Guerrero Gallery opened another great show with their June Group Show this last Saturday night. With work from Frohawk Two Feathers (a personal favorite), Ryan Travis Christian, Alejandro Diaz-Ayala and many others, the upbeat show brought a breath of fresh air in tune with the start of summer.

Justin Hager also occupied the project space, showing his hilarious and simple paintings with one liners that just about anyone could appreciate. People seemed to be laughing, looking at work, and really enjoying themselves, a positive sign of the summer months to come.

Ryan Travis Christian, Wheeze In, Wheeze Out, 2013, Graphite on paper, 22" x 30".

Terry Powers, Untitled 3, 2012, Oil, spray paint, and wall texture, 48" x 60".

Rye Purvis

Justin Hager, Buffalo Bill Cosby, 2013, Acrylic and pen on canvas, 12" x 12".

SAN FRANCISCO --- I was fortunate to beat the crowds to the openings of Greg Gossel's (Minneapolis, MN) Head Over Heels and David Marc Grant's (SF) My Magic Will Bring them Back last Saturday night at White Walls, allowing me to actually see and get photos of the work during the opening.

Like most of the other visitors, it was a quick trip through Head Over Heels, as the pieces all look almost exactly the same, and felt like contrived graffiti in the pristine space. However, entering My Magic Will Bring Them Back, visitors entered an environment, and spent more time with the work. Each piece contains immense detail and the installation helped to tie it all together and created a fun world for visitors to interact with it. Grant was also there talking with visitors, enhancing the inviting atmosphere of the small project space and the crowd seemed to respond by gathering in the small room, even though it was a tight squeeze. The show definitely deserves a visit, and I hope next month, there will be something other than Gossel's hot chicks in the main gallery of the space.

Greg Gossel, Head Over Heels 1, Mixed-media on Canvas, 48x72", Photo in piece by Bryan Adams

Greg Gossel, Cheap Sunglasses, Mixed-media on Canvas, 72x48", Photo in piece by Neave Bozorgi

David Marc Grant

David Marc Grant, Fictitious Structure #14, Acrylic on panel, 20 x 16"

SAN FRANCISCO --- Local painter Ian Kimmerly opened his newest show Continuous Wave at Dolby Chadwick on Thursday night, and these are some of the best paintings I've seen in a while.

The blurry crowds which occupy the deepest space within the painting look like they were printed, rather than painted, onto the canvas, but upon closer inspection, I found that the entire work was paint. Through abstract figures and brushstrokes, accompanied by very precise swatches of color, his work allows viewers to comprehend its construction while also losing themselves within it. It took everything in me not to touch the paintings, as texture of them is unbearably alluring, but I was very satisfied with just looking as well. Although you'll probably miss the sophisticated crowd who was present at the opening, this show is definitely worth a visit before it closes on July 6th.

Spoke Art opened The Black Robe on Thursday night, with the work of Barron Storey, Mike Dringenberg and Keita Morimoto, and was curated by Eidolon Fine Arts.

Each artist made work in response to the thousand year-old poetry of Ono No Komachi, a female poet who worked with concepts of truth, longing, lust, and transience. The poems were displayed above each work, and although they were hard to read, provided a sense of context to the show. Instead of grouping each artists’ work together, they were interspersed with one another throughout the gallery, which solidified the conceptual basis for the show. The diversity of the works, which range from ink to graphite to dye and watercolor was refreshing and the medium specificity of each allowed for clear delineation as to which artist created what.

Keita Morimoto, Isolation, Acrylic and oil on panel

Barron Storey, The Question, Scratchboard, acrlyic, ink, acetate, archival print on canvas

Keita Morimoto, The Autumn, Oil on canvas

Wendell McShine (lives in Mexico City, from Trinidad) opened his newest show, Raccoon's Law, at Fifty24SF on Saturday night. ARYZ was a tough act to follow, but McShine held his own in the space.

With a combination of a mural, a video, and both drawings and mixed-media works on paper, the diversity of this solo show was impressive. The Raccoon drawings were especially attractive as the way he executed them looked like they actually had fur coming off the page, and you can only imagine how soft it would be to touch. I was lucky to see his work in person through this show, and I hope to encounter more in the future.

Henry Gunderson emailed over some photos from his recent group show with Andrew Luck, Jordan Bogash, and Mario Ayala "Out The Window" which ran at the Los Angeles based Prohibition Gallery.

Mario Ayala and his work... and his dog.

Henry Gunderson beside his work.

Work by Henry Gunderson

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. -Rachel Ralph (rachel(at)fecalface.com

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.

Skull & Sword
Artists from the world famous tattoo shop Skull & Sword featuring works by Grime, Henry Lewis, Yutaro, and Lango.
May 17 - June 8, 2013
@FFDG, 2277 Mission St. @19th

Die by the Sword
Lango
gouache, acrylic, spray paint on paper, framed
22" x 30"
inquires: info(at)ffdg.net

Works by Lango

Lifetime or Moment
Grime
gold leaf, multimedia on panel
62" x 40" x 26"
inquires: info(at)ffdg.net

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.

The DIY shelving and sculptures balance the highly-skilled execution of his drawings and paintings and the show really has something for everyone. There was a small crowd when I stopped by early in the evening, but it was a great opportunity to actually see the detailed work and read the text on some of them. I have a feeling it got busier after the sun went down completely, and I hope that people will continue to stop by before the show closes on June 8th.

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.

Work by Northern-California photographer Michael Garlington

Work by Alex Kopps as part of the Metaphysical fundraiser.

Work for the Metaphysical fundraiser which went down at 111 Minna a couple weeks back.

View all the photos

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.

Richard Colman

Alex Lukas

Alex Lukas

Alex Lukas

Kristin Bauer, a regular contributor to Fecal Face, and her husband Emmett Potter recently held the 2 person show Mixed Messages in Pheonix, AZ at Modified Arts. Besides producing the works you see here, Kristin also interviews people like Paul Wackers.

Kristin Bauer

Kristin Bauer

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.

Check our wonderful interview with gallery owner Water McBeer

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.

Chris Roberts-Antieau, The Healing, Appliqué fabric with hand-painted frame, 28"x51"

Artist Ian Berry and his work

Ian Berry, New York News Stand (Detail), Denim on denim, 6.5’x10’

Photos from the opening of Going Nowhere featuring works by San Francisco based artists Alex Ziv & Mario Ayala which runs through May 4th at FFDG.

Looking at work by Mario Ayala

Alex Ziv (right) with friends

Photo of Alex Ziv's work.

Work by Mario Alaya

Work by Alex Ziv

Looking at work by Alex Ziv

San Francisco based artists Raphael Villet and Sean Vranizan are currently showing Just the Two of Us at Adobe Books through April 21. Here are some photos from the opening and works.

Raphael Villet and Sean Vranizan are two San Francisco artists whose lives have fatefully intertwined throughout the years. They come together for this show exhibiting entirely new work, with new mediums, and shared vibes. Raphael's work is tied together under an ongoing series which focuses on physical body movement, its direction, and what it expresses. He is showing photographs and for the first time: video and paintings. Sean's work uses black and white as a unifier between his paintings and photographs, bringing together his unique typography with various portraits of California landscape.

Out front Adobe Books on 16th St in the Mission

Two twin brothers from Brooklyn, Skewville brought the fun to their opening at White Walls last Saturday night with their new show, Amusement. After all, you can't take a show that starts with a sign reading "Sucks either Way" too seriously. Besides the simplistic yet detailed paintings, visitors got to ride on a bike-powered merry-go-round and throw bean bags at bottles like a carnival game. Even the works made of found materials, like the Battleship boombox and the suitcase made of tin lunch pails, brought a sense of humor to the night. After seeing the work in the back of the gallery, which was much more crowded, Skewville provided a light-hearted atmosphere in which viewers could drink beer, play games, and see some really great artworks.

Works by Mark Warren Jacques in the Project Room

During their 10th anniversary celebration, White Walls gave one of their smaller back project rooms to Max (RIPO) Rippon (Barcelona, Spain) for his new show, Cut From the Chase.

The subtle word play between the written letters and the cut letters on which they sit is complex and inviting, and the wastebasket with paper shreds was a great touch. This room was a nice little sanctuary during the chaos of the opening and would probably be an even better experience any time between now and when the show closes on April 6th.