Gonzales, Matt: Sexy Former Supe Debuts At Lincart

What thinking woman doesn't find a cultured Stanford Law grad who gave years of his life to making the city a better place and cares about the environment attractive? Matt Gonzalez Esq. makes his gallery debut at Lincart, on view April 20th- June 2nd. Opening reception for Gonzalez and Omar Chacon: Thursday, April 19th, 6 to 9pm.

No dispute, Gonzalez's collages are interesting because of who he is. The local celebrity angle is undeniably fun. It's also fun to visit Charles Linder's Lincart, one of the more accessible galleries in town. His is a warm, inviting place that is caj and established. Be sure to stop in at Zuni across the alley afterwards for a balsamic bloody mary. Lincart open Tuesday-Saturday, 12 to 6 pm and by appointment. 1632 C Market Street, San Francisco (415) 503-1981 http://www.lincart.com/

From Lincart's publicity materials: "Matt Gonzalez is best known as a local green party activist, having served terms as the president of the San Francisco board of supervisors and by nearly achieving victory in the last mayoral election. As a long time supporter of the local art community, he hosted numerous art events while in office at city hall, and has written and published essays about beat era artists such as Jack Hirschman and Jack Micheline. He has recently been outed as an accomplished artist himself and we are thrilled to be exhibiting his collages which he crafts from material he finds while walking in the city"

In reviewing some 22 works posted on the Lincart website, my favorite are the ones that tell a story from the found text. The best piece is "Kitchens & Theatres," ticket stubs combined with a valet claim check, collapsed matchbooks, a benefit program and a hint of a social security number. If I owned this I would be tempted to peel off the decoupage and figure out exactly what Matt was up to that night. The narrative pieces that are incomplete stories are less satisfying.

The other main theme in the collection is abstract geometrics. The ones with saturated color such as "Building Folding Tragic Sails," a reassembled turq corrugated cardboard puzzle has nice color and balance. Whimsical titles coupled with bold signature and date scribbles are strong elements that enhance the compositions, but cannot carry them.

I am looking forward to seeing how Gonzalez's work evolves after this modest debut.

This show $600-$800