The California Center for the Arts in Escondido has a high quality exhibition that most everyone will find visually interesting and well installed (with only a few exceptions). To begin, "Material Matters: Selected Works by Allied Craftsmen" has a range of works, all worth pondering. The title of the show, 'Material Matters' could be interpreted as a pronouncement that material items have importance, versus decades of conceptual dominance in art or it could be viewed simply that all items presented highlight the use and transformation of materials. Here are a few that must be seen...
Cheryl Nickel combines crutches, X-rays, pipettes, wood and linoleum to create a sculpture "Gothic Cathedral" - an homage to the intersection of religion and science, more specifically medicine. This holy temple of healing has the sterility of a typical hospital setting and is a sturdy reminder of how everyone prays to be delivered from illness - even those without religion. Her other works are precise and their mandala forms again blend the idea of religion and science. Has science replaced religion in our society? Nickel's works bring us to ask that question and for that they are standouts.
Linda Litteral's piece, "Speak the Story", is a metaphor for her development and experience after sexual abuse as a child. She is able to allude to the pain without any explicit references to that horrible past.
Wendy Maruyama has several pieces that were inspired by the World War II internment of Japanese Americans. "Cascade" was created to look like the I.D. tags of 1,011 Japanese Americans that were moved from San Diego and Chula Vista to the Poston Camp on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. It's a powerful reminder that the phrase 'freedom and justice for all' does not apply if our country decides we want to treat certain groups of people as enemies - every member of that group is then treated as guilty with no chance to prove their innocence. It's a shameful part of our history and our present - which this next artist handles with incredible grace and power.
Paul Henry's "Conversation Chairs" of ebonized birch, gold stencil, rebar, and cotton rope with oil paintings by Candy Kuhl are magnificent meditations on our imprisonment and abuse of an undisclosed number of people at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. Their elegance and refined surfaces make the acts of torture seem ruthless and calculating. Their old world sensibility highlights our long history of domination and cruelty to various so-called 'enemies' over time.
Also of note, Ellen Phillips takes on the topic of the internment of Japanese Americans and creates a beautiful abstraction of barbed wire, transparencies and stainless steel tubing called "The Wall". This show has quite a number of pieces that do more than look pretty, often the minimal goal of 'craft'. The show as a whole has taken on a number of challenging topics for the viewer to think about while enjoying the visual nature of the works presented.
Do not miss (in the back room) Anne Mudge's "Chance & Circumstance" - a collection of 14 pieces mostly made of stainless steel wire, pigment plastic fiber, etc. My personal favorite is called "Study 127" which feels like a giant grin of a sensual nature.
11 AM - 7 PM Thursday, February 25
11 AM - 10 PM Saturday, February 27
11 AM - 10 PM Sunday, February 28
Folks who attended the opening said the show looked especially good at night, so here's the opportunity.
Meantime, Donovan herself will be giving a talk in the gallery Saturday afternoon at 2 PM. Note that the museum warns: "Space is extremely limited due to restricted gallery capacity. There are no advance tickets for this event. Entry will be on a first-come, first-served basis."
On that basis I'm skipping the talk, partly out of unwillingness to camp on the doorstep overnight, and mostly due to putting in a full day this Saturday at the sdspace4art community build.
If you don't like my lyrics you can press fast-forward
— Jay-Z
"Divided" - Amy Paul
Amy Paul (North Park artist, business owner - Pigment and Co-chair of NPA) and myself (the long-winded voice of God at Art as Authority) had the chance to talk about the positive changes occurring in North Park (as opposed to all the negativity put forth by SignOnSanDiego's own Keli Dailey) on Art Rocks! Radio the other night. North Park for the Arts (NPA) has made substantial progress as an organization of artists, galleries, businesses and activists who recognize that the arts (their place) within a community's development and growth is not only necessary but absolutely crucial. You can become part of this movement - even if you don't live in North Park - by getting involved in the many events planned for this year, such as the Festival of the Arts and North Park's first gallery guide.
Give a listen to the Art Rocks! Radio interview first, then check out the details on the gallery guide below. The arts in San Diego are what you make it.
This is the general member packet and serves as a general background about NPA. It includes our mission statement and goals, benefits of membership and a brief description about the forthcoming guide.
The advertiser kit, on the other hand, is meant for larger corporate sponsors that are interested in buying advertising space in the guide. There are 10 of these spaces slated for the book, 9 are currently available. They do not need to be in North Park to participate in this option.
The individual artist media kit is meant for talented artists within our SD community. Its only $50 for annual membership which includes a feature in the guide.
Don't miss being part of the 2010 NPA, a collective of business owners, artists, and community activists pushing to keep the soul of this neighborhood we love by cultivating the arts scene that is already here and facilitating its development as a strong and legitimate arts and culture neighborhood! We thank all of our 2009 Members for participating in NPA, we look forward to collectively presenting art shows in 2010 and pulling our resources too.
The group is in the process of creating a neighborhood guide and growing membership of folks interested in this collective! To be included in the Arts & Entertainment Guide for 2010 we are asking that you join as a Member by March 1st (ish).
Member Benefits Include:
Use of NPA name and logo on marketing materials
Website listing and link to your website
Business location listed on NPA map, posted online and printed annually (more frequently if needed)
Promotional opportunities for you and/or artists exhibiting at your business
Networking and support
Increased advocacy for the development of North Park as an Arts & Culture District
Increased pedestrian traffic
Eligibility for election to the governing board of NPN (beginning January 2010)
Feature in NPA marketing publications including and most importantly the 2010 Arts & Entertainment Guide featuring North Park!
TO JOIN or renew your membership please complete the Application form posted on the website (www.NorthParkNights.org) and mail or drop it off to Andrea Chamberlin, NPA Treasurer at The San Diego Art Department (3830 Ray Street, North Park).
If you have any questions about membership please email Andrea Chamberlin, Treasurer at eduprogramsdai@gmail.com You can also contact Amy Paul, Co-Chair, at amy@artbyamypaul.com
As a collective we are dedicated to retaining and promoting arts, culture and business in North Park. We invite and encourage all North Park businesses and artists to become a part of NPA. Please forward this information to anyone you think would be interested in getting involved.
No Laughing Matter: Art and Humor in Southern California (a modest sampling)
Sixteen artists, some emerging, some veterans, are represented in the exhibition:
Michael Arata, Walter Askin, Merwin Belin, Stephen Berkman, Jim Eller, Walter Gabrielson, Doug Harvey, Richard Pettibone, Pierre Picot, Erika Rothenberg, Ilene Segalove, Mahara T. Sinclaire, Dave Smith, Masami Teraoka, Jeffrey Vallance, and William Wegman.
Artist’s Reception & Program
Wednesday, 7 pm, February 24, 2010
Open February 25 through April 15, 2010
Monday through Thursday, 11am to 2pm and 6pm to 9pm
Saturday, 10am to 1pm
(Closed for Spring Break, March 29 – April 5, 2010)
Art Gallery
Los Angeles Valley College
5800 Fulton Avenue
Valley Glen, CA 91401
818.778.5536
The Andrews Gallery has moved from its North County location to inside the 2400 Kettner ArtsComplex (#212) at 2400 Kettner Blvd, just north of down town San Diego.
Seattle-based Derek M. Johnson will be performing along with Andrew Senna in the new space on Tuesday February 23, 2010, 8:00 PM. The night will also feature paintings by Zack Hawkins andother gallery artists, all of whom you can see on the gallery's website. This event is free, all ages, and open to the public.
An Olympia, WA native, Derek Johnson has played the cello since 1979. In 1986 he began to veeraway from the traditional, and has since developed an intricate experimental practice. Aside from theusual classical gigs, Derek has recorded and performed with the likes of Old Time Relijun, Unwound, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, Desolation Wilderness, Arrington De Dionyso, among others and has regularly performed in various capacities at the Olympia Experimental Music Festival, the OlympiaFilm Festivals, the Seattle International Film Festival, and the Palais Ideal Festival in Chico, CA. His performance at The Andrews Gallery is part of his first solo tour which will cover some 6,000 miles in just under three weeks.
Also touring with him is Andrew Senna who runs Aphonia Recordings. His set will include found sound, field recordings, guitar, voice, and sound collages. Andrew is a very talented musician and technician, with a masters in Sound Design and Recording for Film from Vancouver Film School. Using tape recorders, mini-discs, microphones, looping pedals, guitars and contact mics to illicit warbling and sparse curtains of sound, Andrew populates surging vocal harmonies with references to Americanaand folk traditions.
Do not hesitate to contact owner Drew Snyder with any further questions or comments.
Located at 2400 Kettner Blvd #212 in San Diego and on the web at www.theandrewsgallery.com The Andrews Gallery is a fine art gallery and live studio dedicated to transforming the typical gallery experience into aninteractive one, exposing the most gifted artists to the public in a forum of creativity and stimulation. The Andrews Gallery is committed to providing fresh work of the highest quality to the San Diego community and beyond, as well as playing host to a variety of creative events, including musical performances, poetry readings, and the like. The Andrews Gallery also offers private painting instruction for all ages and all levels in a professional studio setting. Open by appointment 7 days a week, call +1 817 235 2404. Visit the gallery website for artists, mailing list, directions, contact info, latest news and more.
Anna Zappoli's show at the San DIego Art Institute ends this weekend. The show is remarkable in several dimensions:
After a decade of cycling her paint between poles of superflat and superexpressive, the two come together here, perfectly integrated, and often on the same canvas. It no longer feels like two styles: just one, utterly, unique, signature. She owns it — it's hers.
Color-wise the work is more cohesive than I remember from shows past: various flavors of black and red.
The color cohesion is force-multiplied by the hanging of several works as de facto diptychs, a move that concentrates the show spatially while generating some striking contrasts not normally associated with the diptych format.
At this point I need to mention that the greatness of this show is due in no small part to an unadvertised collaboration: for this show Anna turned her work over to SDAI President & CEO Tim Field, who was solely responsible for the exhibition design (including those diptych pairings). The design is frighteningly perfect — it more than qualifies as an installation in and of itself.
One of the things I love about the art world is how crystalline talents can reside in eccentric and even ignoble containers. (Guy, take a bow.) In such cases I dig the art while giving its maker a moderate berth. And goodness knows I've had my run-in's with Tim: the very idea of an SDAI CEO makes me LOL.
But here's the thing: once upon a time I myself was a member of SDAI (Hi, my name is Richard and I'm…). That's where I got to know her work and Anna. And Tim was new on the scene back then, and the guy was there as an artist. And evidently still is: no doubt assisted by a Jack O'Brien-esque run of putting together a gazillion shows at SDAI, the guy has developed a major eye for designing clean-looking shows. Or in Anna's case, great ones.
At the conclusion of the Athenaeum exhibition, John Henry will be reinstalled at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, a new gallery space at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica. The opening will be on Friday 4/9/2010.
ART SAN DIEGO (formerly Beyond the Border ICAF) returns with a new name, larger venue, extended dates and a strong curatorial vision (Sept 2 - 5 / 2010)
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED (DEADLINE FEB. 28.2010)
FILL OUT APPLICATION HERE | DOWNLOAD FLOORPLAN
San Diego, February 7, 2010. ART SAN DIEGO 2010 (formerly Beyond the Border International Contemporary Art Fair), will be held September 2-5, 2010, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. More than 50 galleries will showcase paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, videos, and cutting-edge multimedia artworks. The Fair includes a VIP Opening Night, distinguished guest speakers, luxury brand displays, city-wide cultural programs, and exclusive wine and food events.
ART SAN DIEGO’s venue, the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, rises 30-stories at the edge of San Diego Bay. Designed with world-class sophistication and the largest pillar less ballroom in San Diego, it is the ideal place to browse and acquire art, to learn about collecting, and, simply, to have a very good time.
In an effort to further strengthen the curatorial vision of the fair, ART SAN DIEGO has appointed a new curatorial director, Marcela Quiroz Luna and a strong Curatorial Advisory Committee, comprised of collectors, curators, appraisers, and conservators.
“The experience last year proved that there is a strong appetite for this type of event in San Diego” states Ann Berchtold, Founder | Executive Director, “our move downtown allows a closer relationship with Mexico and opens up unlimited collaborative program opportunities with downtown art organizations and institutions”. Last year the fair drew audiences from North County San Diego, Orange County, Palm Springs and Mexico. More than 2,500 collectors attended the fair’s debut in 2009 and over 70% of the galleries who attended reported strong sales. Consequently the fair has swelled from 30-some dealers in 2009 to an anticipated 53 galleries in 2010. San Diego is one of the wealthiest cities in the country with Rancho Santa Fe ranked by Census as the richest community in the nation. Labor Day weekend draws record crowds to San Diego. We anticipate over 5,000 collectors in 2010.
Lisa Dennison, Chairman of Sotheby's North and South America Cecilia Fejardo-Hill, Chief Curator of Museum of Latin American Art Deborah Klochko, Director, Museum of Photographic Arts Dale Lanzone, President, International Public Art Marlborough, Marlborough Chelsea Gallery George Melrod, Editor-in-Chief, art ltd Matthew Strauss, ARTnews "TOP COLLECTORS IN THE WORLD,” 2009 Summer issue
2010 Spotlight Artists / Galleries Announced ! (Partial List)
Manuel Cerda, Represented by Galeria Enrique Guerrero | Melero Gallery, Mexico City | San Diego Hugo Lugo, Represented by Ginocchio Galería in Mexico City Sebastiao Salgado, Represented by the Peter Fetterman Gallery in Santa Monica Keiko Sugiyama (Japan), Represented by The London Art Consultancy Group David Adey, 2010 San Diego Art Prize Recipient De La Torre Brothers, 2010 San Diego Art Prize Recipients Gail Roberts, 2010 San Diego Art Prize Recipient
Gallery Support
Enhanced Gallery and Audience Experience! ART SAN DIEGO is working closely with the global leader in event management solutions to create a one-of-a-kind fair experience between the galleries, collectors, and sponsors. Our Collector Club on-line community will provide an integrated pre and post fair experience. Galleries will have a unique opportunity to engage collectors prior to the fair and during the fair according to their specific interests.
• Price range for booths:$15- $30 per square foot
• Significant discounts in shipping through our shipping sponsor Craters and Freighters
• One-on-one volunteer support with Art students from SDSU | UCSD VisArts department who act as liasions to you during the fair.
And New this Year:
• State of the ART Lead referral equipment incorporated into booths to capture collectors interest and contact information to allow galleries to create stronger post-fair relationships
• Social Networking opportunities to link collectors with galleries prior to the fair.
• Invitations to select social gatherings: pairing collectors with gallery dealers.
SPONSORS:
Modern Luxury Media / Riviera & Riveria Interiors / Hilton San Diego Bayfront / Qualcomm / American Institute of Wine and Food / Craters & Freighters / YachtFEST / and more.
MEDIA SPONSORS:
Art in America / Artnet / ArtNEXUS / ARTNOW / Art Dailies / Art LTD / ARTROCKS / KPBS / LatinArt.com / VAS / A-List / Emagazine / San Diego Art Journal / and more.
MUSEUM PARTNERS:
Athenaeum / Lux Institute / Media Arts Center / New Children’s Museum / Museum of Photographic Arts / The Art of Photography / San Diego Museum of Art / SDSU Art Gallery / The Stuart Collection | UCSD / visARTS | UCSD / and more.
COMMUNITY & CULTURAL PARTNERS:
CCDC (Centre City Development Corporation) / ConVis (San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau) / Mexico Tourism Board / San Diego Convention Center Corporation / San Diego Fine Art Society / San Diego Youth Symphony / Unified Port of San Diego / and more.
The Reflected Gaze - Self-Portraiture Today at the Torrance Art Museum (Torrance through February 20).
I am frequently a fan of the curatorial efforts at the TAM. I also love portraiture. But this exhibition lacks a cohesive “eye” that would better integrate the artists represented. Figurative/portrait art was hugely seen about town this week and many of the artists in this show are in other exhibitions as you will read below.
Tom LaDuke and Chuck Close
Allison Schulnik at Mark Moore (Bergamot through February 6). There has been lots of media bubbling about this sold-out show. The work is interesting. There are great gobs of paint. She slathers it on more vigorously than Frank Auerbach and with the same “innocence” of Karel Appel. Me thinks the hype machine is not truly dead.
Allison Schulnik
Ralph Bacerra at Frank Lloyd (Bergamot through February 6). Bacerra (1938 - 2008) taught at Chouinard and then Otis. He was influential to a generation of Southern California ceramic artists. His work has a classical beauty. He appropriates various cultural motifs - mixing them with traditional forms and ornamentation.
Ralph Bacerra
Miya Ando at Lora Schlesinger (Bergamot through February 6). Miya Ando’s work is sublime. The flat wall pieces are composed of steel, patina, pigment, phosphorescence, and automotive lacquer. The work is an illusion of landscape where the sky meets the sea - much like the photographic series of seascapes by Hiroshi Sugimoto.
Miya Ando
Barbara Kasten at Gallery Luisotti (Bergamot through April). This artist has had a long and distinguished career. This is all the more significant in that she is a woman (tends to be a man‘s world), her work has continuously mined architectural sensibilities, and she continues to develop new approaches to a fairly constant program of glass, mirrors, and controlled light. The works in this exhibition are sort of monochromatic and very elegant.
Barbara Kasten
Tim Ebner at Rosamund Felsen (Bergamot through February 6). Ebner is always evolving. In each successive exhibition he seems to change. His Neo-Geo paintings of the 80’s have been evolved to his current figurative/decorative motifs. These cutouts share spirit with the flotsam/decorative work of Kim McConnell. And they invoke the exuberance of Red Grooms.
Tim Ebner
Don Bachardy at Craig Krull (Bergamot through February 20). This is an exhibition containing only self portraits by Bachardy from 1959-2009. Terrific show. I love portraits. A good portrait marvels me with its technique and seduces me into inferring a story - a transference of my circumstance onto the sitter in the painting. Not much is more “natural” that contemplating the view of another. Bachardy has steadfast been true to the genre. While this genre, portraiture, has not been fashionable he has used it to record our fashionable history.
Don Bachardy
The Last Plastics Show at Cardwell Jimmerson (Culver City through February 13). This is a “partial re-creation of the 1971 Cal Arts exhibition of the same title” (15 of the original 24 artists). The gallery has done another superb job of bringing contemporary history back into view. The 1970 Ed Moses resin painting is killer! Roland Reiss in 1971 cast plastic dog statuettes in resin.
Ed Moses
Roland Reiss
Jedediah Caesar at Suzanne Vielmetter (Culver City through March 6). Suzanne Vielmetter has moved to the other side of S. La Cienega (still on Washington) into an 8,000 sq. ft. snazzy, white-walled-temple. Associate this new space with Blum & Poe’s new palace and Bennett Roberts’ new gallery and it is apparent money has been made in the recent art cycle and there are expectations that good times are again ahead. Beats me the “hows and whys”. All I keep thinking of is the Dire Straits’ lyrics - “…money for nothing and the chicks for free..”
Jedediah Caesar
Shay Bredimus at Koplin del Rio (Culver City through February 20. Bredimus has trained at the Laguna College of Art and Design - they have a really illustrious faculty and increasingly students from this program stand out as shiny new stars-to-be. Bredimus’ work is confidently fluid and dramatic.
Shay Bredimus
Kenny Harris at Koplin del Rio (Culver City through February 20). Kenny Harris is one of Laguna CAD’s faculty. In this exhibition he presents a large selection of plein-air paintings done while in Istanbul for a month. In addition, there are several large formal studio paintings as shown here.
Kenny Harris
Thomas Schutte at Maloney Fine Art (Culver City through February 27. Schutte has modeled figurative sculptures in clay and then photographed them. On this trip to LA it seems there was lots of portraiture to be seen. Things do definitely run in cycles.
Thomas Schutte
Tom LaDuke at Angles (Culver City through February 20). This work with its layers and various styles of material use is engaging. The show feels a bit Medieval to me. Curious paintings by an eclectic artist.
Tom LaDuke
Michael Mararian at Corey Helford (Culver City through February 6). Corey Helford exclusively shows Low-Brow, “new surrealism” painting. I always see the shows here and seldom walk away with much other than the reassurance that I am staying educated in the “now”. Mararian has assembled a group of works that may well offer insights into the disaffected youth of “now”. It is a frightful view and I worry that his survey may well be accurate.
Michael Mararian
Justin Bower at Western Project (Culver City through February 20). Western Project has moved over to S. La Cienega (much easier to get to than Main Street). They’ve a group show and Justin Bower is seen here (as he is in the Torrance Museum portrait show). Bower received his BFA at UofA Tucson and MFA at Claremont. These paintings are arresting. I am not sure of their “take-away value” - but they hijack one’s attention when first entering the room.
Justin Bower
Jason Kowalski at Terrence Rogers (Santa Monica through February 20). Kowalski is a new-comer to the landscape “brotherhood/sisterhood” in LA. His work has been well received and it is easy to see why.
Jason Kowalski
Dean De Cocker at Sherry Frumkin (Santa Monica Airport through February 20). It is a real treat to walk into Dean’s show. His sculptural vocabulary and unique manner of coming off the wall are well recognized signatures. He has moved away from the frank airplane/airfoil motifs of yore and the work now is more purely, abstractly, formal. Dean lived, worked and exhibited in San Diego years ago.
Dean De Cocker
Gerald Incandela at Edward Cella (mid Wilshire through February 27. Incandela produces large scale works that are in part photographic, collaged, and actively “drawn”. Using multiple negatives he essentially collages images in the darkroom that then are differentially developed and fixed by painting the developing image with photographic chemistry (thus the apparent "drawing" where only parts of the image get developer or fixative).
Gerald Incandela
David Korty at Michael Kohn (West Hollywood through February 27). Korty was trained as a printmaker at RISD. His work has a very graphic quality that reflects this training and mirrors the same emotional territory as Alex Katz.
David Korty
Michele O’Marah at Kathryn Brennan @ Cottage Home (Chinatown through February 6). O’Marah is a video artist. Her three videos that comprise this exhibition have been “accessorized” with props from the filming and wall-text so that the whole is an installation. I found myself drawn in by her re-working a re-creation of Pamela Anderson’s “Barb Wire.”
Michele O'Marah
Chris Barnard at Sam Lee (Chinatown through March 13). Chris Barnard was seen in San Diego at Seminal Projects in 2008. His show then was excellent. And this show is excellent. At first blush his paintings seem to be about some sort of sci-fi space - but rapidly I find myself willingly getting lost in a very engaging abstract space.
Chris Barnard
Lizabeth Eva Rossof at Charlie James (Chinatown through February 20). Rossof is a Bay Area Conceptualist. In order to understand this work the process needs explanation. She has contracted with Chinese artisans to reproduce works that normally would be prohibited production in China. There is then the ruse of packing forbidden images of pornography, Tiananmen Square, etc. so that the copies can be exported out of China under the noses of Chinese censors.
Lizabeth Eva Rossof
Vessels at Angels Gate Cultural Center (San Pedro through March. Angels Gate hits about once a year with a refreshing survey of LA Basin talent. This a one of their sweet shows that offers varying technical and artistic approaches to the “vessel”.
Michael Rohde
Wayne Thiebaud at Pasadena Museum of California Art (Pasadena - closed). This large survey of 70 years of Thiebaud painting was luscious. His large, brilliant, sun drenched paintings are a Golden California version of Pop.
Wayne Thibaud
Ray Turner at Pasadena Museum of California Art (Pasadena - closed). Turner has executed rapid portraits on glass of Pasadena residents. About 150 are shown in the exhibition. Ray Turner’s name seems to be coming up frequently in the current LA showscape. This work shows how powerful gesture is - expressed through the musculature of one’s face or the hand of the artist capturing the moment.
Ray Turner
Get out, look at art, have fun.
Doug Simay 2/2/2010
If you want to respond to this article please e-mail me directly at doug@simayspace.com
I believe that without art history there can be no art appreciation. I strive to include historical references in my "Best Picks". With this issue, when I reference an artist name, I have included a web-link to see an example of what is being referred too. Simply click on the highlighted artist name to open a new page of image.
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Sit, stride, chat, hike, scramble, feed, scour, crunch, scamper, loiter
Bodily actions that interrupt the structuring of public space
an exhibition
an archive
February 6 — March 21, 2010
La Casa del Túnel, Tijuana, Mexico
Calle Chapo Márquez 133
Colonia Federal, Tijuana BC
MéxicoTel: (011) (52) 664-682-9570 http://performingpublicspace.org
Movers & Shakers 2: Who’s Who in the San Diego Visual Arts World
by Baudelaire Shepherd
Artist: Lee Puffer - Portrait: Karen McGuire, Curator of Exhibitions, City of Carlsbad’s William D. Cannon Art Gallery
On Movers and Shakers 2, at the Art Expressions Gallery
A visitor to “Movers and Shakers 2: Who’s Who in San Diego Visual Arts” might reasonably expect to be treated to a representative sampling of the best in San Diego art; what they will find instead are a few good works bobbing upon a turgid sea of proud mediocrity. The show’s title already had an air of fawning desperation before an indifferent public, but through the combination of a needlessly narrow selection of artists, a flaunting of mere technique over wit and vision, and an uninspiring theme, the organizers have perversely given the public good reason to stay indifferent. San Diego’s artists deserve better.
Out of a total of forty-four works, by forty-six separate artists, I found only seven pieces that were truly successful, including quirky sculptures by Jeffrey Laudenslager and Lee Puffer, a wittily “minimalist” painting by Vero Glezqui, and a joyful, cartoon-like representation by Michael Gross. I found Lee Puffer’s ceramic bust of Karen McGuire particularly striking, combining energetic form with lively color, as well as touches of subtle comedy. Another eight were of moderate interest. Herb Olds, for instance, presented a moody, large-scale drawing, but without the revealing detail that adds depth to his other work. Cheryl Sorg created another entry in her clever “thumbprint” series; but in the process perhaps revealed the limitations of this cleverness—the overall form risks becoming muddy and over-familiar; the textual content proves no more revelatory than a list of favorite books on Facebook.
I remain amusingly undecided, however, about the entry by Brian Goeltzenleuchter, which consisted of vials of personalized scent, accompanied by an earnest advertisement for the perfumery. At first I delighted in the scent itself; my master helpfully strewed the discarded blotters upon the floor, and I rooted around in them happily. But as soon as I noticed the advertisement I became outraged at the blatant and inappropriate commercialism. It was only when I got home, and looked into the Goeltzenleuchter website, that I realized I had been had, that the artist was holding a revelatory glass before both bourgeois and bohemian pretensions. Still, too much irony can make me dizzy, and I wonder whether the artist himself may become trapped in his own vertiginous hall of mirrors.
This leaves twenty-nine pieces, however, that were at best mediocre, including many that were indefensibly dull. Most of these were echoes or reassemblies of familiar styles, some produced with considerable technical mastery, but without suggesting anything of particular interest in subject, social milieu, or artist, and with neither athleticism of paint stroke, nor conceptual vigor. The painters Ron and Vanessa Lemen, Brian Weisz, and Renee Corwin, for instance, are undoubtedly skilful, but stay cozily within the shadows of Rembrandt and Sargent while adding little light of their own. Some other artists are happy to explore selected elements from more modern styles, and yet these elements can often seem like reflective affectations rather than pulses in the blood. Mireille des Rosiers, for example, includes in her portraits swaths of expressionist color as well as random splashes of paint, but these disturbances do not significantly challenge the dominant force of stable representation. There are also a fair number of very good artists who, for this show, and for whatever reason, have produced work below their usual standard. I thought the photograph by Julio Orozco, for instance, to be surprisingly flat. And I felt the joint work by Ellen Dieter, Shalhla Dorafshan, and Richard Messenger, though of some interest, was weakened by its reluctance to exploit their usual mastery of color.
This overall ratio of success to mediocrity may not be unusual in a regular exhibit, but for a show that purports to celebrate the seismic energy of the San Diego art scene as a whole it is a mortifying statistic, and a completely unnecessary one. San Diego, like any large city, is rich in talented artists. I can think of several close to my own neighborhood of North Park, many whose front yard trees I have marked in my morning walks, and it seems strange to me that more artists of this caliber were not asked to participate. The show also had a needless uniformity in artistic media, and in what might be called “modes” of representation. Three quarters of the works presented were paintings, and a few photographs, based on more or less “realistic” modes, though as mentioned above this basic realism was often dressed in distinct styles of color, stroke, or decorative element. All the other possibilities of mimetic strategy were left to the remaining quarter, including a couple of sculptures, an assemblage, a figure in paper mache, and some few paintings in a manner less strictly representational, a surprising few considering the turbulent twentieth century legacy from Fauvism through Expressionism. Surprising too was the paucity of work in a non-representational mode, whether abstract or conceptual.
I have no interest in attacking anyone’s motives, or efforts. I am sure both artists and organizers had the best intentions, worked hard and selflessly—certainly much harder than the average dog—and are sincerely devoted to the advancement of taste. Nor is there much point in dwelling on those cursed with more ambition and industry than native genius. Still, I think it is worth asking what factors may have led to this embarrassment, if only to suggest where efforts might be better applied in future.
Some may feel that the root of the problem lies in portraiture itself, that the form has become moribund and incapable of surprise, corrupted at its heart by the injustice of beauty and the tyranny of the objectifying gaze. I do not hold this view. At its best a portrait can be an energetic dialogue between two wills of representation; on one side the artist wishes to expose the subject, or to use the subject as a mere puppet of their own vision, on the other side the subject wishes to seduce the artist, and to represent themselves before the public according to their most exalted self-image. Both these wills, furthermore, struggle within a web of fact and social signification which they reveal even as they attempt to transcend it.
There is nothing, moreover, that requires a portrait to always favor one part of the body over another; I myself rather prefer human crotches to human faces. And this thought suggests again the possibilities that exist beyond visual mimesis. Why not smell? Why not taste? Why not the cry of a lonely bitch in heat? Not that I feel, either, that visual representation has exhausted itself. Indeed, after decades of conceptual and performance art, I am ready to listen again to the promises of realism, as long as they are not founded in some nostalgic dream of a non-existent past.
I believe that the show’s shortcomings are actually rooted in something simpler to grasp—in the unfortunate choice of the “Movers and Shakers” theme itself. It is true that stupid concepts sometimes produce clever results. And though, for me, the idea of using art to celebrate gallery owners, critics, and patrons for their “moving and shaking” is at once undignified, incestuous, and pathetically premature, particularly when the common complaint about San Diego is that no one cares about art, these particular idiocies would not be a problem if the work managed to survive them. But it has not. One obvious factor is that such a theme is likely to produce diminishing returns upon repetition. I was not able to attend last year’s show, but from a glance at the website it does seem to have been rather more aesthetically persuasive. Were this year’s artists, and this year’s “Movers and Shakers,” amongst those that missed the cut last time? At the very least it would seem natural that they might feel that way. But a more fundamental issue is that this theme seems unlikely to inspire any artist to create their best work, nor is the mode of selection associated with the theme likely to produce the best artists.
The Movers and Shakers website does not state clearly how the selection of artists was done, other than stating that those involved “were invited to participate by the Movers and Shakers committee.” For the sake of greater transparency, I would have liked to see more details of criteria and process. I believe, though I am not certain, that the committee first selected the participating “Movers and Shakers,” and that the “Movers and Shakers” subsequently picked the artist to represent them. The problem here is that, though this method may seem to distribute the responsibility for selection amongst many independent experts, it begs the question of how the “Movers and Shakers” themselves were selected. Certainly that choice would necessarily have a profound effect on the art that results. It seems clear, moreover, that these “Movers and Shakers” were not encouraged to be disinterested, since in very many cases their choice of artists was aligned with close personal and professional connections. Naturally a gallery owner has a significant financial interest in choosing from the very artists that they represent, especially from those who have a clear commercial appeal, just as a family owner or friend has a significant emotional interest in choosing someone close to them.
Furthermore, when an artist is asked to make a portrait of friend, fellow artist, family member, or agent, they will naturally be inclined to flatter, and to accede happily to their subjects’ own view of themselves, particularly when the theme itself suggests that celebration is the only appropriate mode of presentation. But the history of portraiture has often been energized by a productive antagonism between artist and subject. Even when the subject was a wealthy patron, or a pope, there was usually a significant social distance, such that the artist was well inclined to analyze, to reveal, to subvert, even to openly mock. I can personally testify, for instance, how being of a different species than my master heartens me to bite the hand that feeds me without hesitation, whenever I can get away with it. But at “Movers and Shakers” one is smothered with friendship and admiration, with open smiles, and posed dignity, trapped by the subjects’ will to reveal nothing but the face they put on before the world.
All these problems, however, are potentially easy to correct. I think a yearly show highlighting the range and vitality of the San Diego art scene is a fine idea, since both range and vitality are abundant. But there is no need for incestuous self-flattery, simply to convince ourselves that everything will be ok, and that the public will soon love us as much as we love ourselves. The public does not, and should not, care about our galleries or our artists for their own sake. They might, however, appreciate good art, if they can find it, and the most efficient way to help them do so is to find it ourselves, right here at home, without excessive regard for fine sentiments, for artists’ feelings and personalities, or for what we imagine the public needs. Perhaps the best approach would be to use a panel of judges that rotates every year, judges who are clearly identified for each show, who are instructed to ignore anyone they are particularly close to, and who are encouraged to roam beyond established artists and familiar galleries into coffee houses and obscure group shows. Then advertise like crazy. But please don’t tell ‘em it’s fashionable, and never tell ‘em it’s good for them.
ART HAPPENING AND FUNDRAISER FOR AGITPROP SPACE IN NORTH PARK
from the press release
The Border Patrol, a group of five Southern California artists, musicians and performers, will stage an art happening entitled Coatlicue mi Amor at Agitprop on Saturday, February 13th at 8pm. The event will be a fundraiser for the space. Admission is $5.00 and people bringing sketchbooks and pencils to the event will get in for $2.00. Agitprop Gallery is located at 2837 University Ave. (behind Glenn's Market on Utah), San Diego, CA 92104.
Incorporating weird combinations of materials, sound, the human body, pop culture artifacts and historical sources, the happening will use the myth of Coatlicue to examine the conflicted relationship between indigenous culture and the legacy of colonialism in the Americas.
Coatlicue, the Aztec earth goddess who preceded the Virgen de Guadalupe, and was thought to be mother of the moon and stars, will be represented using tableaux vivants, painting, spoken word, audio improvisations, video projections and interactive art. Audience members will be encouraged to contribute to the realization of the happening through a set of installations and actions that will allow feedback and commentary on the themes presented during the evening.
“The audience will experience a multi-sensory happening in three parts,” said artist Perry Vasquez, who conceived the happening and then recruited close friends and collaborators to help bring the idea into being. “Our goal is to establish a creative and interactive mood that will feed the mind as well as the body.”
Audience members are encouraged to bring and to approach the happening as a phantasmagoric life drawing class.
The Border Corps members are: Endy as Coatlicue, the Aztec Earth Goddess and Mother Superior Perry Vasquez as Father Bartolomé de las Casas, the Sci Fi Friar Shondra Dawson as the Visible Woman who Swallowed the World Armando de la Torre as the Oracle of Sight and Sound Anthony Vasquez as the Conjurer and Re-enchanter of the Aural Mysteries of Life
We hope you can join us this Saturday, February 6 at 7:00 pm for the next event in the Agitprop Reading & Performance Series featuring Jane Sprague and Diane Ward.
Jane Sprague is the author of THE PORT OF LOS ANGELES (Chax, 2009), *BELLADONNA ELDERS SERIES NO. 8 (with Tina Darragh and Diane Ward; Belladonna, 2009) and numerous chapbooks including APACHE ROADKILL (Dusie, 2009) and SACKING THE HENWIFE (Dusie, 2008). She teaches at CSULB and for Bard College’s Institute for Language and Thinking. She lives in Long Beach, CA where she edits and publishes Palm Press. Her current projects include editing the collection IMAGINARY SYLLABI, a utopian and practical investigation into various writing pedagogies in higher education as well as researching a project on generational poverty and histories of race and genocide in upstate New York, where she’s from.
Diane Ward was born in 1956 in Washington, DC and currently lives in Santa Monica, California. She has published ten books of poetry including, most recently, *BELLADONNA ELDERS SERIES NO. 8 (with Tina Darragh and Diane Ward; Belladonna, 2009) NO LIST (NO LIST), Seeing Eye Books, 2008, Flim-Yoked Scrim, Factory School, 2006, among others. Her work has been included in numerous anthologies, among them: MOVING BORDERS: THREE DECADES OF INNOVATIVE WRITING BY WOMEN, edited by Mary Margaret Sloan (New Jersey: Talisman House, Publishers, 1998) and OUT OF EVERYWHERE: LINGUISTICALLY INNOVATIVE POETRY BY WOMEN IN NORTH AMERICA & THE UK, edited by Maggie O’Sullivan (London: Reality Street Editions, 1996). .
Please share this information with friends and any interested parties. Agitprop readings are free, but donations to the gallery are always welcome. We hope to see you there and for festivities afterward!
AGITPROP READING & PERFORMANCE SERIES Saturday, February 6, 7:00pm AGITPROP 2837 University Ave in North Park (Entrance on Utah, behind Glenn’s Market) * San Diego, CA * 92104 * 619.384.7989
"The World is Flat" OR The San Diego Art Prize Unveils its Nominations
drawing by Kevin Freitas
click for larger image
Greg Boudreau nominated by Chris Martin, Project X: Art Kelsey Brookes nominated by Mark Quint, Quint Contemporary Art Stephen Curry nominated by Robin Bright, artist Steve Gibson nominated by Laurie Mitchell Brian Goeltzenleuchter nominated by Teri Sowell, Director of Exhibitions and Collections, Oceanside Museum of Art Wendell M. Kling nominated by Brian Dick, artist Heather Gwen Martin nominated by Kim MacConnel, artist and Ann Berchtold, director, Beyond the Borders International Art Fair Robert Nelson nominated by Tom Noel and Larry Baza, Noel-Baza Fine Art Julio Orozco nominated by Debra Poteet, collector Allison Renshaw nominated by Patricia Frischer, coordinator, SDVAN Lesha Maria Rodriguez nominated by Katherine Sweetman James Soe Nyun nominated by Tom Driscoll, artist Stephen Tompkins nominated by Robin Clark, PhD, Curator, The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
"Cascade" - Wendy Maruyama
Artist: Lee Puffer - Portrait: Karen McGuire, Curator of Exhibitions, City of Carlsbad’s William D. Cannon Art Gallery
