Irresistibly Idiosyncratic at Distinction Gallery

Eclectix was able to visit Distinction Gallery on a recent trip to San Diego for a benefit. Their current exhibit is titled Irresistibly Idiosyncratic and it runs through April 7th. It is a group show of three artists, a complementary mix of styles including the artists Dan Barry, Joka and Mike Bell. 

Dan's work (above) featured anthropomorphic botanicals with a beautiful mixed media approach. Layers, spills and drips contrast with tight, fine pen and ink.

Joka's work (above) is all incredibly detailed pointillism, painted with just a toothpick! They are pop images with a twisted sense of humor and a snapshot feel. 

Mike's work comprised many tiny, pencil portraits of pop icons, on matchbook covers. We've run across other artists who work on matchbooks - most notably Jason D'Aquino. The memorable trait of Mike's work is his great sense of personality he injects into the actual matchsticks themselves. Each portrait had the perfect gesture, feel and/or addition for the particular subject. Check out the posture of Mick's hands (above) - so perfect!

(There is a lot more to Distinction Gallery which Eclectix will cover in a future post.)

Neon Knights Opening at Minna

Henry Lewis

Henry Lewis & Lango Oliveira are the "Neon Knights", two tattoo artists who came together for the current exhibition up at 111 Minna Gallery.  This show comprises solo works by both and a few collaborations - many massive, dominating pieces and some small, intricately presented ones. They are stunning works in mainly a black and white palette - a heavy metal mix of tattoo art, street art and ancient Asian watercolors. Dragons, grim reapers, feathery birds of prey, babes, tigers and knights in armor - with a little science fiction fantasy thrown in.  This impressive show is up through the month of March and very worth laying your eyes on.

For an interview by Ransom Notes and look at more of Henry's colorful works click here.

For Lango's Website and works click here.

Josephine Taylor's Marvelous Monsterfaces

We visited the Catherine Clark Gallery in SF to see Josephine Taylor's outstanding solo show, which is up thru February 11th, 2012. Try to see this show, it is a rewarding, different and riveting body of work.  Due to the lighting,  the photos yellow tones are really all white whites. Many of these pieces are very large, huge pieces of velvet paper, pinned to the wall. We have posted some details to help grasp the scale of the work.

Her style is familiar yet completely original- reminding one of old Asian art and figurative watercolors. They have a modern day angst, some with erotic imagery and some with dementia-inspired, grotesque actions. Topsy-turvy figures swirl into each other and mutated portraits gaze sadly. The inked lines are very fine and the shading super subtle,  feeling softly beautiful despite the subject matter. 

There are also 4 very strong collage/sculptures of faces, with sliced and diced features to make them 3D. (below)

 All in all very inspiring works, juxtapositions which really move the viewer, depicting the monster within. A must see.

Francesca Woodman at SF Moma

Francesca Woodman committed suicide at the age of 22 in 1981. Her works are obviously that of a still-young photographer and it is sad that we will never see what caliber of imagery she could have produced, had she lived a "normal" life. And sadly, I wonder if she would have had a show of this magnitude at a major museum, if she hadn't committed suicide.

This huge exhibition contains all black and white prints, rather on the small side, mostly centered on the female human form, nudes - many set-up shots of her own body. Long exposures, vintage dresses, montages, blurred movements and stark, lonely abandoned rooms. Some stuck me as obvious student shots, amatuer in their subject matter and composition, not really museum quality. However, others were extraordinarily powerful, speaking of a woman's despair - about self doubts, body image, sexuality and isolation. These pieces are strong feminist rejections and obsessions of the male induced beauty image. Many are accompanied by hand written captions and commentary from Francesca which lead us to ponder the damage done by stereotyping, media and advertising.

  

The show at SF Moma is up through February 20, 2012 and we strongly recommend this powerful and haunting exhibition.  

 

An Ephemeral Visit With Arabella

Arabella Proffer

Dropped into the SF opening of Arabella Proffer's new solo show and finally got to meet her after years of a web relationship. She kindly shipped many works to Eclectix for exhibits from her home in Cleveland. Arabella and her new works were both looking stunning and ever-so-fashionable. This is a great little space and Arabella's works were a good fit among the "Loved To Death" store inventory. I have my heart set on acquiring a fantastic black umbrella/cane I saw there. And Arabella could certainly use one for her hurt leg, although it didn't stop her from mingling with all the art lovers there.  Many of the pieces were studies of lovely ladies going thru barbaric medical procedures from the Middle Ages, each with an interesting little bio next to the work. These are fantasy histories compiled by the artist to accompany each image.  My favorite in the show was the Black Madonna (below) a wonderfully strong & commanding piece. It was one of the smaller iconic pieces - they are all such a bargain, get on down and snap one up before they're gone! Enjoy the pictures from the show in the meantime.

Laura Buss All Bundled Up

Laura Buss

We got bundled up to visit the opening of Laura's show at Modern Eden Gallery on a cold and blustery San Francisco nite and so glad we did. Laura's "Bundles" are full of warm and golden colors, obviously painted with love and a surreal eye. Interesting compositions, formed to their individual shapes on cut-out panels, the narratives were striking and personal. Even though they were paintings of mummies, dead people and animals - they had life and morphed into their own rebirth under her brush. Animals and skeletal human remains hug and cuddle, swaddled in their wrappings. Little nests popped out of shrouds, hands caress body parts and books act as stepping stones. The documentation of the mummies swirl and unite the art into dynamic yet decorative statements.  Images posted here are mostly cropped for detail - to see all Laura's works for sale - click the Bundles link above.

Also opening was the companion show of Woodland with many nature-based, trees, woodland animals - paintings and sculptures. Leilani Bustamante's trees painted on the walls behind the Woodland exhibit were a subtle and  tasteful way to unite the works. Way too many pieces and artists to post here - so just some highlights, browse the link above to do your online shopping! These are all very reasonably priced, moving original works, all painted on wood - ready to go for Xmas gifts. 

Woodland paintings on wood

Chelsea Brown

Calvin Ma

Leilani Bustamante

Kim Gordon

The openings were comfortably packed, the music and food were excellent and it had a welcoming, festive feel through the night. Both shows were extremely well curated and hung - the  usual modus operandi for Modern Eden's shows. Attention to detail in their placement and the titled adornments were obviously done with time and care.  Invaded later by the Santa Con crowd, red skirts with white fur were staggering everywhere! So fun.

Bundles & Woodland opening reception crowd

  

Link to Modern Eden