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  • HACKETT MILL - ARTHAUS - JELLYFISH

    AMPERSAND - SOMARTS - ASPECT

    PARK LIFE - BELLJAR

    04.08.11

    (with assistance from DeWitt Cheng and RWM)



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    Hackett | Mill Art Dealers and Advisors: Raimonds Staprans - Paintings.

    Comment by AB: Raimonds Staprans has been painting and exhibiting for over sixty years. His compositions have always blended abstract and representational, and depending on the time period, tending more towards one or the other. Over the past several decades, his work has evolved into what you might get if you crossed Richard Diebenkorn with Wayne Thiebaud; he borrows generously from both, but makes the upshot his own.

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    Art by Raimonds Staprans at Hackett Mill Art Dealers and Advisors.

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    Raimonds Staprans art.

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    Raimonds Staprans (left) elucidates inquirers.

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    Art by Raimonds Staprans at Hackett Mill Art Dealers and Advisors.

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    Raimonds Staprans painting.

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    Overview - Raimonds Staprans art at Hackett Mill Gallery.

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    ArtHaus Gallery: Kenney Mencher - Renovated Reputations.

    Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: Kenney Mencher mines found imagery for satire, nostalgia and narrative; he uses Rockwellian comic realism (assisted by collage and assemblage) to explore artifice. His new show, Renovated Reputations, comprises a rogue's gallery of several dozen invented characters-- B.B. Gunn, Evan Tually, Hammond Cheese, Luke N. Good, Mabel Syrup, Al A. Monie, Owen D. Bank, Constance Noring, Chastity Beldt, Hans Zoff, Benton and Eva Destruction, Melba and Burt Toast, and even, for fans of old-time radio, Dr. D. Mencher. (Whatever happened to that ebullient Reagan-era hottie, Rosy Scenario?) A newspaper, Renovated Reputations, tells the stories (contributed by roguish volunteer writers) of Bob Frapples, Betty Million, Earl Lee Riser, and Pat O. Butter. Art-history types who are on their game will recognize Jacquie M. Balla's debt to Futurist painter Giacomo Balla. Amélie and Warhol fans may wish to try out the vintage photo booth in the gallery.

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    Art by Kenney Mencher at ArtHaus Gallery (image c/o AB).

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    "Beau Toque's Beauty Contest" - art by Kenney Mencher.

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    Kenney Mencher & his portrait art at ArtHaus Gallery.

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    Kenney Mencher art - "Jacquie M. Balla."

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    "Owen D. Bank" art by Kenney Mencher.

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    Detail from "Izzy Anartiste" - art by Kenney Mencher.

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    Kenney Mencher art at ArtHaus Gallery (image c/o AB).

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    Portrait art by Kenney Mencher closer (image c/o AB).

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    Relative density (plus a lotta hats) - art by Kenney Mencher.

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    Jellyfish Gallery: Bunnie Reiss - Elle a eu beaucoup de chance (She had a lot of luck).

    Review by RWM: Get caught up here in the old time rustic thrifty world. There are all sorts of references to the rural and the home grown. Also included among the assembled are various animals of the world. Some are portrayed as pets, even though they do not seem to fit. Those who experience this art might find comfort in this exploration of the old days.

    Comment by AB: Bunnie Reiss tells me her homey funk-a-rama throwback installation is about her experiences living in France vs San Francisco. "Does one residence hold sway over the other?" I ask. Nope. It's a tie.

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    Bunnie Reiss and her installation art.

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    Art & installation by Bunnie Reiss at Jellyfish Gallery.

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    Bunnie Reiss art & installation.

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    Installation art by Bunnie Reiss at Jellyfish Gallery.

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    Ampersand International Arts: Tara Foley - The Dripstone Sings to the Choir; Alex Clausen - Flood. Curated by Tracy Wheeler.

    Comment by AB: Cryptically delicious watercolor/drawing/collage works by Tara Foley gift viewers with no shortage of intricacies to immerse themselves in. A delicate wood frame and fabric sculpture headlines Alex Clausen's foray in the front gallery. And outside, marvel at a mural spanning the length of the building, courtesy of Chip Thomas, aka Dr. T.

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    Tara Foley art at Ampersand International Arts.

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    Art by Tara Foley closer.

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    Pinkie cam detail of art by Tara Foley in above image.

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    Tara Foley art at Ampersand International Arts.

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    Sculpture installation art by Alex Clausen.

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    Outdoor wheat paste mural by Chip Thomas, aka Dr. T.

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    Piano bike serenade c/o St. Frankenstein.

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    SOMArts Gallery: Spread - California Conceptualism Then and Now. Curated by OFF Space.

    Artists: Paul Kos, Tony Labat, George Legrady, Laetitia Sonami, Julien Berthier, Guy Overfelt, Angus Forbes, Jaqueline Gordon, Sharon Grace, Carissa Potter.

    Comment by AB: Lively and entertaining exhibit surveys conceptual and new media art in California, classic as well as contemporary. Highlights include toilet plunger headphones, a slice of a billboard vandalized in the name of art, bocce from another planet, oversized inflatable marshmallow sculptures, and more. Wanna help caption the art? Please email alanb@artbusiness.com

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    Les Boules de Jacques - art/installation by Paul Kos.

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    Artist Paul Kos at SOMArts California Conceptualism Then and Now.

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    Instructions for how to build art in above image.

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    Aesthetic vandalism = artified billboard.

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    Excised section of artified billboard.

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    Plunger headphones for your listening pleasure.

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    Robert Berman demonstrates correct use of plunger headphones.

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    Sound sculpture - pedestals with embedded speakers.

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    Video art - "Balls to the Wall" by Sharon Grace.

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    Oversized inflatable art - "Up In Smoke" by Guy Overfelt.

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    Aspect Art Gallery: Spring 2011 Artists' Reception and Show.

    Artists: Stirling Elmendorf, Patrushka, Carl Couchman, Tiffany Chavez, Jeff Neugebauer, Sheela Singla, Lon Richter, Hooshang Yashar, Kelsey Harrison, Brent Bushnell.

    Review and images by DeWitt Cheng: This gallery/framing store group show features eleven, including curator and proprietor Lon Richter, all working in a variety of media with various themes and approaches. If pluralism is the esthetic, then maximalism is the organizing principle-salon-style hanging in the old, cheek-by-jowl nineteenth-century mode. Time constraints make more than a quick look impossible, but the show is up for a nice long two-months.

    Comment by RWM: Nice collection and variety in this group show. There is something here for everybody to be impressed by.

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    Gallery overlooking Polkstrasse.

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    Art by Yashar.

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    Back room.

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    Art by Patrushka.

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    The ascent to Parnassus (image c/o AB).

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    Brent Bushnell and his art (image c/o AB).

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    Strange but true art at Aspect Gallery.

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    Park Life: Living Room. Curated by Joey Piziali and Vanessa Blaikie of Romer Young Gallery.

    Artists: Deric Carner, Amanda Curreri, Liam Everett, Pablo Guardiola, Cliff Hengst, Scott Hewicker, James Sterling Pitt, Susan O'Malley, Josh Pieper, Josh Podoll, Lucy Pullen, Gwenael Rattke, Erik Scollon, Chad Stayrook, Kirk Stoller, Dan Tierney, Alex Zecca.

    Comment by AB: Romer Young Gallery co-owners, Joey Piziali and Vanessa Blaikie, transport their aesthetic across town to see how it plays on Clement.

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    Art c/o Romer Young Gallery at Park Life.

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    Art c/o Romer Young Gallery at Park Life.

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    Schematic announcement for Living Room group show at Park Life.

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    Attendance figures - Living Room group art show at Park Life.

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    Gallery BellJar: Good Morning, Brain - Adam Fiveonehundred.

    Review by RWM, image c/o Adam Fiveonehundred: Quite the media circus with all manner of creatures on the wall, some of which are human. Nice stylizations and odd visages as well. The works are vital, varied and stylized.

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    Art by Adam Fiveonehundred at Gallery BellJar.

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