Red & White, Zza’s Wine Bar and Gallery

August 17, 2009 in THE WINE BAR GALLERY

I hate Wine Bar Art. I really do. Most of the time, in any given Wine Bar, the art is purely decorative work with no thematic relevancy. But now I have a problem: I love wine. I really do.
Over a year ago, I was asked to take over organizing the calendar of art events at Zza’s Wine Bar, the one attached to Zza’s Enoteca and Trattoria that sits lakefront in Downtown Oakland. I declared that if I was going to do this, we would have to show work that you would never expect to see in the classic wine bar setting. Since then, Zza’s has hosted eleven solo shows by emerging and important voices in local art. The media and themes show are as diverse as the City of Oakland itself: from graphic design, to illustration, to cyanotype photograph, to wall hung sculpture, to embroidery, The shows themselves have routinely impressed the community with meaningful, professionally presented work that holds its own critically. The Receptions have become famous for having the best complimentary finger-foods ever served at an art event. It is clear the team at Zza’s is committed to attracting quality artists and presenting beautiful art.
The Show “Red and White” is Zza’s first Group show of Alumni artists who have all had solo shows at the Wine Bar in the past year.

-Obi Kaufmann