Southern Exposure Annual Auction: MEGA MEGA MEGA

I was asked to participate in Southern Exposure's annual auction, "Mega Mega Mega" on May 9, to support the grandaddy of all Bay Area non-profits.  So Ex is a long-running and highly supportive answer to a lot of Bay Area art needs;  providing shows, jobs, and financial support through grants.  I knew that the day of the event it would be super crowded, so another artist participant, Libby Black, and I decided to venture over to Southern Exposure earlier in the week to preview the show.  It was nice to be able to take in everything in the open space and figure out what we would bid on if we had the cash.   For the collector, the auction is a great opportunity to find all your local favorites at cheaper prices, and with silent and live sections, you can choose to beat out challengers quietly or with the excitement of a crowd.  Visit Southern Exposure's website to view all the works available.

A smattering of local and diverse works hung floor to ceiling.

A small Welly Fletcher sculpture.

A blue Jonathan Runcio painting above and a Libby Black portrait of Richard Avedon below.

Hard to get a good shot through the glass of Marci Washington's severed head and a Futurefarmers photo.

I like this Erik Scollon ceramic chastity thing.

Libby in the quiet, open space.

That's my piece, "Tilda", and a pretty sweet Anthony Discenza sign about kittens to the left.

Scene change:  Libby and another auction artist, Hilary Pecis on the night of the auction.

The massive crowd gathered around the action and the auctioneer.

"breathe.": Art Show with Welly Fletcher

In true CCA style, a bunch of us affiliated with the school in one way or another went to Project One Gallery to celebrate Llewelynn (Welly) Fletcher's opening exhibition. Curated by Jessica Silverman of Silverman Galllery, along with Brooke Waterhouse, the show was anticipated to be extra cool. The idea behind the theme of "breathe." was different and I appreciated its poetic tone:

"Any moment of our life has the potential to become a meditative space, an inhabited site for pure experience. However, in our society of inter connectivity and multitasking, most of these spaces are never unlocked for their full, singular capacity. “breathe.” invites you to pause and remember that our lives are made up of a series of single breathes thus connecting ourselves more closely to one another and to our shared culture."

I spent most of my time examining Welly's awesome sculptures, which I agreed to help her move into the space, but hadn't had a breath in one, if you will. Her sculptures are meant to be experienced, with space for you to interact and even get inside them, where sounds play lightly as if they are coming from you.

If you'd like to experience the show it is up until July 10 at 251 Rhode Island Street, San Francisco.

Chrissie Bradley goes for the full corpse-pose experience in this beehive-shaped Welly sculpture.
The soft-sculpture shark can be your own private Idaho in the chaos of an opening.
Mark Benson looks like he was really freaking out poor Chrissie inside the shark.
Welly Fletcher
These people were confused; not every sculpture is a Welly to get in!
The other room, a lounge, provided the perfect opportunity for Mark to be alone in the dark with a disco ball.
We found a Sean Leake, too!

Special congratulations to Welly for her new teaching opportunity in Sculpture the fall at CCA!