5/31/07 Hospitality House 22nd Annual Art Auction

Hospitality House's 22nd Annual Art Auction Benefiting the Community Arts Program of Central City Hospitality House, Thursday, May 31, 20076 - 9 PM at the Andrea Schwartz Gallery 525 2nd Street, Honorary Chair: Danielle Steel. An evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres,silent and live auction, and live music. $30 in advance ($40 at the door) http://www.hospitalityhouse.org/07auction.htm#tickets Tickets are also available bycontacting Daniel Hlad at 415-749-2184 or at the door the evening of the event. Click here for a list of participating artists and galleries: http://www.hospitalityhouse.org/07artists.htm

Park Life Store: CWA Clement With Attitude

Clement Street has not had such cool since the "Call Me Ms..." boutique and its naughty greeting cards dominated the scene in the early eighties. New arrival Park Life art and design shop flaunts hipster cool as a gallery space plus boutique featuring art books, Japanese gewgaws and decorative accessories for the home. The book selection includes works published by Park Life business partners Derek Song and Jaime Alexander's other venture, Paper Museum Press.

An early alliance with Headlands for the Arts minted their credibility out of the gate. Former Headlands Director now SFMOMA Deputy Director of Development Blair Winn discovered them while strolling down Clement one afternoon and established their reputation by hosting the launch party for the Headlands 20th Anniversary Limited Edition Prints there.

On view now (April 27th through May 23rd, 2007) is commercial skateboard artist Ian Johnson's drawings and paintings featuring portraits of jazz greats. Ian Johnson was born in Syracuse, NY and currently lives and works in San Francisco. Johnson is the Art director for Western Edition Skateboards. His illustrations have appeared in publications that include Straight No Chaser, Wax Poetics, The San Francisco Chronicle, and SB (Japan) among others.

Ian's pen and ink on paper portraits demonstrate strong draftsmanship but the collectibles are the acrylic on wood panel pieces. The show is dynamically curated in the small space, "graffiti style" in a manner that evokes Barry McGee's collage walls.

In the evening, put your name on the list at Burma Star across the street and browse in the store while you wait for your table to come up. By day, it's stroller friendly for the Inner Richmond Mommy crowd.

This show $200-$1200

Park Life Store, 220 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118, Phone: 415.386.7275, Fax: 415.386.7272, Email: info@parklifestore.com Store Hours: 11AM - 8PM Daily, 11AM - 9PM Saturday

4/25/07 SFMOMA Annual Artists' Warehouse Sale

Gala Reception Wednesday, April 25, 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Music and refreshments, free admission. An annual tradition since 1993, the Artists Warehouse Sale is one of the Bay Area’s most anticipated art events, attended by new and seasoned collectors alike. The five-day sale features paintings, photographs, sculptures, prints, and works on paper at 50 percent off regular retail price. Proceeds benefit the programs of the SFMOMA Artists Gallery, which supports the Museum as well as regional artists.The event begins with a grand opening reception that features complimentary wine and live music, and it closes with an afternoon of live jazz. Throughout the sale, the gallery offers special extended hours. The gallery restocks sale works daily, but visitors are encouraged to attend early for the best selection. The event is free and open to the public. On opening night, a limited number of reserved parking spaces will be offered in the Fort Mason parking lot. Free parking is available outside the gates in the Marina Green.
This year’s sale: April 25 - 29, 2007
Special Sale HoursThursday and Friday, noon - 8:00 p.m.Saturday, noon - 5:30 p.m.Sunday, noon - 4:00 p.m.

4/26/07 ArtSpan Auction

ArtSpan Annual Benefit Art Show and Auction
Thursday, April 26, 2007 California Modern Gallery 1035 Market Street, between 6th and 7th StreetsPark at US Parking (Mission Street between 6th and 7th Streets) To purchase tickets now, visit http://www.eventbrite.com/event/50941367
Bid on more than 140 works by local artists in live and silent auctions. Enjoy desserts, drinks and delectables with a San Francisco flavor and groove to the sounds of DJ Shissler. VIP Ticket Benefits: 6:00-6:30pm (tickets are limited)
Exclusive preview of Artwork with champagne cocktail reception courtesy of Torani / R. Torre & Co, fine wine, and light supper from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.
Art Lecture: "How to Augment your Art Collection," presented by John F. Melvin, Artist, and Risley H. Sams, California Modern Gallery
Reserve parking passes provided for US Parking (Mission Street between 6th and 7th Streets)
Preferred seating for live auction
5% discount on purchase of art (up to $50 per purchase)
Express wrap and checkout General Ticket Benefits: 6:30-9:00pm
Bid paddle and opportunity to grow your art collection
Open Bar
Light hors d'oeuvres Purchase tickets

Chacon, Omar: Not Your 1970's Rainbows

The headliner at Lincart is Omar Chacon, back in the larger, more formal gallery space. His work is beautiful. It is happy, joyful and uplifting. The work is just as engaging at close range as it is from far away. The work is alive with the rhythm of bright colors and texture.

Knowing about Chacon's artistic process makes the viewing experience more rewarding. The acrylic multi colored stripes of paint are first formed on wax paper. After they dry they are glued to the work's surface. Although the primary colors sing with familiarity, the combinations are fresh and new. This is the rainbow of your mid-seventies kindergarten classrooms all grown up.

Best are the linear works whose narrow stripes move in unison like shallow surf at Stinson. The most desirable piece in the show is actually many little works hung together in the front window of the gallery. These small pieces are $1000 each but if you bring home just one by itself it will be lonely. The other prevalent style is multi-colored ovals like eggs with many yolks, reminiscent of crowds of people viewed from above. The third style I can only describe as little explosions layered on top of each other, also rainbowed.

Because Omar's strong practice of art background is combined with a scholarly art historian's thoughtfulness, he is the real deal. Omar graduated with a major in art and a minor in art history from the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. He did his graduate work in painting at the San Francisco Art Institute. He is represented in San Francisco by Charles Linder's Lincart and Greene Contemporary in Sarasota. He showed at Greene Contemporary in New York in January 2007.

This show $1000-$7000

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

4/12/07 "Outsider" art benefit auction for the artist-clients

This annual event and worthy cause features contemporary "Outsider Art" and a marquee of laudably local celebrities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art
Works by adults of all ages with developmental disabilities put their works created in the "Creativity Explored" center up for auction in this annual fundraiser. If you are interested in a funky movement that is high/low concept at the same time then this is for you. Buy a few to tell a story and hang them close together. List prices range $50-$100.
Thursday, April 12, 7PM, 111 Minna Gallery, San Francisco, $50, (415) 863-2108
http://www.creativityexplored.org/news/#000278

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