Marina Vendrell Renaut at Johansson Projects
Every month, Oakland’s art spaces offer up a slew of new shows – some great and others not so great. Here, I’ve spotlighted some of the more noteworthy ones as my “must see” picks amongst galleries both experimental and arguably commercial. I say arguably as the two galleries in question – Swarm and Johansson Projects – have managed to marry a sustainable business plan to a decidedly adventurous schedule of thoughtfully curated art shows. Having said that, I should add that Oakland offers up more than just what the art market considers viable. We have experimental collectives like Rock, Paper, Scissors that aim to engage the community in progressive change and artists' studios like The Compound Gallery and Studios in addition to the above-mentioned Swarm Gallery and Studios. There is really almost always something for everyone in Oakland every first Friday, and these shows are indicative of what you can expect when you step out.
“HEROES AND VILLIANS”
The Rock, Paper, Scissors Collective
2278 Telegraph Avenue
http://www.rpscollective.com/webcal/view_entry.php?id=1148&date=20090404
Reception: Friday, April 3rd, 6 – 9pm
The Oakland Cerebrus by Obi Kaufmann
I've been looking forward to this show ever since I first heard curator Teppei Ando talk it up many months ago at an exhibit curated by local artist Obi Kaufmann at Zza’s Trattoria. He's got a strong lineup of contributing artists, which includes artists I’ve spotlighted in The Oakbook previously like Obi Kaufmann and Deth P. Sun as well as rising star Alika Cooper – whose body of work reminds one a bit of the work of Alex Katz, yet is somehow bleaker while maintaining a bittersweet emotional quality that is both evocative and rather sweet. Ando’s works are in the show as well and judging by the artists he’s chosen, he is in good company.
Flaming Furbelows
Johansson Projects
2300 Telegraph Avenue
http://johanssonprojects.com/default.htm
Reception: Friday, April 3rd, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
The press materials describe this show of works by Marina Vendrell and Kate Eric as an “…exhibition that explores uneasy encounters between attraction and repulsion, tenderness and terror.” I can’t really argue with that, but having seen it, I need to note that is is a show that can only be fully realized through its interactive aspects. It is a fully immersive show, much like Eliza Fernand’s solo show at Fort Gallery last month, though this one has a musical and mechanized aspect the other doesn’t. Furry remote controlled creatures will snake their way through the gallery's main room as you view the soft flesh like sculpture emitting music from its appendages. The effect is quite transfixing and well worth the trip. Johansson Projects gets packed during the Art Murmur, so I recommend coming early or perhaps coming back later in the show’s run.
Distant Cousins| John Casey
Nature Boy | Don Porcella
Regime Change | Group Exhibition
Swarm Gallery
560 Second Street
http://www.swarmgallery.com/gallery/exhibitions/Distant_Cousins.htm
Reception: Friday, April 6. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Anniversaries are great. For galleries, longevity is often a rare thing, so when a noteworthy gallery makes it to year three, it's worth noting and well deserving of your support. In the last few years, gallery director Svea Lin Vezzone has displayed the work of a dazzling array of hot and emerging local artists like Casey Jex Smith, Zach Houston and Gregory Euclide. These are but three of the many artists represented in “REGIME CHANGE,” a large group show in celebration of our new representation in Washington. All the art is 12 x 12 inches and relatively affordably priced.
I profiled Casey Jex Smith and Swarm’s director’s Svea Lin Vezzone in The Oakbook a few months ago. In the piece, Vezzone spoke of expanding and moving into a new space. Considering recent economic developments, it was decided that a gallery remodel from two to three rooms with more display space was a better idea. “Regime Change” will go down in the newest exhibition space. The project space will hold Don Porcella’s whimsically subversive sculptures crafted from pipe cleaners, while the main gallery will be showing local favorite John Casey’s first solo Bay Area exhibition since 2005, the epic collection of drawings – some affordably priced – and a large scale installation.
Here’s how the artist describes it: “This show is a continuation of my exploration of "emotional biomorphology," a phenomenon that takes place in my alternate universe where people's physiques morph, based on their emotional and psychological states of mind. Imagine if what you were feeling emotionally manifested itself physically. A person's body could grow an extra limb or their head could disconnect and float away, or they could grow multiple eyes. You become an emotional billboard. The beings that inhabit this other world are similar to us humans, but they live by different physical and biological rules. They are related to us but more like cousins thirteen times removed, also known as Distant Cousins.” For more on John Casey, look out for the interview I conducted with him this week for The Oakbook. |