For the Birds

Gallery Artist Sharon Beals' gorgeous photographs of nests offer a new window onto the life and beauty of birds. Drawn from the collections of the California Academy of Sciences, the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at UC Berkeley, and the Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology, these birds' nests offer insight into the intricate detail wrought by nature's winged architects. These lovely images of nests and eggs are set against rich black backgrounds.

Wild Egg Box, 2009, Pigment print on etching paper
32 x 32 inches, Edition 7/25, $2,200

Nest with Soft Leaves, 2007, Pigment print on etching paper
32 x 32 inches, Edition 5/25, $2,200

Swainson's Thrush, 2009, Pigment print on etching paper
32 x 32 inches, Edition 5/25, $2,200

Telling Tales

To tell a story, to describe an action, to create memorable characters and recall events is for some painters one of the fundamental tasks to which the artistic imagination addresses itself. At the Artists Gallery we have three painters who use narrative painting to explore notions of hope, absurdity, and personal history.



Claire B. Cotts, Dia de los Muertos, 2008
Acrylic on canvas over panel,
48x36 inches, $4,200



Claire B. Cotts, The Nest, 2007
Acrylic on panel
16x12 inches, $1,500

Claire B. Cotts:
My paintings are personal narratives, fragments of stories exploring ideas about faith, relationship,vulnerability and hope.

Inez Storer, I Go where I Choose, 2003
Oil, collage on canvas, 48 x 60 inches
$7,500

Inez Storer, Foreigners, 2009
Oil on panel, 48 x 36 inches
$10,000

Inez Storer:
My work usually has an aspect of implied history, both through the use of the figure as well as objects that are a part of my "home" collections. The figures have a tendency to be slightly off balance, or passing from one reality to another. The absurd is of great interest, usually through the use of unconscious motivations. The figures can fill the landscape, either in a psychic way or in ways that are above gravity-pulled orientations.  There is oftentimes an attempt at an unrealized form of danger, close, in fact, to the real world...an emotional, sometimes physical precariousness. It seems to be a way of seeking clarity and identity through a parallel of sense of isolation .

Heather Wilcoxon, Knock Knock, 2001
Mixed/Media, 54 x 46 inches
$4,200

Heather Wilcoxon, Ring Master, 2007
Oil on panel, 24 x 24 inches, $2,500

Heather Wilcoxon:
I see the world as a dangerous place. However, I am seasoned enough to see the absurdity of it all. My cartoon characters represent both the comedy and tragedy of humanity. In their childlike iconography, they embody a sense of innocent playfulness, yet in their monstrous rendering a dark humor is reflected. This dichotomy creates an interesting tension. In my paintings I invite the viewer in with nice colors and pretty surfaces. But if you look closer, the bite is there.

Q & A with Artist Kim Frohsin

Frohsin’s work is on exhibit at Caffe Museo through March 15.

San Francisco artist Kim Frohsin exhibits new work that employs collage, paint, colored pencil, discarded paper cups, and other mixed media. In the series, which the artist sometimes refers to as Cokework, both the red color associated with Coca-Cola and the distinct shape of the original fluted glass bottle serve as unifying elements throughout. Some pieces present a female face with eyes closed, rendered as a high-contrast positive likeness reminiscent of the mid-nineteenth-century life and death masks. Other work presents the curvaceous bottle as a motif that can be rendered in any color or pattern and remains utterly recognizable. Frohsin, originally from Atlanta, relishes the autobiographical possibilities (including images of her hometown’s dominant brand) in her work. “There is a level of literal and metaphorical self-reflection at play in the self portraits and the mix with the collaged icon of Coke - a meld of identity of a face and a place,” she said.

We sat down with her over an iced cold Coke and talked about art, city life and our mutual affection for Rufus Wainwright.

Coke Portrait: Neon, 2010, Acrylic, collage on board,
10 x 10 inches, $3,200

Q. Kim Frohsin, it is always nice to see you. This new work is really exciting. Can you describe your process of creating a collage with discarded material, i.e., paper Coke cups that are thrown away in your SF neighborhood?

Making these collages was exciting: a new, innovative way of creating self-portraits at first. Then this became a natural way for me to make larger format works. These works became about something larger than myself, Coca-Cola's iconic force and symbolism in the world. 

Using discards for me in collage is not something new; I have done this in various bodies of work for over 20 years. In spring 2009, on my daily walk from home to the studio, in the gutter I saw a flattened, dirty Coke cup – it was so beat up, it already had a history.  At that time, it looked as distressed as I felt as an artist. I recall noting, “distressed art for distressed artists” on a piece of scrap of paper. I identified with that object.
I have found material before that later became a part of my artwork: paper airplanes, the red dirt from Maui, rocks from certain places, pinecones, and playing cards.

Q. What do you make of this trend where commercially printed post consumer waste finds its way into new art?

It seems that many artists have used printed post- consumer products. I think of Cubist collages, Dada, Pop Art, Joseph Cornell’s boxes, Sigmar Polke, to name of few. San Francisco based artist Mark Faigenbaum utilizes recycled paper/refuse in his work. I never tire of his resourcefulness.

The other more recent use of recycled paper/refuse seems a part of the green movement – making fine art from society's trash uses energy with wit, wisdom, resourcefulness and a conscience.

Coke and Popcorn and Circus Diamond , 2010
Acrylic, collage on board , 20 x 20 inches,
$5,000

Q. Was it a coincidence that you arrived at Coke bottles and Coca-Cola red for this series and you happened to have grown up in Atlanta, GA where Coke is headquartered?

I have always favored red in my art; in the 1990s I had an ongoing motif of red & white stripes in my work. I even conceived of and began work on a show, all based on the color red. Of course, having been born in Atlanta, for me Coke's iconic red and the calligraphic signature font are embedded in my mind and heart. 
I have not felt a desire or need to paint myself in any conventional way. In short, the cut-out paper cup Coke bottles became the backdrop for a self portrait, eyes closed, with a winter cap.  I used this image as an overlay to the accumulated Coke cups.

After months of collecting them, I finally found a raison-d'être, by incorporating them into a self portrait. I liked how kismet-ically the groundwork of Atlanta happened to land under my face – my birthplace's #1 brand meshing with my identity. Like a diary making itself happen visually.

Q. Successful brands like Coke occupy iconic status which can be hard for an artist to re-contextualize but I feel you have, especially with the juxtaposition of the faces. Can you say more about the role the faces play in the body of work?
I never had a bigger agenda with the Coke icon. This work stemmed from that simple gesture of picking up that beat-up red and white cup, because somehow it held a bit of power to me.  

Only later when these collages began to grow in number did the idea hit me that this is also about Coca-Cola. The brand registers positively to a certain collective consciousness for people over the decades. I mean emotionally and via association of the times and marketing.

This lead me to research life and death masks from ancient times to the 1930s and Dillinger's infamous death mask story. People pointed out this use of a worldwide brand name and corporate identity, as I was meshing it into my own art – the individual's world melding with a commercial giant.

Q. I think we talked about you being a fan of Rufus Wainwright. His song “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” comes to mind in relation to the Cokework – kind of a confession about things we take pleasure in consuming but wouldn’t boast about. Do you have a playlist of your favorites?

Yes! Of all songs of all the music in the world! There surely are parallels between my art and his music. I adore Rufus. I agree the lyrics to that particular song (from his 2001 album, Poses) can apply in a way to this series. That song is a smart, bright, a rather dark confessional of sorts, wherein Wainwright bears his shortcomings, addictions, fears, fragility and sense of self. I feel I am also revealing a similar level of being in this work.  

I strive in my way to expose and explore this multi-faceted story of being alive and of the world, my rapport with the other. I submit the viewer to such elements as hope, regret, mortality, joy, sorrow, passion, nostalgia.  His (Wainwright‘s) titles can be cryptic and yet also thematically anonymous and universal. Like a song's title, my Cokeworks are entitled d'après, pieces of myself I share with the audience. 

In the studio I enjoy audio books and NPR. This last year, I have listened to a lot of Patti Smith, Cat Stevens' classics, Joni Mitchell and Craig Armstrong.

Best and the Brightest

At the Gallery clients occasionally come in looking for artwork that not only they will like, but artwork that will engage their children as well. Sometimes they bring their children with them to Fort Mason and here are a few recent favorites picked by some of our youngest connoisseurs.



Pat Doherty, Gelato, 2010
Oil on canvas, 16 x 20 inches, $950




Gwen Manfrin, Gasp, 2010, Acrylic and colored pencil on panel,
36 x 36 inches, $2,800




Hifumi Ogawa, Why Do Birds?, 2006
Mixed Media on panel, 8 x 8 inches, $750




Hifumi Ogawa, Godzilla's White Christmas, 1997
Mixed media on panel, 7 x 6 inches, $500




David Starfas, The Guest, 2008
Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, $5,000



Video of the Making of a Painting

Gallery Artist John Yoyogi Fortes talks about his painting, Immaculate Rendition in his studio on Mare Island in Vallejo, CA. Follow the progress of the painting from beginning to end.

Black and White and Red All Over

Anthropologie Sofa with Artists Gallery artwork

Artwork (left to right):
Stephanie Dennis, Pirate Ship, 2006, Charcoal on paper, 29x27 inches, $950
Alan Ostreicher, 460-11, 2000, Toned Silver Print, 16 x 20 inches, Edition 3/35, $350
Alan Ostreicher, 590-12, 2002, Toned Silver Print, 16 x 20 inches, Edition 1/35, $350 

How fun is this room! A grid of black and white photography and a charcoal drawing over a high impact sofa makes for a statement.

SPARK Segment on Katherine Westerhout



Kings Park Building 93-III, 2004,
Archival pigment print , 30 x 40 inches,
Edition of 10, $3,500

 Katherine Westerhout’s photographs capture the psychological resonance of long-abandoned industrial, institutional, and ecclesiastical spaces. Westerhout works with the camera in four- to six-hour sessions to produce one or two carefully chosen color images. Using only available light, she creates large-scale works depicting uninhabited spaces that hold visual clues of past lives.

Katherine was featured in a KQED Spark segment. See the segment to find out more about her work.

Katherine's work will be exhibited in the gallery March 10 - April 21, 2011 at Fort Mason.
Please join us for an opening reception: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

A Perennial Quest

An Interview with Tom Bolles

Artists Gallery: I like this pairing you with a photographer, especially one that works with the idea of light the way Katherine Westerhout does. It seems to me that all of the work you’ve done (the fins are lit, the resin pieces are translucent and reflective, there are these ghost images, and there is a glow to the new work) begins with a deep understanding of how to manipulate light?

Tom Bolles: I don't know if it's a deep understanding of how to manipulate light, but it does seem a perennial quest to attempt to do so.  When I was thirteen I started doing light shows for school dances using the usual methods of the time: liquid projections, hand made slides, and film loops.  Both in high school and in college I dabbled in experimental film making, mostly animation.  In the late 80's while living in New York I started paying attention to the work of artists like Keith Sonnier, Joseph Kosuth, and Bruce Nauman, all of whom were playing around with neon in their work.  So I started incorporating neon into wall pieces that evolved from being fairly two dimensional to eventually true sculptures.  The glow emitting from a piece was often as important as the sculpture's form.

Incorporating actual lighting into art had its limitations, both aesthetically and logistically.  I went back to trying to figure out how to create that sense of an artwork glowing without "cheating" by using neon.  After all, Turner did just fine with only paint.  Sometimes it's just a question of juxtaposing the right colors.  Often it's an illusion created by painting layer upon layer of paint that gives both the impression of depth and an inner glow.  The resin pieces, both paintings and sculptures, are inherently translucent.

Angry Boy, 2010, Inkjet on paper/epoxy resin/plexi,
52 x 52 inches, $2,500

So, what's the point?  I guess when I walk into a house, a gallery, or a museum and respond to a painting, most often it is a painting that glows, vibrates, and virtually jumps off the wall.  (There are obvious exceptions.  A small Cezanne landscape may not jump off the wall, but there's usually a luminosity within that is striking.)  Since that's what catches my attention in other artists' work, that's what I strive for.

Artists Gallery: Could you talk a little about your process in making your resin paintings. Does the material shape the work?  Does the concept/color/material come first?

Tom Bolles: The resin pieces are a logical extension of older work in a variety of ways.  I was always attempting to get a sense of luminescence in my work and the use of translucent resin instead of relatively thin and opaque acrylic seemed an obvious way to achieve that effect.  And I had started pouring cast resin wall sculptures in the early 80's, so I was generally familiar with the material. 

I can't say which dictates more, the material or the concept.  I'd like the concept to always dictate, but the truth is that the inherent properties of any material determines a lot of what I can achieve with it.  This applies doubly so with resin.  Trial and error take me from what seems like a straightforward idea for a painting to something vaguely similar, but not really what I had originally in mind.  At least that is the case with the first in any series.  After the first one I have a better idea what the possibilities and limitations are.  The more successful pieces are the result of many time consuming and expensive earlier mistakes.

Mad Boy, 2011, Inkjet print and acrylic on canvas,
52 x 52 inches, $7,500

I don't know if you want to know how they are actually fabricated.  Briefly, I often work with a painted canvas glued onto a plexiglass panel.  The painted canvas is the color I hope to have peer through the layers of resin I build up on top.  I do multiple layers of resin, each tinted with pigment, mostly because it is very difficult to exactly know how much pigment and what precise shade of pigment will work.  It's also next to impossible to undo a bad choice.  Plus a lot of translucent layers give the effect I want as opposed to one heavily pigmented layer.

Artists Gallery: I like how in the resin “Subliminal” works, the resin makes the "subliminal" parts glow, making them almost more visible, or for me, more captivating than in the Giclee prints without the resin. The glow really pulls me in. Could you talk a little about this work, and the idea of highlighting something that normally would be made more secret?

Tom Bolles: The "Subliminal" pieces are just the result of me incorporating something else I've messed with on and off for years: text.  They are also a result of my restlessness after producing a lot of truly minimal pieces.  I wanted to start incorporating something else into the pieces that would give them more intrigue.

We all like looking for hidden goodies in paintings.  And the word play and double entendre of "subliminal, sublime, sublimate" appealed to me.  I never thought about the text being more apparent in the paintings than the Giclee prints.  The text probably glows in the paintings because I select a resin color and text color that are compatible and it brings out the text but not necessarily the background color.

The Giclees definitely lack the depth of the paintings, which probably explains why I do so few prints.  It's very hard to get the effect I'm looking for with ink on paper.  One really has to approach prints with an entirely different mindset.  That should be easy for me because I spent years only silk screening, but instead it's a challenge.

SFMOMA Artists Gallery at Fort Mason: Tom Bolles, Katherine Westerhout
March 10 - April 21, 2011

Please join us for the opening reception:
Thursday, March 10, 2011
5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

GUEST BLOG CHALLENGE: Valentine’s Day

GUEST BLOG CHALLENGE:  Valentine’s Day


Pat Doherty, Wrapped Candy, 2011; oil on canvas; 12 x 12 inches

 GUEST BLOGGER:  Niki, from salt & pepper

Niki, an avid San Francisco Foodie, has been blogging about her love affair with this city’s finest dining, favorite recipes and party planning ideas since February 2009. She is also a supporter of local arts and a frequent visitor to the SFMOMA Artists Gallery.  Who better to collaborate with on our first Guest Blog Challenge?

CHALLENGE :  What can you make with this?

To our delight, Niki has met this challenge with flair. Here are her recipes for a Valentine’s Day dinner and what to do if you don’t want to cook.

Check out Niki’s post for the full story and contact us at the Artists Gallery if you would like to add these paintings to your shopping list.

Victoria Mimiaga, Meat and Cheese, 2010
Oil on board, 12 x 12 inches, $600

NIBBLES

Grissini with Arugula & Prosciutto served with your favorite bubbly
 (My choice would be the Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee)

10 grissini (breadsticks)
butter
½ cup grated pecorino romano
2 cups arugula, roughly chopped
10 thin slices of prosciutto (have it freshly sliced… so much better)

Take each breadstick, roll lightly in butter on one end (maybe 2-3 inches or so) and dip in pecorino romano so the cheese sticks to the butter.  Then take thin slices of prosciutto, top with a small amount of the roughly chopped arugula, then roll the prosciutto around the breadstick, enclosing as much of the arugula as possible.  Serve in a glass so all the grissini are standing straight up.

Kirstine Reiner, Lemons, 2010
Oil on panel, 11 x 14 inches, $1,500

APPETIZERS

Insalata Tricolore a la Delfina Pizzeria

1 head Belgian endive, sliced
2 handfuls arugula
½ head of radicchio, sliced
grana padano cheese

shake the following ingredients in a small container:
juice of ½ a meyer lemon
½ tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ cup olive oil
¼ tsp salt & ¼ tsp pepper

Arrange the arugula, endive & radicchio in three separate sections on a long plate.  Drizzle with the dressing & use a vegetable peeler to slice long shards of grano padano (pecorino romano or parmigiano reggiano would be fine too!) over the top.

Victoria Mimiaga, Meat in Plastic, 2010
Oil on board, 12 x 12 inches, $600




 

ENTREE

Filet Mignon w/ Crispy Oven Roasted Fingerling Potatoes & Sautéed Spinach

1 pound fingerling potatoes, halved or quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Toss potatoes in the olive oil, salt & pepper.  Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 30- 40 minutes, or until crispy.

2 8 oz filet mignon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper
2 tbsp butter

Fifteen minutes after you put the potatoes in the oven, pat the steaks dry with a paper towel, and season both sides of each steak with salt and pepper.  Heat a large skillet (a seasoned cast iron is ideal here, but not required!) over high heat, add the olive oil and heat for a couple of minutes.  Add the steaks (listen for the sizzle!) and sear for approximately two minutes each side – top, bottom, then all ‘four’ sides.  Top each steak with a tablespoon of butter, and pop into the oven for 8-10 minutes, depending on how you like your steak cooked.  Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. 

1 bag prewashed spinach
1 tablespoon of olive oil
¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper

While the steak is resting, heat up the olive oil in a pan over medium low heat.   Add the entire bag of spinach and toss in the olive oil with salt and pepper.  The spinach will slowly start to wilt.  Cook for 3-4 minutes and then remove from heat.

Plate each steak with half the spinach & a large scoop of potatoes.  Serve with a glass of your favorite red wine...  we would probably choose a Grenache as that’s D’s fav!

Bruce Katz, White Eggs, 2007
Oil on canvas, 13 x 16 inches, $850

SWEETS FOR YOUR SWEET

Individual Chocolate Bread & Butter Puddings

3 slices good quality white bread
3.5 oz dark chocolate
2 tbsp butter
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp rum
2½ tbsp sugar
¼ tsp vanilla
small pinch cinnamon
1 egg

1 1/3 cup whipping cream (for serving)

You’ll want to start this the night before so it has time to sit… and you’ll need two medium sized ramekins so you each have your own personal portion!

Begin by removing the crusts from the slices of bread and cut each slice into small triangles.  Next, place the chocolate, whipping cream, rum, sugar, vanilla, butter and cinnamon in a bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, being careful not to let the bowl touch the water.  Stir occasionally until the butter and chocolate have melted and the sugar has completely dissolved.  Next, remove the bowl from the heat and give it a really good stir to amalgamate all the ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and then pour the chocolate mixture over them and whisk again very thoroughly to blend them together.  Now you can start assembling each pudding.  Spoon a thin layer of the chocolate mixture into the base of the dish and arrange as many bread triangles over the chocolate as possible. Pour some more chocolate, and continue arranging the bread triangles. Keep going so you finish with a layer of chocolate.  Use a fork to press the bread gently down so that it gets covered very evenly with the liquid as it cools.  Cover the dish with tin foil and allow to stand at room temperature for 2 hours before transferring it to the fridge overnight.  On Valentine’ Day when you’re almost ready for dessert, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 20-30 minutes.  Remove the foil after 20 minutes so you end up with a top that is crunchy and the inside is gooey and squidgy.  Let it stand for 5 minutes and serve with a healthy dollop of whipped cream (just whip the remaining cream using a hand or stand mixer until stiff).  Enjoy!

Wallflower

The ultimate accessory - art to match your dress.

Diane Von Furstenberg Dress meets Kara Maria, Friendly Fire (Diptych)
Acrylic on canvas, $13,000, 2001

How do they do that? Printmaking 101

At the Artists Gallery we have a number of pieces that employ a wide variety of printmaking techniques. Here we have examples of prints and an explanation of the technique used.

Toru Sugita, Chapeau, 2006
Etching aquatint, 47 x 26 inches
Edition 4/15, $1,500

Metal plate etchings are traditionally done by using a needle to make grooves that can be filled with ink and printed. Aqua tinting uses an acid resistant powdered resin instead of a needle to create a more tonal effect than just lines.

Sugita’s amazing play with shadow and light is demonstrated in this photo realistic street scene. At first glance the shadow may seem like a large, velvety black area, but upon close inspection the shadow captures a figure crossing the street.

David Kelso, Rank-1, 2004
Intaglio, 32x24 inches
$2,200

Intaglio printing is a process in which an image is incised into a plate.  Ink is then applied to the surface and rubbed into the grooves. When run through the press, the paper pulls the ink out of the grooves creating an image.

Kelso uses fluid and simplistic lines and shapes to play with layering of color and texture.

Kerry Vander Meer, Reunion #32, 2009
Mixed media on paper, 33 x 25 inches
$2,100

Mono printing is the most painterly method of printmaking. Mono prints are essentially a printed painting and are more or less one of a kind prints. Due to the nature of their processes, most printmaking techniques are traditionally printed in editions.

Vander Meer is able to blend multiple art making techniques such as mono printing, collage and painting  into seamless, lovely compositions. Her use of texture and color create charmingly soft and compelling images.

Fernando Reyes, Solo, 2006
Woodcut Mono print, 24 x 21 inches
$1,400

In relief printing, an image is made on a plate (in this case a wooden block) and the area around the image is carved out. The remaining image is then inked and printed.

Reyes’ Solo contains many layers of printing, creating a buildup of textures and colors. Each layer of ink is visibly printed on top the previous one to create a collage effect in ink.

Written by our fabulous intern and print maker, Anna Bunting

Inception

Poster for Inception, Warner Brothers

Almost Oscar time and Inception is nominated for 8 Oscars.

In case you didn't see the movie, here is the story line.

Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. (Written by Warner Bros.)

What artwork from the gallery conjures Inception?

Michele Muennig, A Relic of Sky Blue Wonder, 2010
Oil on canvas, 84 x 72 inches, $9,000

Nikki Schrager, Train to Doylestown, 2008
Digital Photo, 15x12 inches, $550

Is it a dream or not? Spin the top.

Robert L. Larson, Stay on Top, 2007
Discarded Top rolling papers on paper,
20 x 15 inches, $1,200

And speaking of dreams - check out the SFMOMA blog post. Every job should have this HR form: Time and half for dreaming about work.

"Plastic Globs Are the New Beach Glass"

SFWeekly Review of the Windows Installation.

 Natoma Street windows: GHOST NET

Ghost Net is a haunting reverie on the pernicious tangles of fishing line, polypropylene rope, monofilament line, and other bits of discarded plastic that float in the ocean snaring everything-birds, fish, marine mammals-that enters their domain. This skein of trouble is evoked in a manner that snares the passerby with beauty, then tells the tale of this destructive force.

Minna Street windows: BLOCK PARTY

Scientists report that there are on average 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of the ocean. This shocking fact, along with the difficulty of visualizing such a vast quantity, compelled the artists to count and exhibit a representative sample. 4,600 plastic pieces, the amount in one city block (one-tenth of a square mile), are hung in a display designed to simulate the animation of colorful bits of plastic floating in the ocean.

Living like Lilly

Lilly Pulitzer Spring Collection

Lilly Pulitzer often lets art inform her designs. This spring her fabric designs are taking their cue from Pop Art.

Fabric samples from the Lilly Pultizer Spring Collection

So we thought we would look at the paintings of Bonnie Neumann that have some of that Pop Art vibe along with her own originial alchemy.




Secundia Materia #12, 2001
Oil/alkyd on panel
42 x 104 inches, $6,200

 Bonnie explains:
The effect of pattern is not subject to borders and boundaries and can be universally understood. I employ pattern and repetition as a means of composition to hold energy, and to create a framework for exploring the unknown.

Within our sense of order is a tendency to search for meaning. In the anticipation of pattern there are progressions met and progressions challenged. The tension between impulse and order is the source of the energy held there. I use off registration and variation in my patterns to imitate the chaos inherent in what appears to be structure; but maintain a recognizable pattern to represent the deeper structure hidden within chaos. Off registration and layering also create a visual shift in planes, resulting in a surface tension. This tension between pattern and ground adds a measure of ambiguity to the literalness of the content, and gives the sensory impression of a memory that cannot be identified; something inherently known but not recognized in ordinary consciousness. I use stencils, silkscreen, and oil paint on panel in multiple thin layers, sometimes sanding to obliterate sections of layers. The choreography of process is a visual incantation and contemplation, which determines the composition.

Sun Violet, 2001
Oil/Alkyd/panel
39x54 inches, $3,000

Maybe it is time to add to your spring collection?

It's the Real Thing

Caffe Museo Exhibition: Kim Frohsin
February 03 - March 15, 2011

My War Paint Mask , 2010
Collage, acrylic, glazes on board
10 x 10 inches, $3,800

Gallery artist Kim Frohsin is exhibiting new work at the SFMOMA Caffe Museo that employs collage, paint, colored pencil, discarded paper cups, and other mixed media. In the series, which the artist sometimes refers to as Cokework, both the red color associated with Coca-Cola and the distinct shape of the original fluted glass bottle serve as unifying elements throughout.

Coke Glamour Portrait , 2010
Acrylic, collage on board
10 x 10 inches, $3,200

Some pieces present a female face with eyes closed, rendered as a high-contrast positive likeness reminiscent of the mid-nineteenth-century life and death masks.

A Calligraphic Ode to Dr. J.S. Pemberton, 2010
Collage, acrylic, glazes, board
40 x 32 inches, $8,000

Other work presents the curvaceous bottle as a motif that can be rendered in any color or pattern and remains utterly recognizable. Frohsin, originally from Atlanta, relishes the autobiographical possibilities (including images of her hometown’s dominant brand) in her work. “There is a level of literal and metaphorical self-reflection at play in the self portraits and the mix with the collaged icon of Coke - a meld of identity of a face and a place,” she said.

Doggedly Sunk in the Muck of Paint

Carol Lefkowitz just delivered 3 new paintings to the gallery.

Untitled #150, 2010, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 inches, $6,500

Untitled #151, 2010, oil on canvas, 60 x 72 inches, $7,500

Untitled #152, 2010, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 inches, $6,500

What Carol says about her work:

I have been doggedly sunk in the muck of paint. Obsessively caught in the metaphorical net of hauling pattern, transparency and depth, I seem to also pull up randomness, opacity and flatness to join in each painting’s evolution. This series began as fish in water and over time has evolved into an image-less space. Still viscous, the work is flat, on the surface, as well as deep and without limit.
A moment of reflection can make it seem there’s been some linear reasoning to this applying and scraping, as if I knew what I was after from the start. But really the process and activity has directed my search. The accumulation, dredging and exposing of color, light and shape allow me to investigate an emotional depth and personal perspective that is a window into myself and at the same time a reflection of the world outside of me.

We think it is a great place to be sunk.

Valentine's Day Photo Portraits

2 DAYS
Feb 13th & Feb 20th (President's Day weekend)
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
$300 each sitting
Prepaid reservations required
Call the gallery for an appointment: 415.441.4777

 

Gallery artist and documentary photographer Jason Winshell will photograph you and your significant other.

The portrait sitting fee is $300 and includes one 8 x 10-inch print. Additional prints can be ordered from the photographer for a fee. Custom mats and framing also available at cost.