Getting out of the studio in search of art
I try to take at least a day a month to get out of the studio and see other art. It’s inspiring, and I often return to the studio with new ideas or solutions for work that I am in process with. For months now, I have been trying to plan a weekday gallery walk in San Francisco’s SOMA district. Finally, I made it happen, and had a very enjoyable art date with myself in the process.
Taking the train to San Francisco is easy, and with increasing gas prices and parking fees, it makes a lot of sense. There are many galleries within a walking distance of the Caltrains station, so I set off on foot to explore.
First stop: Cain Schulte Contemporary Art (Formerly MMGaleries) at 101 Townsend Street, Suite 207. Owners Marina Cain and Kit Schulte seek to champion emerging contemporary artists working in a range of media with a focus on painting. Henry Jackson was exhibiting moody black and white abstract/figurative mixed media works on the walls, and on the floor were an assortment of encaustic work being staged for the next show.
Next I walked up 2nd Street to find number 525 and Andrea Schwartz Gallery. The gallery sitter was the silent type, so I looked around as if I had the place to myself. Tina Vietmeier was showing large format mixed media on wax panels. With a subdued color palette of white and blue, embellished with pencil drawings of doves and chandeliers I felt like I was floating in an altered heaven of sorts.
Afterwards, I headed down to 445 Bryant Street to stop into Aftermodern to see the Pink Worlds exhibit featuring Dana Carlson and Fawn Gehweiler. Carlson was showing mixed media work, evoking landscapes, that featured embroidery, applique, beadwork and paint on satin canvas. Gehweiler was showing anime like portraits of cartoon girls in bright pink and white, on black canvas surrounded by embellished frames. Viewing the show, one couldn’t help but feel a sort of youthful energy pulsing from the work.
Then on to Gallery 16 at 501 Third Street. In this airy building Griff Williams runs both Urban Digital Color and Gallery 16. Leigh Wells was showing new drawings on paper of tangled forms and smaller historical artwork that she alters with paint and collage. Finally, I had a chance to see large works on paper. The work was good for me to see, as I have been exploring new work based on scribbles, lines and tangled intersections myself.
After a lovely lunch with my brother at Samovar Tea Lounge on their outdoor patio in Yerba Buena Gardens, I walked over to 430 Clementia Street to see two galleries there.
Braunstein/Quay is always a treat, and to be greeted personally by Ruth Braunstein herself was welcoming indeed (by the way, she was the first to greet me today!) There were two artists on exhibit, Aaron Peterson and Michael McConnell. Peterson presented bold, colorful abstract paintings on aluminum that made me think about an outerspace rave party. With planetary forms spinning and disc like shapes hovering across the canvases, I felt far away from planet earth. McConnell’s drawings and assemblages reflects child-like imagery contrasted against a sophisticated play on composition and meaning. I felt that his stuffed animal assemblages reflected both innocence and the darker sides of humanity.
At the same address (430 Clementia) I stopped into Hosfelt Gallery where the group show Summer Reading was on exhibit. There was a wide range of work shown as 12 artists were responding each to their personal interpretations of books they had read. Of these, I found Su Blackwell’s meticulously crafted light boxes inspired by The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnet most sensitive and thoughtful. In his work I Have Never Read The Bible, Jim Campbell stored the ASCII text of the Bible and his voice whispering the letters of the alphabet and combined them together to create a representation of him reading the Bible, one letter at a time. I couldn’t run away fast enough to escape the creepy sound echoing through the gallery.
A enjoyable walk from Clementia back to 4th and Townsend had me at the Caltrains station in time for the 4:19 train headed south. I was home in time for dinner and delivery of art with two wonderful collectors of mine. A great day, indeed!
Do you have art dates with yourself? Where do you go? What do you enjoy seeing? Leave your comments here.
Tags: Art, Exhibits, Galleries, San Francisco, SOMA, South of Market
July 1st, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Lyn
I appreciate the breadth of topics related to art that you cover in your blog. You clearly have an appetite for all things artistic and seem to explore types of art, traditional and modern, with wide ranging vision.
I’ve tried to make conscious efforts to have “artist dates” in the past, with mixed success at best. Fortunately, since my wife is a full time artist and all my clients are artists of some sort, I pretty routinely am exposed to art. But doing something just to soak up a new art experience is a very beneficial exercise. I know when I am able to do it, I usually feel well rewarded.
Your city trip sounds fun - I’m going to have to get down there and make that circuit again myself soon.