Final Days for 2 Exhibits

Tomorrow, June 30th, is the final day of “Bay Area Currents” at the non-profit Oakland Art Gallery. For this year’s edition, the juror was Christopher Miles, notable art writer and curator from the Los Angeles area. There is some interesting work in this show, particularly the contributions of Michael Mellon, Ben Riesman, James Sansing, Tabitha Soren, and Kirk Stoller. The gallery is located near Oakland’s City Hall, at 199 Kahn’s Alley. There is a map on the OAG website. The hours are 11:00 to 5:00 on Friday.

Michael Zheng’s exhibit at Mission 17 in San Francisco, originally scheduled to close on July 1st, has been extended to July 8th. The show, entitled “As the Butterfly Said to Chuang Tzu,” is highly conceptual but absorbing in a quiet way. The show is uncluttered and unfolds nicely as you wander around. In one piece (image above), the artist has damaged a wall and then covered the damage with a life-sized photo of the damage. Another piece is nearly invisible until you notice it, and then you have to look close to make sure you know what you’re seeing. Gallery hours are Tuesday 3:00-6:00, and Saturday 2:00-5:00. The address is 2111 Mission St., Suite 401, near the corner of 17th St.

Obscure Show of the Week

Five guys who met in the MFA program at San Francisco Art Institute have organized a show of their work at Root Division, an artist-run space in San Francisco's Mission District. The artists are Dustin Fosnot, David O. Johnson, Casey Logan, Ian Treasure, and Brian Wasson. The affable Dave Johnson gave me a tour on Monday. It’s an interesting show—and definitely more engaging than a number of recent commercial gallery shows. I hope people will see it by the final day, Saturday, June 24th. There is a blog site for the show, although the photos there don’t do it justice (and what’s with that black background?). The installation shot above is borrowed from that site. One hiccup is that you need to call Root Division at (415) 863-7668 to arrange to see the show. This is not as hard as it may seem. One reason for the appointments is so that the show can be turned on (many lights, a motor) before visitors arrive. Root Division is located at 3175 17th St., between Shotwell St. and South Van Ness Ave.

Last Day for Bucheon Show

Today June 18th is the last day of “Deluge” at Bucheon Gallery. It’s a group show of mostly (but not exclusively) watercolors, and there are a number of work that are worth seeing. My photos of the show did not turn out very well, partly because of uneven gallery lighting, but examples are shown above and below. The gallery is open until 6:00 pm today. The location is the Civic Center area at 389 Grove St., just east of Gough St.

The (Sad) Affordable Art Fair

I just looked through the website of the upcoming Affordable Art Fair in New York City, which has lined up more than 75 galleries. Is there such a thing as an infallible taste for bad art? It's painful to think of newbie collectors attending this event with the expectation that a lot of good art will be available for—how lucky—under $5,000. The art world actually offers quite a bit of good art for less than $5,000, but you need to know who and where. Newbie collectors need to understand that top galleries instinctively steer away from anything that sounds down-market, even if their backrooms contain excellent work in the lower price range.

New Exhibits in SF and Beyond

The MFA Exhibition of the University of California, Davis, will open tonight, Friday, June 2nd. There will be receptions at the two venues, the Richard L. Nelson Gallery and the Memorial Union Art Gallery. The campus website provides a map page that also has a link to parking information.

The non-profit Southern Exposure is about to close for an extended period of earthquake retrofitting and gallery reconfiguration. On Saturday, June 3rd, there will be a closing event from noon to 5:00 pm. As a souvenir of this much-loved space, you can plunk down $20 and get a canned piece of their walls (photo above). The address is 401 Alabama St., near 17th St., in San Francisco.

Jack Hanley Gallery is opening a solo exhibit of New York artist Carter. Carter’s drawings are full of male heads that remind me of barber shop style posters. The show will also include photographs. There will be a reception on Saturday, June 3rd, from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. The address is 395 Valencia St. (near 15th St.) in San Francisco.

Crown Point Press has released two new etchings by New York artist Kiki Smith. These are on view in the gallery along with other work. The location is 20 Hawthorne St., off Howard St., in San Francisco.

San Francisco Art Institute has opened an exhibition that includes 15 SFAI alumni from the late 1960s to the late 1990s. The exhibit, entitled “Work Zones,” was curated by Okwui Enwezor and is presented in the Walter and McBean Galleries. This is a don't miss exhibit, but there is plenty of time to see it, as it runs through July 29th. The address is 800 Chestnut St., between Jones and Leavenworth Sts.

If you’re out in San Francisco’s Sunset District, stop by the Mollusk Surf Shop to check out the little show curated by Marsea Goldberg, proprietor of New Image Art in Los Angeles. I have seen some good work in this relaxed venue. The address is 4500 Irving St. (at 46th Ave.). The phone is (415) 564-6300.