A Much-Needed Breather at Ocean Beach

While most of the country enjoys their summertime weather in the Summer, ours always arrives just as we forget it was ever promised. Back at school, on an 85 degree day, I sat in my studio dreaming of some kind of body of water until Courtney invited me to visit her in the Sunset area of SF, right next to Ocean Beach. I called my friend Rachel and it was as good as done. Sorry, studio, we'll meet again.

We teleported to New England.

Courtney gets to do this every day.

Every picture has me looking pissy. I was glowing on the inside.

Rachel's beach braids.

Treasure.

Whirlwind Weekend Part 3!

In the same day that I saw Andrew Schoultz at Marx and Zavattero and Chris Duncan at Baer Ridgway, I also went over to the Mission to be a good bud and check out Mark Benson's art in a juried group show at Root Division.

Mark Benson, Hyun Sun Jo, and others, "Introductions 2010" at Root Division through September 25.

Mark Benson is a good friend of mine in CCA's MFA program and his studio is right down the hall from me, so if I didn't go to this, I knew he would have retaliated against me somehow, in the form of a mean critique or maybe even stealing all the cookies in my studio. I decided to support him and Hyun, another CCA MFA recent graduate, instead.

I took two pictures of Mark; I couldn't decide between this one, which shows the freak that he is...

Or this one, where he is pretending to explain art to Mik Gaspay, another one of our CCA brethren.

A broom & book sculpture by Mark, and a confused man.

This is a painting by Mark, which has a piece of paper stuck to a canvas with tape that says, "Dream Big". I wonder if this kid knows the irony their hat plays.

I found Seth Curico and Julie Henson of Daily Serving, charming as ever. Seth has a studio at Root Division, which also functions as a non-profit art studio building.

A gem-like painting by Hyun Sun Jo.

Even though I was tired I decided to catch the opening at Guerrero Gallery, which was also an after party for Andrew Schoultz and Chris Duncan.

"Materialism", Two-person show by Aaron Noble and Greg Lamarche at Guerrero Gallery through October 2.

The outside of Guerrero with body guards, prepared for the party to get started. I like this neighborhood, over on 19th Street by Potrero Hill. It's more quiet and open than a lot of parts of San Francisco, so that it kind of reminds me of the Culver City gallery neighborhood.

The inside is pretty magnificent and spacious.

I know I've seen LA-based Aaron Noble's work before. I think he is a pretty big deal in the Mission(?) art scene. Look at that craft; he paints these in goache!

Greg Lamarche is apparently a well-known graffiti dude but I don't know much about that stuff. I liked these collages that look like abstract paintings.

A surprise opening across the street at Steven Wolf's new space! (He used to be in 49 Geary with all the other stuffy galleries downtown). Now it feels like a new art community right down the street from my school!

Rudolf Schwarzkogler, "Castration Myth", at Steven Wolf Fine Arts through October 9th.

I never studied photography in school but Schwarzkogler's photos at Steven Wolf are all from the mid-60s and seem to me as though they were a big deal in how subversive they are, especially for the time period. I had a nice conversation with the gallery owner, Steven. He is really approachable and friendly guy, and a big supporter of young artists.

Here's the inside of this beautiful new space. The building is over 100 years old. That's Steven in the white shirt and that's art phenom, Barry McGee, with the dark hair and mustache. Whoops, I think he caught me!

In the back room: I know I've seen the work on the left before but I'm not sure who it is, and that's a Margaret Kilgallen on the right.

Some pieces by outsider artist, Daniel Johnston, who Kurt Cobain introduced to much of the world with his infamous t shirt.

I stole this image of Flea and Cobain from the internet.

Whirlwind Weekend Part 2

Andrew Schoultz, "Compound Eyes Around the World", at Marx and Zavattero through October 23.

On Saturday, September 11, I saw five more openings beginning with Andrew Schoultz at Marx and Zavattero. Andrew is a friend of mine and he and his girlfriend, Hilary, (a close bud), are wonderful and worldly, often showing in various parts of the globe. I was thrilled to be able to say hello and check out a great show by Andrew, who is prolific by any stretch of the imagination, right here in SF.

A shot of the main room.

Large-scale painted installation.

Andrew's work is so detailed and layered that it was difficult to snap a clear photo with the fancy SLR I borrowed from school.

Gold leaf! That's Andrew in the gray shirt.

My bud Brandon showed us his crispy new art book from Mark Dion's new exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California.

In the back room there were a couple pieces from talented Marx and Zavattero artists and CCA faculty, Taravat Talepasand and James Gobel.

A sneak peek of the storage room with some Libby Black luggage.

Chris Duncan, "Eye Against I", at Baer Ridgway Exhibitions through October 15.

Next I was on to Baer Ridgway, where Chris Duncan had some cool installations. This one's made out of string.

I love glittery rocks.

A mirrored floor makes everything look cosmic.

The Art Season Begins: A Whirlwind Weekend Part 1

San Francisco often collectively decides to flood the Bay Area art community with openings on the same day. This last week, starting with September 9, was exceptional in that the city was packed with openings all weekend long. As September is the traditional start of the art world races, the custom was true to form and not only were there many openings but there were tons of good art to be seen. Welcome back, San Francisco, from your summer vacations and languid lounging!

Elisheva Biernoff, "Folly" at Triple Base through October 10.

I checked out Elisheva Biernoff's solo show at Triple Base with some friends. I forgot my camera so I took photos with my fancy new iphone. I'm still learning, but they came out OK.

Here's the scene inside.

Cute Triple Base ladies, Joyce and Dina, in equally cute dresses.

I tried to get some good shots of Elisheva's installation of a crumbling wall painted in painstaking detail with video set inside a window. However, it was so packed I couldn't get a good picture of the piece as a whole. Her painting style, mostly in goache or acrylic, was so immaculate in pattern symmetry and consistency it almost resembled a laminated wallpaper.

Elisheva also paints postcards front and back, depicting traveler narratives, which were set up in the back room.

Some wallpaper-like patterns.

There was also fake "debris" made from paper and painted objects on the floor to go with her beautiful atrophied theme.

I ran into some of my fave art buds, Justin Olerud and Kara Joslyn.

Ruth Laskey at Ratio 3 through October 23

We also saw Ruth Laskey's amazing hand-dyed weavings at Ratio 3. What a craftswoman! I asked Ruth about her process and it takes her almost a month to complete one piece. I love her use of geometry in such an unexpected, homespun way. Her color palettes are quite exceptional, too.

The scene at Ratio 3.

See how amazing they are?