: Mark Paron transforms Home Depot stuff like electrical cable, rope, plastic tubing, and decorative frills like fake flowers into fanciful sculptural frolics. Wait. What's that? Uh oh. My archival sprite is telling me that Paron's art is so delicate and pliable, it's gonna be really hard to dust without, as they say in the parlance, compromising its integrity. It's a significant tactical issue, but not without remedy.

In the anteroom, we have a set of levity-laden self-portrait drawings by Keith Hale. Normally, I'm cool on the concept of arting onesself up over and over again, but as with Robert Arneson , Hale's drawings are such fun, I can surely enjoy them indefinitely. Plus special added bonus-- they double as playful reminders never to take yourself too seriously.

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Fraenkel Gallery : Several Exceptionally Good Recently Acquired Pictures XX.

Photographers: Diane Arbus, Idris Kahn, Richard Misrach, I.W. Taber, Richard Avedon, others.

Comment by AB: The show's title says it all. Go see. Good stuff. And the condition of the antique images is superb (in antiquarian realms, condition is everything).

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Gallery 415 : Guillermo Bert - Bar Code / Branding America.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: Guilermo Bert is a Chilean-born conceptual sculptor now living in Los Angeles. He makes sociopolitical works subverting our manufactured capitalist consensus. In his gilded laser-cut pieces on wood, he uses ancient symbols like Pre-Columbian artifacts or contemporary ones like the Capitol dome and digitally smears them into ubiquitous machine-readable bar codes. In his red, white and blue auto-paint pieces, he elongates the bar codes into what look like prison bars or high-rise buildings; each color gets a sardonic caption as well. In the pieces using the Greek alphabet, various English words pop out of the text matrix, alluding to book censorship or the eternal beauty chase; perhaps we latter-day Romans are not carrying on Athenian democratic ideals in quite the proper spirit. Also showing is a selection of art by gallery artists.

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

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Toomey Tourell Gallery : Igor Josifov - Face It.

Review by Anise: Igor Josifov performs wearing human blinders, and carves "wings" into his body with a knife.? The video of the performance can now be seen at the gallery. His exhibition consists of pictures and videos of other performances, addressing the theme of the differences/similarities between Moslems and Christians.

Comment by AB: Woah! I arrive during Macedonian artist Igor Josifov's performance piece, "Art Interrupted," in honor of fellow artist Renata G-- currently in a coma resulting from being struck by a pickup truck while riding her bicycle on March 9, 2008-- a hit-and-run incident. Josifov, seated on a stool on a stage at the front of the gallery, has just made four horizontal razor cuts along his upper his back; his subsequent movements and manipulations enhance the trickles of blood which run down his back to his waste. His art, minimally visible in the darkened gallery, addresses ongoing conflicts between Christians and Muslims that have plagued the Middle East for centuries.

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Steven Wolf Fine Arts : ValuMax.

Artists: Wallace Berman, Rives Granade, Bessma Khalef, Nicholas Knight, Kottie Paloma, Izzy Sher, Zephrey Throwell. ?

Comment by AB: Eclectic and engaging show spotlights a handful of talents whose works of art perhaps warrant higher profiles along the midway than they currently have.

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Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art : Summer Group Exhibition.

Artists: Emil Alzamora, Holly Boruck, Ramiro Hernandez, Jennifer McNeely, Don Porcella, Peter Walker, John Zoller.

Comment by AB: Stealing the show at this summer group miscellany is Don Porcella's eminently entertaining mixed media and pipe cleaner installation of two people standing waste-deep in a pool of water. Excellent in quality, composition, workmanship, and commitment to doing it right. This dude's got a future-- not quite sure how it's gonna manifest, but he's got one.

Comment by Anise: Mark Wolfe Gallery is having its summer group show-- a selection of gallery artists. A highlight is "Family Tree" by Jana Rumberger, a mixed media installation hanging from the ceiling in the center of the gallery.

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111 Minna Gallery : Brett Amory, Seth Armstrong, Andrew Hem, John Wentz - Common Descent.

Review by DeWitt Cheng: Brett Amory, Seth Armstrong, Andre Hem and John Wentz take various approaches to the figure and narrative and contemporary life (real and imaginary, modeled and flatly painted, finished and unfinished) at 111 Minna. All four employ both realistic and comic-book/illustrational styles and imagery. Nicely drawn and painted. Good crowd, also.

Review by Jennifer Jeffrey: Summer is the season of group shows, and tonight 111 Minna is showing the paintings of Brett Amory, Seth Armstrong, Andrew Hem and John Wentz. There is a strong urban vibe to the work-- blocky buildings dominate many of the canvases, and superheroes are featured in pieces by both Seth Armstrong and John Wentz. Seth Armstrong's paintings make me feel like I'm peering into a story-- a scene is unfolding; something is about to happen. Paintings by Brett Armory have a dreamlike quantity, like hazy images receding from the brain upon waking-- disconnected, familiar, and vaguely disturbing.

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SomArts Main Gallery : Conversations with the Brush - 3 Women Artists.

Artists: Joan Miro, Reiko Muranaga, Yumiko Oda.

Review by Jennifer Jeffrey: Tonight Somarts exhibits the work of three female artists in a show titled "Conversations with the Brush." I'm captivated by the work of Reiko Muranaga, whose figurative drawings are powerful, intricate studies of motion and expression. Black and white sumi ink drawings by Joan Miro alternate with colorful works by Yumiki Oda in color wash on silk, a process she describes as being very labor-intensive, requiring layer after layer of painting and rinsing. Yumiki created the pieces in Japan and brought them over for the show.

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David Cunningham Projects : Chris Ashley - Alan Disparte.

Commenty by AB: Chris Ashley tells me his wall of digital images are actually printouts of "table documents" written in html. He creates them at the rate of one per day, the set here representing the entire year of 2007, arranged chronologically along the longest wall of the gallery. He goes on to say that he's been creating these html tables, one per day, since 2002 and has no intention of stopping anytime soon. The 365 prints from 2007 exist in an edition of two and are priced at $18K, or about $50 per image. Complementing the event are Alan Disparte's lively organic abstracts which appear to incorporate environmental, landscape, architectural, and urban flourishes.

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Fifty24SF Gallery : Basco Vazko - Largo dia Jueves; Jesse Reno, Keith Shore, Marco Zamora - Linear Abandon (in the upstairs gallery).

Comment by AB: In the street-level gallery, Chilean artist Basco Vazko's unique style of painting blends nonrepresentation with representation, and combines elements of both fine art and street art. Many of his compositions look kinda like medical diagrams, so I'm gonna call 'em anatomical abstractions. Upstairs next door, you'll find satisfying selections of work by Jesse Reno, Keith Shore, and Marco Zamora-- my preference here leaning towards the energized abstracted creatures, critters, and caricatures by Jesse Reno. Good shows; go see.

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Hangart Gallery and Annex : Michael Shankman - Better Days Ahead; White Van Professionals (group show at the Annex).

Annex artists: Peter Dimick, Frank Ebert, Rocky Villanueva, Philip Buscemi, Thomas Frongillo.

Review and images by Anise: The "Better Days Ahead" series of paintings by Michael Shankman depicts ruined city landscapes. Very awesome show. I like that each painting is in landscape format and employs the same dark, earthy colors. This show is very appropriate for the time and city. Meanwhile, Hangart Annex across the street bustles with local artists and afficionados. The "White Van Professionals" spotlights five HangArt artists, and celebrates all those who contribute to the gallery's success.

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Cafe Royale : Kamil Dawson - Graven Images.

Review and images by Anise: The scene at Cafe Royale is relaxed and filled with about twenty people.? Kamil Dawson's portraits are of medieval characters, and blended with abstract flows of paint.? The work is very interesting, and I would suggest going to check it out. Unfortunately, the artist is not available for comment.

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Collectively Grasp : Chris Wade - Nourishment, A Vital Blueprint.

Review and images by Jennifer Jeffrey: Collectively Grasp is a welcome addition to the gallery scene in North Beach; tucked into a residential block of Greenwich, the gallery showcases artists who work with organic and recycled materials. Tonight they show the work of Chris Wade, a local artist who has created a collection of oil paintings titled "Nourishment: A Vital Blueprint." The pieces depict the intricate latticework of bare branches and the stark silhouettes of birds in flight in hues of celery green, pearly white and faint pink. Many are textured with a circular pattern that looks as if a cross-section of a tree trunk was pressed into the wet paint.

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Hotel Biron : From the hands of Hugh Leeman and the mind of Cartel Kennedy - Gyotaku I, Pigeon Hole Series.

Comment by AB: Hugh Leeman orders up octupus from Chinatown and then uses them to create this series of paintings and "corrosion art" on metal-- no paintbrushes were used in this process. For those of you keeping score at home, the word "gyotaku" refers to a Japanese art form dating from the mid-1800's where fisherman would document their catches by painting them on one side, and then impressing (printing) them on paper.

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All art all the time... and all for you. Thank you for your support .

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First Thursday; July 3, 2008

First Thursday; June 5, 2008

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