While We Were Away at 941 Geary is a great show. That's almost enough to say, other than the fact that you should go see it. Curated by gallery director Tova Lobatz, the show features artists from the US and Europe (except for Chanoir who is from Columbia) whom Lobatz encountered in her travels. Along with their works, most of the artists included a suitcase with all the necessary items for their creative process. Whereas How & Nosm obviously carry stencils, Poesia carries a camera and paint-stained T-shirt. Eachartist's label was also in the form of a passport page, giving both biographical information and a quotefrom them. This personal insight, literally seeing into the internal objects of their reality as artists, givesthe show an intimate relationship between curator and artist, and therefore artist and viewer. Now, that is enough to say. Just go see the show before it closes March 2nd.
Words & Photos: Rachel Ralph - rachel(at)fecalface.com
Miss Van, Sol y Luna, Acrylic on canvas, 28.5”x36”
Hebru Brantley, My Secrets Keep Secrets, Mixed media on canvas, 56”x56”
Jaybo Monk, I Lay Deaf to Death, Spray paint, acrylic and charcoal, 59”x1.5”x59”
Sten Lex, Untitled 3, Acrylic and stencil poster on wood, 28”x40”
Apex @941 Geary Friday, 30 November 2012 /// Written by Rachel Ralph
Work by Apex
Reflected, an exhibtion of street artist APEX's newest work opened at 941 Geary last Friday. The space was packed with people looking at several large works on canvas, a wall mural, and framed sketches, most of which had sold by the end of the night. The work shows APEX's interest in the dualistic characteristics of nature and unfolds symmetrically across his black canvases. The matte and shiny black stripes that extend across the gallery floor and walls contrast perfectly to his curling and undulating forms. The space and the work support one another, and this is one show you should check out for both aspects before it closes on January 5th.
The Aussies really do have it. Maybe it’s all of that isolation all the way over in Australia, but the opening of Young & Free: Contemporary Australian Street Artists on September 10th at 941 Geary (SF) proved that the deserve a place on the international stage. It was the largest collection of new Australian street work that has ever been exhibited in the United States, featuring the likes of Anthony Lister, Kid Zoom, Dabs Myla, Ben Frost, Everefresh founding members Meggs, Reka and Rone, and many many more.
Nearly 1,000 people floated through from the two entrances in the first hours. Entering from Geary Street was like walking through one of Melbourne’s bombed out alleyways as the artists had taken the liberty to ‘decorate’ the walls beyond recognition.
The artists were working up until the last minute to prepare the final details for the show. Below are some of the images of the final day leading into the exhibition’s opening night. Young & Free: Contemporary Australian Street Artists is showing at 941 Geary in San Francisco until October 22nd.
Stencil artist Ha-Ha with the final layer of one of his iconic face stencils, used a little more literally in this sense.
Two thirds of Ha-Ha’s main exhibited work was actually of fellow artist Ben Frost, who is shown here against his homage pinning one of his prints to the wall.
Dabs Myla spent the day finishing a mural collaboration with members of Seventh Letter, the infamous crew that they were recently asked into.
Reka, a founding member of Everfresh known for his perfect lines and vivacious characters, mapping out the beginning of carcass character.
A gallery crew member placing ‘sold’ pins on Ben Frost’s work before opening.
Why oh why did we stay out till 3:30 last night?! Ugh, anyway... be sure to get to 941 Geary tonight for their YOUNG AND FREE Show (our preview) @941 Geary here in SF. Featuring works from Australian street artists Anthony Lister, Kid Zoom, Dabs Myla, Dmote, New2, Ben Frost, Meggs, Ha-Ha, Reka, Rone, Sofles and Vexta. 7-11pm ~complete details
Dabs Myla getting started on their mural the other day.
Young & Free is the biggest Aussie street art exhibition outside Australia, ever, and it is exactly as chaotic as you'd imagine it to be. It features new artwork by Anthony Lister, Kid Zoom, Dabs Myla, Dmote, New2, Ben Frost, Meggs, Ha-Ha, Reka, Rone, Sofles and Vexta.
Having thirteen of not only Australia but the world's best street artists compressed into one city space is the artistic equivalent of a paint-splattered war zone. Tiny multi-coloured flecks of stencil cut outs adorn the floor like creative confetti, half painted canvases are stacked up against walls, dozens and dozens of boxes of spray paint are pilled in corners and the sounds of circle saws and dubstep are floating into the alleys of downtown Tenderloin in San Francisco.
The show opens this Saturday at 941 Geary and will be accompanied by a series of local walls painted by the artists. In-progress shots below. - By Georgia Frances King
The warehouse space as it looks on Day 1.
Meggs adding his own throw-up to the ‘laneway' with the iconic San Franciscan buildings reflecting in the front window of Geary 941.
Around half of the aerosol ordered to paint over five walls in San Francisco.
Young & Free: Class of 2011.
Dabs Myla getting started on their mural.
Some The Shining-esque drip down effects by Vexta.
A small taste of a great show featuring some of Australia's best street artists creating works from stencil to spray paint on all mediums filling 941 Geary's large walls. Should be a great show that you should get to when SF's art season gets kicked off in a couple weeks. Now go back to sitting on the beach or by the pool while your vacation lasts.
941Geary in San Francisco is pleased to present The Belle of the Brawl, a solo exhibition of new work from Oakland-based artist, Jesse Hazelip.
In The Belle of the Brawl, the artist continues his ongoing examination of the sociopolitical patterns of repetitive historical mistakes. As the dust settles from the war in Iraq, the anxiety of crisis looms large over Afghanistan. The artist seeks to address the pending inevitability of violence and destruction through a visual examination which will include iconographic imagery from the artist’s earlier work: herons, buffalo and WWII weaponry, while introducing a new assembly of symbols and motifs. The exhibition will feature over 20 mixed media works on found wood as well as a transformational approach to 941Geary’s 3,000 square foot space with a 16’ x 46’ ft installation piece and a second clandestine installation to be unveiled at the opening reception.
The opening reception The Belle of the Brawl, will be held at 941Geary on Saturday, January 15, 2011 from 7-11 PM. The exhibit will be on display through February 26, 2010 and is free and open to the public.
Glen E. Friedman has shot some seriously iconic photos over the last 3 decades and will be displaying Fuck You All @941 Geary wtih an opening set for Saturday, Nov 6th. The traveling show is in its 13th year, and it's the first time shown in San Francisco... Don't miss it. ~details.
Got to preview Mike Shine's show last night @941 Geary. Games, music, food, drinks, performances. Be sure to get there tonight for the grand opening of Flotsam's Wonder World... Below is a little taste without giving too much away. Saturday, 7-11pm. show details
Ferris Plock, Brixton, and Kelly Tunstall
The parade into the show.
Cheer up, Charlie.
Jessica and Mr Mike Shine... He's the one in the face paint.
Mike Shine is going bonkers and has created a complete circus over at the newish 941 Geary and his show, Flotsam's Wonder World, opens this Saturday. From what we've neard so far, this is not going to be one to miss. I believe that Mike has pulled out all the stops with an art "opera" complete with films, music, carnival tent, games, and over 200 mixed media pieces. Remember his show @FFDG or our studio visit?
This month the crew of White Walls / Shooting Gallery open the doors to another addition, 941 Geary (which is right around the corner from White Walls), a gallery that is anticipated to show established and international artists alike. Though mums the word on who all the gallery will be lining up, the space itself is beautiful, and impressive (it's also huge, so artists will have an insane amount of space to work with).
Hi guys! ArtBusiness.com dude Alan Bamberger with David Choong Lee (who paints his own hats too).
Like wearing a watch but don't want to bother with all that pesky technology, Barcelona based artist Axel Brechensbauer has you covered... We also dig this great truck sculpture.
This day may have been inevitable, but now it's finally here. In its attempt to take over the world - or at least everything that can be bought and sold in the world, Amazon is launching an art gallery.
This summer Amazon is planning to launch a Fine Art Gallery where customers will be able to purchase original artwork offered by a select group of invited galleries via Amazon.com. ~continue reading
A new HBO documentary looks at the work of street artist JR, whose giant portraits force people in troubled areas to confront the humanity that's all around them... On the day JR found out he'd won the $100,000 TED Prize, the French pasteup artist found himself in China being questioned by police for doing his thing on the streets of Shanghai. ~continue reading
Street artist JR HBO documentary premiered yesterday, May 20th
Art lovers, collectors and gallerists will gather on Thursday for Hong Kong's inaugural edition of Art Basel, sealing the city's status as an international art hub and Asia's leading art destination... Hong Kong has surged to third place in the global art auction market behind New York and London and Western galleries are falling over each other to open franchises in the former British colony. ~continue reading
Our buddy Ferris Plock opens a small show of drawings at Benny Gold on 3169 16th St this Friday, May 24th (7-10pm) featuring 31 drawings priced at 75-140 bucks.
Ferris also released the video Fingered! he produced with animator Jim Dirschberger. View it
Wowzas, there's a lot of art happenings this weekend, and while you're making the rounds, be sure to stop at SFAI's MFA show Currency opening Friday, May 17th at the beautiful old SF Mint Building (88 5th Street).
SFAI's 2013 MFA graduates—working in painting, photography, printmaking, film, sculpture, installation, digital media, performance, and across media—will present work that embraces the Institute's signature spirit of experimentation and conceptual risk-taking.
Opening reception: Friday, May 17, 7–9 pm & running through Sunday 11-6pm daily. -- complete details
London based Pedro Matos opens the solo show Building Castles Made of Sand this Friday in Los Angeles at the Martha Otero Gallery featuring a new series of oil paintings on canvas and azulejo panels - a traditional Portuguese medium of hand-painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile work.
TrustoCorp's all new work for their exhibition at LeBasse Projects in Culver City, Los Angeles is a perfect continuum from past work that embraces the bipolar "have/have not" socioeconomic identity of Los Angeles, which they recently established their new studio in.
I didn't know if you came across this video yet, but I ran into my friend Brian Hanson yesterday who helped film and edit it. It's a film short documenting the work and philosophy of Huntington Beach surfboard Shaper Tim Stamps. Super rad and really inspiring! Anyhow take a peek.
Last year, Eric Caruso a teacher at Harry Wirtz Elementary School (Paramount, CA, near LA) had an idea to invite some artists to paint some murals at the school because there wasn't an arts program for the kids. That brilliant idea resulted in some awesome murals by artists Seitaku Aoyama, Yusuke Hanai, Rich Jacobs, Tim Kerr and Albert Reyes.
Ryan De La Hoz' show in the Upper Haight at RVCA runs through this Saturday... And the next time you're in the Mission, be sure to swing through his new shop on 14th St, Cool Try... We need to get over there soon and do a little photo feature for ya.
The Book and Job Gallery (San Francisco) really stepped it up with the opening of Daniel Chen's loveBlast on May 4th. Complete with a doorman, piano player, old fashioneds, and some really nice paintings, I could hardly believe I was at the Book and Job. The paintings varied in size, and the show was balanced nicely between them, the spray-can work on the walls, and the smaller drawings displayed throughout. The kind notes Chen wrote on the walls are certain to brighten your day, and the rest of the work is definitely worth a look. It was a very classy evening and I hope they continue to intersperse shows like these into their schedule in the future
FFDG opened up the group show featuring original works by the artists of the world famous Skull & Sword tattoo last Friday here in San Francisco. Thanks to the huge crowd who turned out to support these four incredibly talented artists. Here is a taste of the show, and be sure to swing in to view in person. The show runs through June 8th.
Gary Baseman's retrospective "The Door is Always Open" at the Skirball in LA opened recently to massive crowds in a huge celebratory opening party. The exhibition is so complex and personal, delving into Baseman's background, family history, and all the layers of prolific work that he has done over the years. After the opening festivities winded down, I caught up with Baseman for an interview. We discussed the underlying meaning to some of the components of the show and how it felt for him, coming from such an honest personal perspective in putting this massive show together.
Fertile Menace, a new show of Mark Mulroney's (NY) work opened at Ever Gold on May 4th and it's not one to be missed. It is intelligently hilarious, with jokes riffing off sex, Foucault, and the body, and while it makes you laugh it's also going to make you think.
Our buddies Jay Howell, Andreas Trolf, and Jim Dirschberger are hyped as their show, which they've been working on for like 2 years, premieres on Nickelodeon Saturday. From the trailers we've seen so far and from what Jay has told us about, the show is going to be pretty epic. Congrats to those radical fellas.
Here's a little taste of work by the artists of the world famous The Skull and Sword tattoo shop who open their show at San Francisco's FFDG on Friday, May 17th (7-10pm).
Following his solo exhibition "The Collected" at Gallery Wendi Norris, painter Amir H. Fallah is in the throes of developing more new works for upcoming international exhibits. We spent some time in his studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles recently, discussing his process and inspiration.
We were first introduced to the photography of Spanish born NYC based Bubi Canal when he emailed us his great video Trust in Me a couple years ago. His solo show Special Moment recently ran at NYC's Munch Gallery in February, and he recently released his newest video Chrystelle below.
Although I missed the opening of Northern-California photographer Michael Garlington's newest show, Constructed Realities, I was fortunate enough to see the work still up during the Metaphysical fundraiser a couple weeks back at 111 Minna. Metaphysical fundraiser, an auction to benefit Wayne Ernzer. --- The ghoulish photographs in their heavy, hand-made frames are reminiscent of photos from the old west, and the glass crucifixes, complete with fetuses and guns, emphasize the accumulated time within the works themselves. Whether you're looking at the frames, the photos, or both, this show deserves a visit, and a walk through the golden archway Garlington constructed around the front door.
Fecal Face contributor Rachel Ralph (rachel(at)fecalface.com) has been profiling this Oakland based painter as he travels about Japan. In this segment, we feature some photos as he prepared for this show and residency at Spes-LaB in Tokyo which opened last weekend. Arnold will be featured in SFMoMA's Minna Street windows on June 8th.
Last Saturday, here in SF's Mission district, Guerrero Gallery opened two new shows with Philly based Alex Lukas and SF based Richard Colman respectively. Colman's work occupied the project space while Lukas' work and foliage was presented in the main space. Worth getting to if you haven't already.
Just got back to SF after a little trip south to Sayulita, Mexico. After 10 years without a vacation, me and the Mrs. headed south for some mental time off sitting in the sun, swimming and enjoying the watery Mexican beer. Here are some photos as we get back into the swing of things again.
Athens, Greece based designer, architect and artist Dimitris Polychroniadis emailed over more of his work which consists of mixed media, pop-humorous diorama sculptures that make a comment on the harsh realities my country and much of the world is facing at the moment.
FFDG will open a group show with the artists from the famed Skull & Sword Tattoo on Friday, May 17th (6-9pm). Artists: Grime, Henry Lewis, Yutaro, and Lango. Below are a series of videos on Grime for Vice's Tattoo Age produced in 2011. Fascinating look at one of the greatest tattoo artists alive today.
ARYZ (Spain) opened his newest gallery show at Fifty24SF last Friday and, if you live in the Bay Area, you need to go. This dude can obviously paint, and he doesn't need an entire building to show his impecable skill. The show has lots of small works on paper which contrast his highly-defined line work to his hard-edged painted objects. The contrast between the hard and soft was the most striking thing to me about his work, since I had never seen it in person before, and the washes blend with the thick paint seamlessly. The show also contains a larger work on canvas, a huge head suspended in the back of the room, and a big wood sculpture of a wolf figure. This diversity in such a small space was impressive, and those of us that went to the opening even got to meet the man in person. If you didn't make it out this weekend, check it out before May 31st when it closes and these works will be off to some very happy new homes.
Water McBeer is please to announce its latest exhibition "Precious" a solo exhibition by David Bayus (April 6 - May 4, 2013) -- David Bayus born 1982 holds his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. David lives and works in San Francisco and is a founding member of the basement collective. This will be his first exhibition with the world renown Water McBeer Gallery highlighting his most recent achievements with paint and digital media. David Bayus will be exhibiting 5 relatively large-scale mixed media works along with a collaborative object featuring Hungarian sculptor H.R KOONS.
The Shooting Gallery handed over the reins to the Red Truck Gallery (a New Orleans based gallery) which curated their new show, Hard Time Mini Mall and opened the it on Saturday night. This is my favorite show (so far) in the Shooting Gallery's new space and was packed full of art, a mini bar, and cowhide rugs. The Red Truck Gallery chose works with clear craftsmanship and it was easy to see in Ian Berry's denim assemblages and Chris Roberts-Antieau's awesome quilts. The space was completely packed, making it hard to see each piece individually, but this show deserves a second trip anyway. I look forward to spending more time with the chandeliers, automatons, and paintings before the show comes down on May 4th.
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