Has it been a week since I embarked on this gallery hoppin’ journey? Yes. Yes it has. Sheesh. Sorry I’m not the fastest blogger. This entry is about my adventures hoppin’ through the galleries in downtown SF along Geary St. with none other than my fab cousin Ryan (who is also a fine artist!). It was neat having him around to point out artwork made by his friends or professors in these beautiful galleries (with marble elevators… “The epitome of fance.” as Siddiq might describe them).

Ed Moses in the Brian Gross Fine Art Gallery

This was probably my favorite piece that we saw that day. I love lace, antiques and floral wallpaper and this is a nice visual merge of those three elements. Too bad I don’t have an extra $42,000 laying around.

Tracey Snelling’s Work in the Rena Bransten Gallery

While the above lace piece was my favorite of the day, this was probably my favorite show. Although the pieces were quirky and reflections of low-end everyday shops/gas stations/motels, the lady at the front desk was incredibly rigid: no smiles, very monosyllabic, very laaaaame. I mean, come on. You’re in a gallery surrounded by donuts, dollar store kitsch and mini Wal-Marts – have a sense of humor.

Tracey Snelling’s Work in the Rena Bransten Gallery

Take a close look at the motel windows! Yes, that IS Vince Vaughn in Swingers. Yeow yeow.

Tracey Snelling’s Work in the Rena Bransten Gallery

Fun “gift shop” in the middle of the gallery filled with random toys and knick knacks.

Katy Brannan’s Work in the Fraenkel Gallery

I’m a pretty big John Waters fan, and amongst the wall covered with these framed illustrations I totally spotted Divine from across the room and immediately ran over to take a picture.

Katy Brannan’s Work in the Fraenkel Gallery

The same thing happened with this little gal. So, if you find yourself in Union Square feeling bombarded by Aldo and Gap advertisments, hop over to Geary St. and check out the galleries. They seem quite intimidating at first, but art doesn’t exist solely to be purchased. It exists for so many other reasons as well: to explore new ideas, to have a visual escape from the everyday, to inspire us, to laugh, or, heck, maybe even to intimidate us. Altogether this was a fun experience. Thanks, Ryan for being my Geary gallery guide!

Aside from the well designed/organized environment, I shall explain why we left pretty early:

1. I’m old, and need my beauty sleep. I overheard someone from the Jakes say to some guy “We’re going on at 9:30,” to which I said to myself “Oh hell no, it’s Tuesday, that’s late.“
2. I felt like I was in an episode of Laguna Beach. I was surrounded by blonde, tanned, and Hurley-clad teens and started getting flashbacks of awkward high school moments. To add to this, these kids were obnoxious. I’m all for young people coming out to support local artists/musicians, but I was sleepy and not having it.
3. There was a teen couple grinding next to me… like… really? Control your hormones, this is not the Boogie, or whatever club the kids are going to these days.
4. The opening band Dolphin City was projecting video onto the wall behind them. That’s cool. I can appreciate that. Except for when the video is of a woman having intercourse, and the camera is focused on her face the whole time. That was a little disturbing and distracting. I had to situate myself so this tall guy’s head could block the sight of her face.

And there you have it.  Oh! But I did get my breakfast burrito, and BELIEVE THE HYPE. It was excellent.

In other news, a few weeks ago I googled “Project Runway” to see if Lifetime has updated it’s site with new contestant information for the Season 6 premiere on August 20th. To my dismay, they had not. A Lifetime site didn’t even show up in the search results (I looked through page 5), until today. Their SEO department needs to get on top of optimizing Project Runway… as of today, the Lifetime site shows up on the 3rd page of the google results. No bueno, Lifetime. BravoTV still comes up at the number one spot.  Blogging Project Runway wrote a nice memo a month ago regarding some issues that they had, which is a good read, and they make some excellent points. I know, as a HUGE fan of the show, I like to read some show teasers before the new season airs. So far, they don’t have much to offer. Although, their site is nice to look at…

AND I’m excited about Models of the Runway, a show that will air at 11pm right after our beloved PR, giving the viewers a glimpse into the world of the PR models. Unfortunately, there is no link where I can read more about this on their site. Lame! I guess I will just have to be patient. Hopefully Lifetime understands how important this show is to its fans and will be either equally or more awesome than Bravo. Only time will tell…

The Graphic Imperative: International Posters for Peace, Social Justice & the Environment, 1965-2005

Where?
Cal State Los Angeles
Luckman Gallery
5151 State University Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90032-8116
(323) 343-6604

When?
October 27-December 15, 2007
Gallery Hours: Mon-Thurs. and Sat. 12-5pm

How much?
FREE, except for the dollar that you’ll pay for parking… which is a bargain for parking in LA.

I STILL don’t get it.
What initially drew me to this exhibit? Two words: Guerilla Girls! I love seeing their pieces at different exhibits. They’re so inspiring, I would never pass up an opportunity to experience their work up close. The aura of powerful women is always palpable. I know their pieces are posters, and it’s not exactly the same as viewing a painting, because it’s not one of a kind… but I think that’s what’s so great about this exhibit, and about the graphic arts in general. Graphic art, for me, has so much cultural influence and resonates loudly irregardless of which form it takes; whether it’s a billboard, graffiti, a sticker, or in this case, a poster. It’s a piece of art that is utilized in the mainstream of everyday and in turn may be discussed outside of the political arena, making these issues everyone’s problem instead of just the government’s. It’s kind of sneaky if you think about it. We are advertising a social movement like we’re advertising a consumer good. If you capture someone’s attention, the product becomes more popular, and then more people will jump on the bandwagon. Well, that’s in the utopia for social movements in my mind, but I guess in the real world it’s a little more difficult.

The Graphic Imperative exhibits 111 posters that have served to create awareness of social issues or injustices that existed, and in turn created a discourse to try to make change happen. The exhibit includes posters from the past 40 years; four decades that were critical to many issues such as unfair labor, racism, violence against women, AIDS, the environment, and many more.

The Luckman Art Gallery at CSLA is pretty small space, but an average size for a University art gallery. Although the exhibit is small its message is anything but.

Where?
6767 Bright Ave.
Whittier, CA 90601
562.696.9493
When?
August 11 – September 1, 2007
Gallery Hours: Tues.-Sat. 11:30am-9pm
How much?
FREE
I STILL don’t get it.
This show focuses on the pieces of four artists from the California College of Arts and Crafts: Ryan Martin, Nohemi Espinoza, Ramiro Hernandez, and Mick Farrell. Each with his/her unique perspective and concentration, this show exhibits merely a peak at the inner psyches of these distinct talents. From the abstract layered compositions Hernandez presents and explains to be reminiscent of his childhood to the almost surreal perfection of Martin’s portraits which exude a type of nostalgia for the beauty of innocence. Espinoza’s mixed media works express the juxtaposition of naivete and perversion while Farrell’s ink renderings add a dark humor which he explains are influenced by a mixture of found objects such as “a yearbook from the 1970s.”

Overall this was a really fun show to see. The Bluebird Art House is quaint and intimate, which makes for a great experience. The artists were all great to talk to, and my Aunt and I had fun arguing whether the abstract shape in one of Espinoza’s pieces was a pelvis or intestines. Even though the space was so small, I ended up sticking around for a couple of hours (4 total). The people were great, the art was great, and the DJ was great.

So, my camera ran out of battery basically right when I got there so I was only able to take one picture:

Yup. That’s the DJ. P Looks like you’ll have to go to The Bluebird Art House yourself if you want to see any art. But I must say, the DJ was pretty amazing. Never have I heard a DJ go from playing the Fugees to retro Indian music to Salsa. Talk about a treat for the ears. All in all the evening proved to be an amazing one and absolutely inspirational to the fans of art (–> Me.)