"Hello, Tomorrow" at The Hazel Wolf Gallery in Berkeley

Not being able to make the opening of Hello, Tomorrow, we stopped into the Hazel Wolf Gallery this week. The exhibition contains works which comment on the state of our world - either environmentally, politically or socially. 

The Brower Center asked Bay Area artists to respond to David Brower’s quote: “Have a good time saving the world. Otherwise, you’re just going to depress yourself.” 

We were very impressed by a number of works, especially the above piece by Michael Kerbow, Their Refinement of the Decline. 

Mark Bryan's Mad Tea Part Duh was a joy to view as well, everybody's in there!

Michelle Water's Global Warning was not new to us but certainly great to see again.

Jeff Long's Farallon is a large and spectacular avian watercolor.

And Anthony Holdsworth's SF garden scene was gorgeous - full of saturated colors and shadows.

Ruth Santee's machine-bug-beetle in pen and ink was wonderful.

There were a number of other pieces (all below), more conceptual, abstract as well as traditional, many mediums and styles. A pretty good view - if you are in the hood, of downtown Berkeley, stop in to see it. The show will be up until Sept. 2nd, 2011.

Artists include: Mari Andrews · Timothy Armstrong · Claire Brandt · Noah Breuer · Mark Bryan · Hagit Cohen · Alicia Escott · Lisa Espenmiller · William Harsh · Ryan Hendon ·Anthony Holdsworth · Grant Johnson · Michael Kerbow ·Kimberlee Koym-Murteira · Alexis Laurent · Jeff Long ·Viviana Paredes · Ruth Santee · Judith Selby Lang and Richard Lang · Esther Traugot · Michelle Waters · Stephen Whisler

The Collage Works of Alexis Anne Mackenzie

Eclectix first spotted local SF artist Alexis’ works at a little shop in the Mission District of San Francisco years ago. Beautifully detailed and elegantly composed collages that speak of vintage times, organic shapes and anatomical darkness. Her vision progressed to more text and word based imagery which slowly reveal a message. Her newest works ( very bottom piece) are much more abstract and non-figurative with a light airy feel and muted palette. 

Interview with Fecal Face here - LINK

“All of my collages are composed by hand – cut from books I’ve been collecting for years, and painstakingly pieced together as seamlessly as possible. They create themselves through a process beginning with a loose concept, followed by a series of trials and errors, subtle maneuvers, selection/elimination, harmonious unions, and happy accidents. It is a meditative process, and there is a lot of decision-making behind each element involved.

My general intent, throughout all my work, is to portray the world as a flawed thing of beauty – a place that shines brightly, but has a dark side to match."

You can view her works at her website and see some of her more recent efforts at the POVevolving Gallery.

Originally posted in the Eclectix Paper & Arts Issue, June 2011 along with the online exhibit of paper arts - LINK

WOW! The Tim Burton Show Just Keeps On Ticking...

While in Los Angeles at a family graduation, we made a detour and squeezed in the current Tim Burton exhibit at LACMA (LINK) and very glad we did! Sure, I expected it to be a great show (after all IT IS Tim Burton), but the size, span and depth of the show was unexpected. It starts with the great entrance cave installation (above) and from there opens into room after room of all things Burton.

His childhood and adult influences are represented, college works from his days at Cal Arts, short films, sculptures, doodles, notebooks, movie story boards, oil paintings, character studies and models, costume originals and pieces from his movie sets. There are many pages form his journals and these were some of my favorites, his talent and wit are delightful, a fresh peek into Burton's twisted, lovely brain.

"Persecution Complex", a journal doodle by Tim Burton

Another journal page,  titled "Schizophrenia" ( or maybe "Split Personality"?)

There is also a super trippy black light room with scribbles on the walls and a large, kinetic carousel sculpture floating and spinning in the center of the room. (LINK - to a short vid someone posted on the web) I could have stayed in there all day!

The exhibit itself was somewhat confusing to traverse, it didn't have a great flow and as usual, they were letting too many people in - despite the timed ticket sales. However, it is very worth fighting the crowds for and delivers a lot of Burton art and perspective, not just an excuse for mass merchandising by Disney. In each room, there are fun little windows peeking thru to the next room, giving the viewer a tease to what is coming up. All his movies - from Beetlejuice, Nightmares Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, Corpse Bride to Alice in Wonderland - have items on display. A fantastic and honorable exhibition of one very talented and prolific dude! Kudos to the curators for this show, it's nice to know living and offbeat artists can be taken seriously in the museum world.

The coveted leather costume from Edward Scissorhands

Loved all the facial expression models of Jack, they really hammered home all the work that goes into just one character animation...

A fun little inflatable install blows upward at the very end of the show.

Lyndi Sales’ Paper Phantasms

Lyndi Sales is a fantastic paper artist, based in Cape Town, South Africa. She covers all the bases of the paper arts - sculpting books, paper cuts, collage dioramas, large scale installations - from abstract to realism. Some are other worldly looks into parallel universes, some are intricate, detailed creatures or anatomical parts and some are movement-inspired blurs of surreal abstract shapes. 

Artist's Website LINK

Originally posted in the Eclectix Paper & Arts Issue, June 2011 along with the online exhibit of paper arts - LINK

Eclectix Interview With Artist Christine Benjamin

Christine is a true local, home grown in San Jose, one of the original Berryessa clan. A fantastic artist and all-around great person - full of life, vitality and cheer. She is a painter, illustrator and art doll maker; creating colorful, quirky and vibrant imagery of all sorts. Space women, skeletons, monsters, sock monkeys, robots and mod girls - all in various playful antics. Accomplished in so many medias, it’s hard to pin down her one strength....

For the whole interview & gallery go here - LINK.

Christine's Website - LINK

For more Eclectix art goodies go here - LINK.

Splendors of Faith/Scars of Conquest In Oaktown

Visited the Oakland Museum for their exhibit-

Splendors of Faith/Scars of Conquest

Arts of the Missions of Northern New Spain,1600-1821

This exhibition had a great span of religious art and iconography, focusing on the scars and casualties of religious zeal. The wars between the Protestants and Catholics and the martyrdom of the devout. Lots of creepy yet breathtaking imagery here; bloody and scary yet fascinating and engaging. Apparently the art traveled to only two spots here in the States and it was nice to see Oakland get a shot at such a fabulous exhibit. I have always loved mission artistry and this show didn't let me down. The Catholic church has produced and influenced many masterpieces, many hidden away in little churches on frescos. Even though I am not religious- the Gothic dark moodiness, the serene emotional expression, the ornate decor of altars and sacred spaces - have always intrigued and haunted me, in a good way. And if you are fond of skull and skeleton art, you can't beat the depictions of "Hell" in religious art.  Included in the exhibit were altar pieces, sculptures, frescos and paintings - a somber, ethereal and beautiful exhibition. The show has now ended, my apologies for not getting to this post sooner - it would have been nice to inspire some extra visitors to the museum. At the very least - here is a virtual look/see for you to visit.

Also on display was a companion exhibit titled -

Contemporary Coda

This exhibit caused a bit of an uproar, (small-minded uproar) mostly centered on one piece by Alma Lopez, which Eclectix posted about here. Her piece was one of the best in this small show but Manuel Ocampo's Diptych blew me away. I have always loved his paintings and it was great to see these up close and personal. Do a Google image search on Manuel, it is well worth it... (couldn't find a website for him). Here is a link for a film about the artist.