Sign of the Times
by Kevin Freitas
MILO SHOES
NO SHOES
After a tip from a friend that there was a "For Rent" sign prominently displayed in the window of 4Walls Gallery — located in the thriving arts district of North Park and specifically on Ray Street — I had to see for myself. Wow. "Another one bites the dust" to quote everyone's favorite rock band Queen. The comings and goings of galleries and artist-run studios on Ray Street is apparently nothing new or very surprising if you talk to some of the locals that have been around San Diego's arts scene watching it puff up its chest only to see it deflate a few years later. What is surprising is there's been a rash of gallery closings and downsizings voir replacements that have hit Ray Street in the last year or so.
Andre Rushing, Rubber Rose, and Spacecraft are some of the spaces that come to mind, and now it seems 4Walls is also sounding the gong. 4Walls is of particular interest, a strange mix of architectural offices in the back and vanity gallery in front that was recently managed by its director who has since mysteriously vanished — gone it seems from the face of this Earth. The downside to his disappearance is that he put on some of the most interesting and compelling contemporary exhibits in town, with a cast of heavy hitters the likes of Les LeVeque and local talent such as Steve Gibson and Kimberly Tomney. I guess there is no upside to his vanishing act — he left only a shell of the gallery's once innovative programming, stopping it as abruptly as it began. I remain puzzled to this day.
4WALLS GALLERY
But vanity is nothing new to San Diego (in my opinion) where the cult of an artist's personality and social-networking skills reign over any interest in the art produced or exhibited, resulting in many short-lived and soon-forgotten episodic personal fantasies. 4Walls also suffered from this to a certain degree when the idea was hatched to form an alliance between its director, Kinsee Morlan (the recently departed arts editor for CityBeat and co-founder of Adapta Project), Luis de Jesus (of Seminal Projects), and myself to "take over" the curation of the space and thus ensure its continued success. This resulted in exactly one exhibit featuring artist and AaA contributor Richard Gleaves, and artist Alfredo Gutierrez from Kinsee's Adapta Project. For several months afterwards 4Walls stumbled along, a departure having left a Captainless ship awash in the murky waters of uncertainy.
The end result: the gallery space is now up for rent. It's easy to state the obvious, to point fingers, to adopt a would of, could of, should of attitude but the result is the same: another gallery closes its doors in San Diego. What now? What does it say about the life expectancy of the art scene here? The point is this, there is no benefit to anyone — no artist, no gallery owner, no collector, no public, or the city's artistic livelihood — to have galleries closing or up for rent. It affects everyone involved.
SOUL RYDE
And so it goes. To what degree things are changing on Ray Street can be seen by the types of businesses moving in or leaving. One thing is for sure, galleries are not on the list. Of note, Soul Ryde, a custom skateboard shop, has recently opened and — judging from the number of people in their store during Ray at Night — has managed to out-socialize Planet Rooth as the preferred venue of entertainment. Directly across the street in the former dwelling of the Sierra Club, Le Wax Boutique has opened offering facials and manicures. And finally Milo Shoes, a custom sneaker boutique offering hand-painted footwear, has closed and left an empty space with a "For Rent" sign in the window. A call to the telephone number listed on their website led to an operator's pre-recorded message stating the number was no longer in service or is disconnected.
LE WAX BOUTIQUE
Speaking of Planet Rooth, rumor has it that its owner, Ray at Night co-founder Gustaf Rooth, may have hit upon a future enterprise which will insure not only the gallery's continuation but its financial success as well.
Life is what you make it, and so is art.
Comments
The shuttered window of an art gallery, large or small, is a cause of concern for every one. Another venue lost to the economic vagaries of our society. It would seem that Starbuck's, McDonald's fast food joints and Walmart's are going to be the future of the somnambulant crowd that call themselves Americans.
Posted by: Steve Gibson | mai 28, 2009 04:26 PM
It would seem that Starbuck's, McDonald's fast food joints and Walmart's are going to be the future of the somnambulant crowd that call themselves Americans.
Give the people what they want...
Posted by: Kevin Freitas | mai 28, 2009 05:30 PM
Rome went as the Romans went. History is lost on the ignorant.
Posted by: steve Gibson | mai 29, 2009 05:11 PM