Thursday Art Events

Here are some things to see at the downtown First Thursday art openings in San Francisco tomorrow night.

14 Geary St.

Paule Anglim will show two artists, Shirley Shor and Keith Hale. In a previous show there, Shor presented a hypnotic video piece in which a Modernist sense of form was undermined endlessly by the very rules that created the forms. I'll be interested to see what she has cooked up this time. There will be a reception.

49 Geary St.

Patricia Sweetow has an energizing new show that encompasses paintings by Markus Linnenbrink and large collaged self-portraits by Jonathan Burstein (a local boy—and he's naked). There will be a reception.

Gregory Lind will show new paintings by Barbara Takenaga, who has been working a psychedelic vein in which a mass of small forms, often spherical, generate a swirling, crowded picture space. The paintings are hard-edged, with rigid patterns and scant breathing room, but offer colors and forms that convey a trippy jewel-like quality. There will be a reception for the artist.

While you're in the building, stop by Jack Fischer's for the group show, and don't miss the superb show at Steven Wolf's, where Kaz Oshiro and Molly Springfield carry the day with objects that fuse amazing craft with intriguing conceptual underpinnings.

77 Geary St.

Rena Bransten will feature shows by two artists, Panayiotis Michael and Tommy Støckel, with a reception.

If Heather Marx is open, be sure to see Mike Arcega's show in which pre-modern imagery, combined with wit, throws a light on the current world scene. The cathedral facade, made with a petroleum-based material, is particularly impressive. Look at it closely and you will see oil everywhere—and baby, it doesn't look like heaven.

Los Angeles in Paris

Yesterday (Sunday) the Los Angeles Times had quite a spread about the “Los Angeles” exhibition opening on March 8th at the Centre Pompidou, Paris. The show will include works from 1955 to 1985, by about 85 artists. According to the curator, Catherine Grenier, the show is designed to provide the backstory for the current wave of European interest in Los Angeles artists. She says that for young artists in Europe, “Los Angeles looks more important than New York.” The coverage is well worth reading, including the article on Lyn Kienholz's influence.