Marvin Lipofsky on panel at SOFA Chicago

Marvin Lipofsky

In honor of the 50th anniversary of American studio glass, Marvin Lipofsky is invited by the Art Alliance of Contemporary Glass (AACG) to participate in a panel of artists discussing their contributions to the American Studio Glass Movement. 

The panel will be moderated by Corning Museum of Glass Curator Tina Oldknow and Ferd Hampson,  Habatat Galleries Michigan, as part of SOFA Chicago's 2012 lecture series, on Saturday, November 3, from 2 to 3 pm at Chicago's Navy Pier, Room 327.

The panel will also feature glass artists Mary Shaffer, Jack Schmidt and Joel Philip Myers. 

They will discuss the history, present and future of contemporary glass art. 

CBS News: The Art and History of Studio Glass-Making

Today's News: Taliaferro Jones

Taliaferro Jones. Nimbus, 2006. Kiln cast lead glass.

Today's News: Taliaferro Jones shows in an exhibition curated by Melanie Egan for the Harbourfront Centre's Summer Exhibitions, "Material Wealth: Revealing Landscape." Opens tonight.


The exhibition statement: One of the most interesting aspects about materials (glass, ceramics, textiles, metal etc.) is their ability to act as catalysts for conceptual ideas. Ideas about landscape have prompted a viewing of material from a different perspective, isolating elements within the landscape and focusing in exploring the material’s meaning and its trajectory across culture and geography.


The artist's statement: My current body of work uses water as a metaphor to illustrate the ever-present alchemy of our existence. Water is the essence of life. When I dive into any body of water I immediately have an intense and profound sense of joy and wonder. In its duality, water is extremely powerful – crashing and yet, also calming; we cannot live without it. The work explores the different states of being within water. It touches on how we flow through our lives striving for a state of grace and beauty. Like our blue planet, our bodies are 70% water, yet we still have a need to ground ourselves; the paradox of standing still while always flowing. In many ways we are between states, part spirit and part matter, part liquid and part solid. I sought to use the lyrical dance of light, space and colour to explore and manifest these ideas in glass and photography.


Born and raised in Northern California, Taliaferro Jones holds a BA and BFA from Tufts University and the Museum School, Boston, followed by Sheridan College. Her work is shown in international exhibitions, including recent biennales in Spain, the Netherlands and South Korea. She has done large-scale commissions in London, California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Her work is included in the Canadiana Fund collection at Rideau Hall and El Museo de Vidrio in Spain. She has been featured by Bravo and TVO as well as in the following books: International Glass Art, The Contemporary Glass Art of the World, Craft of Northern California and Golf 365 Days. She is a founding member of the Cadence collective, currently sits on the board of the Ontario Crafts Council, and is on the developing board of a new foundation and Museum for contemporary art in Spain.

Taliaferro Jones. Caress, 2008. Kiln cast lead glass, sandblasted.

Her sculpture, Caress, will be included in the Oakland Museum's upcoming homage to the 50th Anniversary of American Studio Glass.

Artists we love showing at the Oakland Museum

It has been, shamefully, quite some time since our last post here. Our only explanation is that our work surprisingly took over to such an extent that we inexplicably shifted away from our love of this blog. To our readers, we offer humble apologies with the promise to amend and forge ahead.

Our news today is that some of our favorite glass artists will be featured at the Oakland Museum of California's celebration of the 50th Anniversary of American Studio Glass. They are: Marvin Lipofsky, Mark Abildgaard, Oben Abright, Latchezar Boyadjiev, Kathleen Elliot, Bella Feldman, Robert Fritz, Jaime Guerrero, Taliaferro Jones, Michelle Knox, John Lewis, Susan Longini, Richard Marquis, William Morris, Jay Musler, Danny Perkins, Clifford Rainey, Therman Statom, Cassandra Straubing, Randy Strong, Pamina Traylor and Mary White.

Marvin Lipofsky. California Loop Series #55 (1970). Blown glass, flocking.  8 x 36 x 27 in.

We are extremely honored to have been invited to share our thoughts on these artists with collectors, curators and museum professionals, and continue to support the beautiful work they make that we believe in so passionately.

To the artists and professionals involved in presenting this upcoming exhibition, thank you for your collaboration.

50th Anniversary of American Studio Glass

This year, 2012, is a marker for the 50th anniversary of the development of studio art glass in America. More than 150 museums, galleries, universities and art organizations throughout the United States will celebrate this event to recognize the artists who are founding members of this movement and those who continue to develop fine art sculpture in glass. 


Locally, Sacramento's Crocker Art Museum presents Red Hot and Blown: Contemporary Glass from the Crocker's Collection on March 17, 2012 (through September 23, 2012), an exhibition that includes blown, cast and painted glass by Marvin Lipofsky, Therman Statom, Nancy Mee, Preston Singletary and Dale Chihuly.

Image courtesy of Marvin Lipofsky. Kentucky Series 2000 #1. Photography by Lee Fatheree.

Lunchtime Lecture: Studio Glass with Marvin Lipofsky

February 1, 2012. 12–1 PM  Free with Museum admission

San Jose Museum of Art

110 South Market Street, San Jose, CA 95113

View Map · Get Directions

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Studio Glass movement. Marvin Lipofsky will present, "A World of Glass," a PowerPoint lecture on his 50 year journey in glass.

Lunchtime Lectures take place on the first Wednesday of the month at noon in the Charlotte Wendel Education Center. Visitors are welcome to bring food and beverages.

Changes

Today, on December 1, Micaela Gallery redefined its format to a consultancy in modern and contemporary art, guiding clients with expertise and access throughout the international art community.

While announcing the departure from our practice at 49 Geary Street in San Francisco via this blog may seem rather quiet, the reality of our business is that our work is best done through continued successful collaborations with our colleagues, the expert advisors who assist us in the myriad questions that arise when developing a fine art collection, as well as the artists we work with. So that our only real change is one of a physical address to a virtual address.

Micaela Gallery is a boutique gallery focused on its representation of a small, select group of artists working in the USA and abroad. Collaborating with colleagues, our program features an interdisciplinary mix of mediums that includes video, sculpture and painting, along with an extensive Flat File set featuring a carefully curated selection of works on paper and illustrated catalogs published by gallery and non-gallery artists.

Our story:

We grew from a very small, regional concern to one of the most recognized contemporary art galleries with special collections of sculpture, featuring many of the strongest talents in the San Francisco Bay Area, including David Gilhooly, Marvin Lipofsky, Pamina Traylor, and a host of wildly free-spirited local sculptors. Micaela Gallery presented the first Northern California exhibitions addressing contemporary fine art issues in the glass sculpture community, and was the first to introduce glass sculpture to the international fine art community during Art Basel Miami week in 2008. The gallery's exhibition program at art fairs includes SOFA Chicago, Bridge Art Fair New York and Miami, SCOPE Miami, SCOPE Basel, Los Angeles Art Show and the Affordable Art Fair New York.

Today, Micaela Gallery is independent of the traditional, physical gallery space, yet retains its presence in the fine art community through curated art exhibitions, exhibitions at international art fairs, publications, salons where select artists, critics and friends come together to enhance our social community, and of course, through the social network provided by the internet.

Micaela Gallery represents select collections of artwork by emerging and established international contemporary fine artists. The artwork in this collection is viewable on our website at micaela.com. If you are interested in acquiring a work from this collection, or would like more information about our program, please see our calendar, or contact us via email at info@micaela.com.

Thank you for your visit to our blog. I look forward to introducing you to our artists, their work, and, of course, to meeting you.

Micaela V. van Zwoll

PRESS RELEASE – The Art Economist Magazine Launches Globally

The press release for a new magazine titled The ART ECONOMIST, describes a publication with a private interactive website, launching in January 2011. According to the press release, "The publication celebrates and beautifully documents the major creative and financial achievements of the world’s leading living artists, examines the economics of contemporary art as a commodity and investment opportunity by listing the top 300 earning living artists and recommends new artists to watch for their predicted, eventual success."

Editorials in the premiere issue include an article by David W. Galenson, professor of economics from the University of Chicago, on the birth of the art market from Picasso to Hirst, a feature from Beijing correspondent, Drew Hammond, on how the Chinese artist Tang Song went from Rags to Riches in less than a decade, along with an analysis of young, promising Chinese artists. Elizabeth Sobieski interviews James Rosenquist on his life and autobiography, Painting Below Zero, for her monthly column, and Julie L. Belcove, who conceived and edited W’s annual art issue, explores the current financial state of the art world.

Each issue will feature thirty detailed profiles on artists from the list of 300; the premiere issue includes Chuck Close, Robert Gober, Barbara Kruger, Mark di Suvero, Brice Marden, Marilyn Minter, Jack Pierson, John Currin, Karin Davie, Lisa Yuskavage, Vik Muniz, Christopher Wool, John Chamberlain, Cy Twombly and Helen Frankenthaler, among others. The magazine, which looks like a museum catalog, does not accept advertising due to its advisory capacity. A yearly subscription for 10 issues and complete access to the website is a hefty $400; and will not be available on newsstands. The target market is high end contemporary art collectors and Wall Street investors, along with the international community of art world professionals.

The rest of the press release states that "The magazine is the brain child of Fred Alger, a legendary figure in the financial community known for his remarkable success in bringing record gains to his investment firm, which he founded in 1964. Profits delivered to his clients in the 1990s were the highest in the nation, at one point returning 72% on investments. Mr. Alger, art collector and former board member of the Museum of Modern Art, had always envisioned a publication that examined an unregulated and basically veiled market, which often produced remarkably profitable sales, but at the same time was filled with intrigue and confusion. Mr. Alger believes that Wall Street is convinced of the ongoing potential profits and continued increasing value of the contemporary art market, and that a straightforward, easy to read periodical addressing those topics was not available, until now. Mr. Alger observes in his Publisher’s Letter, “One of the keys to successful investing on Wall Street is to buy companies where surprisingly good results can happen—outsized returns are linked to ‘the pleasant surprise.’ Thus, it is interesting that in the 2008-2010 period, more than 90% of the actual auction prices for the 300 contemporary artists that we follow were above their pre-auction estimates. Even after taking into account attractive pricing estimates by the auction houses, these results are indeed ‘pleasant surprises.’ This underscores the belief that more money is made investing in art than in the stock market. The added plus, of course, is that one can enjoy looking at these investments. The Art Economist will focus on the main ingredients of success for an artist: training, an original voice, sponsorship, ownership, and the last ingredient, an overwhelming desire by the artist to become rich and famous.”

Mr. Alger began his corporate collection in 1985, for which he employed a full-time curator. At first, he concentrated primarily on acquiring emerging American painters, but soon moved on to internationally known photo-based works. Some of the artists whose works he acquired included Cindy Sherman, John Baldessari, Richard Prince, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Vito Acconci; however, the bulk of the collection was lost during the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Alger is well-known for putting together knowledgeable teams of professionals, researchers and analysts, and has a reputation for winning concepts and ideas. He has appointed Bruce Helander as Editor-in-Chief of the magazine; he is an artist and critic, and a former art magazine publisher and editor, White House Fellow of the NEA, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Rhode Island School of Design. Helander has spent much of his formal career as an artist, represented in New York by the prestigious Marisa de Re Gallery, where his collectors included luminaries such as Jane Holzer, Beth DeWoody, Blake Byrne and the late John Kluge. His work is in over fifty museum collections, including the Guggenheim, Whitney and Metropolitan. He has been a contributor to The New Yorker, as well as writing numerous published reviews on artists such as Bourgeois, Oehlen, Lichtenstein and Artschwager. His latest book, Learning to See, recently was named an Indie Award Finalist. In the 1980s, he operated galleries on West Broadway (New York) and Worth Avenue (Palm Beach), and has curated over 100 museum and gallery exhibitions including surveys on Noland, Chamberlain, Poons and Duane Hanson.

The Associate Editor is Marisa J. Pascucci, the former Curator of American Art at the Norton Museum of Art, curator of the Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, and associate curator of collections and exhibitions at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. Other contributors include Leslie Alexander, a New York-based artist who has also been an art advisor to both corporate and private collectors for 25 years and serves on the Boards of Directors of BRIC Arts/Media/Bklyn, and Gary Walther, who is the former editor-in-chief of Departures, Expedia Travels and ForbesLife. The magazine is designed by Daniel Ellis, who has created numerous exhibition catalogs and books for museums, galleries and artists, including Hunt Slonem and the Harvard University Peabody Museum, and worked on a collaborative design project celebrating Mies van der Rohe. Contributing photographers include Amy Arbus, Ralph Gibson and Harry Benson.

A private pre-launch reception for the press and selected guests was held in New York at the New Museum on November 18, with the first public exposure event at Art Basel Miami Beach on December 1. Readers wishing to subscribe can go to the website, www.thearteconomist.com, or call +1 877.890.7618.

Kenneth Baker interviews Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud, a long-time resident of Sacramento, must rank as the most famous painter in California history. Even people who cannot recall his name or pronounce it - say "TEE-bo" - instantly recognize his signature images of food haloed by blazing light and cityscapes with hill streets steep as cliffsides.

Honored with countless museum and gallery exhibitions, Thiebaud also had a distinguished academic career and is now UC Davis professor emeritus of art. San Francisco Chronicle art critic Kenneth Baker conducted an onstage conversation with Thiebaud at the UC Davis' Buehler Alumni Center on Nov. 18, a few days after the painter turned 90.

Watch the video of the event here:

Dan Klein - In Memoriam

Joshua Hershman wrote today: Dan Klein was a force of nature 1938-2009.

Josh is one of the many, many artists enriched with a residency at the glass summer school, North Lands Creative Glass in Lybster, Scotland, founded by Dan Klein, and his partner, Alan J. Poole.

A world authority on contemporary glass, Dan Klein has written and lectured extensively on the subject, and with Alan J. Poole, curated important exhibitions. He curatorial practice, included staging two Venice Glass Biennales ‘Venezia Aperto Vetro’ in 1996 and 1998, 21st Century British Glass in association with Daniel Katz Limited in 2005, and Lucio Bubacco’s extraordinary installation entitled ‘Eternal Temptation’ at SOFA Chicago in 2008. Unbeknown to those of us who met him, his last exhibition, an intimate show of exquisite sculpture, Contrasts & Collaborations was staged from 13 May to 17 June, 2009, and presented individual and collaborative works by Sally Fawkes and Richard Jackson, two of Britain’s leading young artists in glass, following their exhibition at the Museo de Arte en Vidrio De Alcorcon in Madrid.

Lastly, Dan Klein curated the successful Modern and Contemporary Glass auction with Bonhams, London, on Tuesday, May 19, 2009. A well-known auctioneer, his career began with Christie's auction house in London (he was the former international director of 20th century decorative arts). Among the highlights to his celebrated career in Contemporary Glass, Klein was International Executive Director of Phillips from 1998-2001 prior to its merger with Bonhams. A collector, curator, and writer specializing in contemporary glass, Dan Klein, was an ardent supporter of glass artists, who proved this like no other when he and his partner, Alan J. Poole, helped found a registered charity, the prestigious glass summer school, North Lands Creative Glass.

I met Dan Klein only twice. First at the Glass Art Society's Portland meeting last year, and last just a little over 2 weeks ago, when I was visiting in London. Since my first meeting with Dan wasn't too encouraging, I was hesitant about meeting him again, especially on his own turf. But as soon as my 13 year old daughter and I crossed the threshold into his home, he was beautifully warm and hospitable. Proud of his exhibition of Fawkes and Richard's work, he spoke warmly of the artists he admired, among them, Joshua Hershman, one of the most recent to complete a residency from the North Glass School. He was proud of his friendships with important contributors to the Contemporary Glass movement, especially that of Marvin Lipofsky, whom he admired greatly and wrote an essay for his Oakland Museum retrospective in 2006. Apologizing for not being his usual spry self, Dan Klein was very generous with his conversation and kind remarks to my daughter. I left his home delighted with my new acquaintance, grateful for his time and respectful of his knowledge. I know the world of Contemporary Glass has lost a devoted supporter.

Below is Alan J. Poole's announcement of Dan Klein's demise.

Dear Contemporary Glass Community,

Regrettably, it is with great sadness that I greet you this time with the news that my friend, work colleague and partner Dan Klein died at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, on Sunday.

Please do excuse me if I have already informed you and for those that I have as yet not been in touch with personally, I do so apologise for having to inform you in this rather 'cold' manner, but there has been so many things to do and an overwhelming number of people to contact.

I know that I have already said this to many people but it sums Dan up to a t;

The dearest, sweetest most charming man has been taken not just from me but from us all. He touched many people's lives and I like to think that mostly this was in a very positive way.

Dan's cremation will be at Putney Vale Crematorium, London, this Friday, 03/07/09 at 13:40.

Anyone wishing to send flowers, be they attending or not able to, should arrange for the florist to send them to the address as printed below, whilst marking the flowers for Dan Klein at the 13:40 cremation. The address is:

Putney Vale Crematorium.

Stag Lane,

Putney,

London. SW15 3DZ.

ENGLAND.

Tel: 020 8871 7820.

Otherwise, if you would care to donate to a charity, then something for our glass summer school, North Lands Creative Glass in Lybster, that we helped found (a registered charity), would be great too. Please contact Mrs. Lorna MacMillan on Tel: 01593 721 229 who will be able to advise you.

With all good wishes and be happy,

Regards,

Alan J.P.

Alan J. Poole.
Dan Klein Associates
(Specialists In Contemporary Glass)
43 Hugh Street,
Pimlico,
London. SW1V 1QJ.
ENGLAND.
Tel: 00 44 (0)20 7821 6040.
Fax. 00 44 (0)20 7834 2480.
Email: alanjpoole@aol.com
Website: www.dankleinglass.com

Lorraine Peltz is back!

Newly returned from her travels (and exhibition) in Verona, visits to the Venice Biennale, and other glam European ramblings (jealous...), Lorraine Peltz in back in the USA launching her solo exhibition with her New York gallerist Cheryl McGinnis.

McGinnis' announcement states:
Lorraine Peltz’s paintings are complex ruminations on the nature of private identity and public persona. With imagery culled from both personal history and the contemporary moment, they reference both past and present.
The chandelier, a memory from her childhood home, is repeatedly employed in this body of work, as both a symbol memorializing her mother and nostalgically evoking a remembered culture. In bold contrast to her delicately painted or stenciled chandeliers Peltz depicts elaborate and brightly hued flowers, starbursts, and other decoratively patterned embellishments that create a dialogue with her often dark velvety grounds. Culled from popular culture, these reference the contemporary moment, and placed alongside the chandelier poignantly bring the
past and present together. Peltz joins diverse painting languages--recognizable imagery, signs and symbols, and painterly abstraction--to mimic how information comes to us and how meaning is composed, bit by bit, real life alongside memory, poetry next to prose, in order to suggest larger issues surrounding identity and place. Her works become dreamscapes of both the exterior world and an interior space of fantasy, desire, and memory.
In addition to being a title of a work in the exhibition, Then & Now refers to Peltz’s interest in and engagement with art history, specifically mid 20th century modernism and the Pattern and Decorative movement of the 1970’s, as well as with contemporary strategies of appropriating imagery from vernacular sources. In a recent essay on Peltz, Lisa Wainwright, Dean of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, noted: “Both of nature and from culture, her icons speak to the polemic between essentialism and social construction that still grips feminist dis-
course. They are a mix of aesthetic delight and conceptual reading.”
Peltz' Selected Notable Exhibitions include:
Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art-Feminist Art Base.
Rockford Art Museum, IL, “ Pop Culture in Art at the End of the Millennium.”
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, NY, “Uncommon Threads.”
New Bedford Art Museum, MA, “Small Paintings: Vault Series.”
Sullivan Galleries The School of Art Institute of Chicago, “Ah...Decadence!”
Cheryl McGinnis Gallery
555 Eighth Avenue, Suite 710
@ 38th Street
New York, NY 10018

Then & Now
Lorraine Peltz
June 29 - August 14, 2009
Opening Reception
Thursday, July 9, 6-8 PM
Cheryl McGinnis Gallery
We are pleased to conclude our 2008-2009
season with the work of Lorraine Peltz.
This marks Lorraine’s first solo exhibition
with the gallery.

Another one bites the dust, a requiem to San Francisco art galleries

For a while, the economic realities facing the world have been blamed for the decline of the contemporary art market. A surprising outcome of the decline is newfound collaborations among galleries and a fresh willingness from galleries for price transparency. In some cases, the downturn brought misfortune to San Francisco with multiple losses of one fine art gallery after another. Some say this is a natural expectation, and an opportunity for the best to rise resulting from attrition, but the list is surprising. It includes prominent art dealers who have the diminished and seriously downsized their exhibition spaces, or have closed their doors and are lost to the gallery world ether. In alpha, not chron order, some of them are:

ArtWorksSF – Contemporary fine art, mixed media, photograph and performance space moved out of 49 Geary digs to 2861 California Street from which they manage a roster of local café exhibitions as well a portraiture business.

Bucheon – Always edgy and avant garde, the two ladies who ran the scene from the obscure upper Hayes Street in late 1990s, to hip lower Hayes in early 2000s, and final posh space on Grove Street last, are gone. It’s quiet where they were, as their last exhibition announced narrative works by artists Eckhard Etzold, Michael Frerris Jr., Mars-1, Sarah Ratchye, Gordon Henderson, Lordan Bunch, Laurel Connell, Olive Ayhens, Danny Keith, Alex Luke, Megan Wolfe, David Choong Lee, Lucho Pozo, Dan Nicoletta and Christina Empedocles, in a large show for such a small space. The show was extended, and some gallery alumnae have been redistributed, and welcomed with alacrity, by Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art, for example.

Cain Schulte Gallery – With a consistently critical schedule of exhibitions, the gallery that morphed in 2006 out of Michael Martin’s space on Townsend and 3d Street by it’s two partners, Marina Cain and Kit Schulte, has moved to 714 Guerrero Street. Continuing to support its artists and clients with a full schedule of privately run home-based exhibitions and events, Cain Schulte representing contemporary artists from the United States and Europe with a focus in painting, the gallery promises to consistently participate in national and international art fairs. The word is that Kit’s established a gallery in Berlin, as Marina continues the business privately while seeking better digs. Go, Cain Schulte! You give galleries a good name.

Don Soker Contemporary Art bode farewell to the 49 Geary community with a small reception hosted by Claire Carlevaro of Art Exchange Gallery this March. A beloved gentleman gallerist, the word is that he’s gone to private consulting while his website states an upcoming inaugural exhibition at an immense new space somewhere in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district. A standout presenter with a good eye for solid relevant artworks, this will be something to look forward to.

Oakland’s Esteban Sabar closed his gallery last August, another casualty. Just two years after its opening, and one year after its initial foray into Art Miami|Basel scene, the gallery is gone. The initial controversy generaged by the new rush of 20 something hipsters that 'invaded' and discovered Oakland’s downtown overnight wasn’t enough to support an established ‘art scene.’ Its owner, Esteban Sabar, earned respect with disarming charm and the sort of unabashed honesty one rarely encounters regularly in the art world, whatever corner of it you find yourself in. Flamboyant, garrulous, friendly, and possessed with unique talents, Sabar is silent these days. I hope it won’t be for long as his program was so far out it was fun and refreshing.

Gallery 415’s focus on Latin American artists moved out of its 49 Geary home to the heart of the Mission District. While this seems apropos given the large Hispanic community that considers the Mission its home, the rest of us are probably envious of the unique opportunity to present from the growing importance of the newest group of artists: the San Francisco Mission School. While the gallery’s owner, Claudine intends to focus on private art consulting at her new location, it’s probable that she will continue to champion artwork by emerging and mid career Latin American artists, in step with the recent focus on Latin America, as well as the growth of affluence and desire to invest by the American-born Hispanic community. Luckily, growth in Latin American art, artists and collectors, is not just a blip on the radar anymore, as Art Basel at Miami has certainly made things much more accessible! New address: 622 - 27th Street, San Francisco.

Hacket-Freedman, another Hayes Valley alum, closed its doors as of May 1. Founded in 1986, by Michael Hackett and Tracy Freedman, the gallery offered a select inventory of 20th-century and contemporary painting and sculpture, with a particular focus on postwar American and Californian art; the established partnership specialized in represented contemporary realism, including the estate of David Park. One partner is off to the wilds of private consulting, while the other will manage the rest of the collection, I’ve heard.

Hang Art introduced a novel approach to buying art in the late 1990s with its clear and published business structure. Using a happy formula for emerging artists with non-wavering price formulas that are client-friendly too (their website states they show artwork under $200!). The gallery showcases works by emerging artists and features a list of ‘staff picks’ and actively promotes affordable artworks to a broad collector base. On May 1, Hang Art downsized to one exhibition space at 567 Sutter Street. Smart move.

Octavia’s Haze – Sometime in 2008, painter James Michalopoulos began to show his work exclusively at the space developed by Michael Melampy. The cleverly-named gallery showed glass objects and vessels on the corner of, ahem, Octavia and Hayes Streets from about 1999 to 2008. Now co-mingled on lower Hayes Street with another shop, and while the name doesn’t seem as apt or clever as it was at its old space, they seem to be continue a brisk trade in hand blown glass vessels with their new partners.

Reaves Gallery – Sharon Reaves, artist mentor turned art dealer, took her emerging artist business from the Castro to a beautiful space on Gough Street. A year later (actually just a week or so ago) and according to its website, the gallery is gone for rebranding, and its website now features the Reaves Collection. Sharon tells me she’s gone for the opportunity of a lifetime in NYC. Lifetime opportunities are good. Loud applause.

871 Fine Arts – Fine art book, posters, artists books and other ephemera moved out of 49 Geary next to Crown Point Press on Hawthorne Lane. Quiet move, not much fanfare, in fact hardly any, as former clients still come by looking for it.

Weinstein Gallery – This powerhouse gallery showing modern works by Chagall, Miro, and Picasso, as well as uber-pricey glass sculptures by Christopher Reis, closed its Grant Street space to consolidate with its posh mega space on the corner of Powell and Geary Streets last week.

Wow. That’s quite a list. Oh, I forgot, there’s another casualty - what about the quiet-made-quite-public-furor over the tenured staff slash and burn at SF’s venerable San Francisco Art Institute... in the name of the economy, etc. Oh well, so much for San Francisco’s fame as an art vanguard.

We San Franciscans are fortunate to still have a couple of galleries left, and hope to benefit from a couple of surprising moves. Altman|Siegel’s directors came west as they grew out of gallery experiences in NYC and moved in to 49 Geary, Jack Fischer moved out of his exciting mini gallery into Don Soker’s window-lit space and is rockin’ San Francisco. Micaela moved her glass sculpture and media arts out of Hayes Valley (and hopes the move was not jinxed by the Hayes Valley kiss of death) and into ArtWorkSF’s space, also at 49 Geary, and painter-turned-gallerist George Lawson opened up Room for Painting Room for Paper next door to Micaela.

For those that are gone, we hope it’s farewell but not goodbye. For those that reduced their efforts and await the economy to rebound, and for the rest of us, long live contemporary fine art in San Francisco!

For more info: Altman|Siegel, ArtWorksSF, Bucheon, Cain Schulte Gallery, Don Soker Contemporary Art, Gallery 415, Hacket-Freedman, Hang Art, Jack Fischer, Micaela, Octavia’s Haze, Reaves Gallery, Room for Painting Room for Paper, San Francisco Art Institute, Weinstein Gallery.

Wikipedia founder: artist Scott Kildall is a troll

Is Wikipedia Art an intervention or an agressive act of cyber squating? Scott Kildall is a conceptual artist whose social commentary is addressed in his artwork in video. He addresses political philosophies in the real 21st century and in the virtual Second Life world.

read more | digg story

James Bacchi, San Francisco Gallerist Extra-Ordinaire

San Francisco can be very grateful that veteran art dealer, James Bacchi, was saved from his next-door neighbor’s fire by his sleepy-looking hound, Fred. James reported on his regular Facebook page that it was a very close call this morning!

read more | digg story

Fortuitous Moments

Micaëla Gallery is pleased to present, "Fortuitous Moments", featuring works by Gary Clemenceau, Scott Kiernan and Tobias Tovera. These artists employ a wide spectrum of artistic approaches, including painting, photography, and video. Opening on Tuesday, March 3, the reception welcoming the artists will be held on Thursday, March 5, from 5 to 7.30 pm.
GARY CLEMENCEAU's work is a result of experimentation with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductors and charged-coupled devices from old digital cameras, wiring them together and running them through powerful magnetic field. These abstract and expressionistic photographs are explorations of the inner workings of his mind; recreations of color fields he envisioned as a child while listening to music.

With a BFA in Photography from San Diego State University, Gary Clemenceau resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to managing his art practice, a busy life with his wife and children, and a multi-professional career, he is a published author of books of prose and poetry, and a 14-year professional musician veteran with jazz and classical album credits. Concurrently, Clemenceau is an invited artist whose artwork is being featured during the New York Armory show, courtesy of Rupert Ravens Contemporary.

SCOTT KIERNAN utilizes photography, video and performance to examine memory and consciousness. In his photographs, the artist uses himself and a mirror, set against various sites in New York City to reference fleeting moments in an ever changing urban landscape, moments that we are part of but not necessarily self-conscious of, as we are constantly consumed by our frenetic urban life. The video, an extension of the photographs, references one's past. Wearing a mirror backpack, the artist is walking away from us, and we are faced with deciphering the warped images in his mirror, only having landscape as a guide to our past.

Born and raised in the wilds of New York, Scott Kiernan is an avid follower of classical and modern philosophies. He earned his MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2007, and has a growing number of curatorial projects to his name. His artwork has been featured at Art Now Fair Miami 2007, and at Bridge Art Fair NYC and Miami 2008.

TOBIAS TOVERA: Inspired by energy and transmutation, Tobias Tovera's paintings are landscapes of color and texture. He explores the fluidity of pigment and the equilibrium between what he intends to create and what the material demands. By surrendering the need to fully control his medium, Tovera allows elements of chance to mark his work, immersing himself in the potentiality of the moment.

Tobias Tovera was born in Sacramento, California, of Filipino-German parents. Awarded a BFA from the California College of the Arts in 2001, his art practice includes installation, painting and video. Tovera's work was featured at Art Now Fair Miami 2007, and Bridge Art Fair Miami 2008.

Scott Kildall + Wikipedia Art!

Scott Kildall and Nathaniel Stern invite you to participate in an intervention on Wikipedia!

Wikipedia Art is art that anyone can edit.

We've posted a new entry on Wikipedia called "Wikipedia Art." This page is the manifestation of the work of art; alter its composition, and you become a collaborator in the art's formation. The catch is that Wikipedia, the world's free and editable encyclopedia, has enforced standards of quality and verifiability. All Wikipedia articles, and each fact written in them, must cite “credible” external sources: interviews, blogs, or articles in “trustworthy” media institutions.

Wikipedia Art is birthed, survives and transforms itself through public performance and communal intervention. It is continuously reconstituted and redefined in a participant-driven write+cite+edit process that we call "performative citation."

Wikipedia Art MUST BE written about extensively both on- and off-line, and these writings will in turn be included as part of the work, on its Wikipedia page. This serves the dual purpose of verifying the piece - which is considered controversial by those in the Wikipedia community, and may occasionally be removed from the site - as well as transforming it over time.

Here are three ways you can join the collaboration:

1. Write a text, blog entry, essay or any other form of thoughts about the project;
2. Edit the Wikipedia page itself, citing a published text (even your own!);
3. Pass along this call for participation to others

The link to the project page is http://www.wikipediaart.org

Initial interviews and essays: Wikipedia Art — a virtual fireside chat: http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/02/wikipedia-art-virtual-fireside-chat.html

WikiPedia art? -- by Patrick Lichty http://blog.furtherfield.org/?q=node/267

Lorraine Peltz

Lorraine Peltz' exhibition, Pleasure Paintings, along with works by Phyllis Bramson and Keer Tanchak, opened at the Elmhurst Art Museum this Sunday. Lorraine's paintings are complex ruminations on the nature of private identity and public persona. Using imagery culled from both personal history and the contemporary moment, they reference the past and the present. Chandeliers conjure a remembered culture, patterned stylized flowers, starbursts and decorative flourishes represent fantasy and desire, hidden but visually constant as socially acceptable feminine icons of sheer pleasure. Lorraine is also a newly awarded Illinois Arts Council International Travel Grant recipient, and will use the award to travel to Italy thissummer for a small show at at art space in Verona.

CANNON::NORTH::YUN Opening Reception

Please click here or cut and paste the following html to your browser:
http://www.micaela.com/cannon%20north%20yun%20opening.html

Events

MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
Opening Party & Reception - "Decoding Identity: I do it for my people" at MoAD (Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco) - Friday, January 23rd from 6:30-10:30 pm. DJ, drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and mingling with the artists and curators!

AFTERPARTY: 10:30 pm - 2:00 am at the W Hotel (181 Third St.) Special pricing on a MoAD cocktail ALL night!

Who: Featuring: 20 locally and internationally known artists

Description of the exhibition:

Forging a personal identity gives rise to a unique voice that transcends stereotypical barriers. The works of 20 diverse artists challenge cultural and ethnic prejudices and question issues of religion, sexuality, race, and gender. Ultimately, Decoding Identity heals the dynamic tension between individual and collective identities. MoAD Members Free. General Admission $10.

Includes works by: Lorraine Bonner, Ed and Linda Calhoun, Christopher Carter, Lalla Essaydi, John Yoyogi Fortes, Chaz Guest, David Huffman, Clint Imboden, Stephanie Anne Johnson, Annette Lawrence, Kelly Marshall, Wardell Milan, Ramekon O’Arwisters, Adrienne Pao, Jefferson Pinder, Dario Posada, Danny Ramirez, Manuel Rios, Blue Wade, and David Yun

About the Museum of the African Diaspora: The mission of the Museum of the African Diaspora is to connect all people through the art, history, and culture of the African Diaspora. Through public programs and exhibitions, MoAD invites you to share in the celebration of our common heritage. MoAD opened in December of 2005 in the heart of San Francisco’s arts district.

image credit: MoAD and with our regrets, unknown

Taliaferro Jones news...

Last night, Taliaferro Jones wrote that she was back from her holiday in Spain ... physically at least. She forwarded an article published in this month's ARTNews about her exhibition held in sync with her lecture at the Glass Art Society's summer conference in Portland. The article, by TJ Norris, discusses Taliaferro's work as follows: "Jones displayed a taste for the flowing gesture in her translucent kiln-cast glass sculptures mimicking the grace of oceanic movement. In three sumptuous works she gave the viewer a snapshot of the tips of waves. Shown together with a large-scale digital print of the reflective ocean surface, the meticulously rendered Effervescence (2008) captures the ferocity of whitecaps and the luxuriousness of sea foam." Bravo Taliaferro!