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Galleries
Open for Interpretation
Walking up the stairs to the Intersection for the Arts gallery, potential spectators might be somewhat bewildered at the sight that greets them; coating the steps is a sheet of white felt, covered with ostensibly Persian names, in dispassionate block letters. Among the more obscure appellations, one can pick out “Saddam” and “Osama” almost instantly, as the eye’s natural tendency is to wander to what’s recognizable and fill it out with familiar meaning. In some ways, you can say that’s the very crux of Taraneh Hemami’s collection of installation work, "Most Wanted". More
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Galleries
Sight Gags & Slapstick in Contemporary Art
Who among us has not watched a teetering toddler trip and guiltily laughed? Personally, I laugh from the second I see the kid start to go down. But even for those of you who don't, you must admit that there is a moment, after they fall, that is true comedy. The most violent and dangerous part is over, but the kid has only just realized something is wrong and for a moment, as he looks down at his newly smarting hands, you can literally watch as he decides that it is time to cry. The face crinkles, the moan starts, and you laugh at the kid. Even if you are his mother and you have to quietly laugh as you hoist the leaky angel-monster in to the More
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Galleries
A Fresh Look at the Comic Aesthetic
Strange Tales is not the first time artists Nick Ackerman, David Huffman and Chris Oliveria have exhibited together. Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery showed the trio in 2001. Putting them together is a no-brainer. Comics and cartoons are a strong influence, violence a preoccupation and all received MFAs from California College of the Arts. More
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Galleries
The Good, The Bad & the Not-So-Good
Architecture. If you went to art school it was the major your mother wished you had chosen. If you went the fine art route instead, it’s always the medium from which you pillage. For the intellectually inclined, architecture offers meaty texts with utopian aspirations. Others see the architectural practice as a natural extension of their compulsive building habits. Strange Architecture, a group-show of architecture-inspired work at the Catherine Clark Gallery is good, not-so-bad and, in only one instance, ugly. More
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Galleries
At Frey Norris Gallery
Christine Wong Yap and Jenifer K. Wofford are two San Francisco-based artists whose work -- collectively ranging from comic-book-esque sketches of immigrant nurses to installations of paper bags embossed with cheeky truisms -- is more preoccupied with instances of the mundane than anything else. But glancing through “Sorry", a collection of their recent works at the Frey Norris Gallery, you needn’t wade through the playful renderings of everyday vernacular and ritualized habits to get to the heart of the show, which exploits the manner in which language and image are often shrouded in indeterminate, constantly changing meanings. More
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Galleries
Oliveria Gallery shows drawing the respect it deserves
Emerging as the little gallery that could, Oakland's Lizabeth Oliveria strikes again with yet another powerhouse show of accomplished illustrators that includes the Harvey award-wining Daniel Clowes, local artist Geoff Chadsey, internationally-known Marcel Dzama, accomplished Canadian Neil Farber, and Yerba Buena Center alum Jason Jagel. Determined to prove the legitimacy of their medium, these five young talents show that drawing is an art form in its own right by showcasing seriously intriguing and profound work. More
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Galleries
At 66 balmy
San Francisco has no shortage of hidden locales. You know them, those tucked away corners of the city that you (innocently but naively) think only you know about. 66balmy, an emerging gallery and event space in the heart of the Mission, is one of those places. As you walk along the alley, it is easy to miss the gallery and see only the mural that is its face. Stashed behind a metal roller door with "Latino Pride" tagged across its entire surface, the entrance is painted over with the figure of a young Latino man. Only a modest sign bears the address and name of the gallery. More
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Galleries
A Little Something for Everyone
Every year the gallery at San Francisco State University organizes and mounts four exhibitions. This season's offering is the Stillwell Student Show, a selection of 60 undergraduate art student works chosen through a jury process by the Exhibition Design students. The work of nine graduate students as well as a display of personal effects of the show's namesake, Leo Stillwel More
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Galleries
Nests for the Eye
Among the treasures of living in a city are visits to places creative people inhabit. Just a few minutes in a gallery can provide a visitor entry into an artist's imagination. Observations, ideas, creative processes, and materials worked through by another person can create new terrain. When the work captures your eye you are in business. More
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Galleries
Chronicle & Critique
At the entrance of Catherine Clark Gallery visitors are confronted with a massive black and white woodblock print bearing the phrase “The Depravities of War” chiseled into a monolithic stone monument that is crumbling into ruin. Set against a war torn landscape, the structure is surrounded by shrouded figures posed to express their various states of emotional despair. This is the first in a series of large format prints and paintings by Sandow Birk who uses highly charged, media-inspired images to chronicle and critique the Iraq war. More
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