Archive for the ‘MISC/ART STUFF’ Category
General Release 05.28.12
GROUP ART SHOW
The World Saving Device: Oakland Art, 250 Years From Now
The Hive Gallery
301 Jefferson St. Oakland, CA 94607
Show Dates: August 3rd (08.03.12) – August 31st (08.31.12), 2012
Reception: First Friday, August 3rd (08.03.12), in conjunction with Oakland Art Murmur
The Hive Gallery, curator Obi Kaufmann, and designer Jason Kulp are pleased to present The World Saving Device – Oakland Art, 250 Years from Now. Ten Oakland painters and illustrators come together in this wildly imaginative show to explore the metaphor of a world that needs saving. The gallery will be transformed to resemble a cave, a proto-cathedral, or some sort of intergalactic womb.
By positing some kind of deep future, what happens – especially here on the island that is California – is a reaching into our distant past. The device that ultimately saves the world becomes the ritual of the art-making process and its ability to convey compassion and a sense of some new, universal ecology.
Participating Artists –
Jon Carling – www.JonCarling.com
John Casey – www.Bunnywax.com
Ernest Doty – www.ErnestDotyArt.com
Thomas Christopher Haag – www.ThomasChristopherHaag.com
Obi Kaufmann – www.ObiKaufmann.com
Lauren Napolitano – www.EllephantParade.com
Nathaniel Parsons – www.NathanielParsons.com
David Polka – www.DavidPolka.com
David Seiler – www.VictorianRat.Squarespace.com
Gina Tuzzi – www.GinaTuzzi.com
The gallery show will be supplemented by a collaborative website to be launched in early July.
The gallery will be open on the following dates during these appointed hours:
08.03.12 – Friday – Opening Reception, 6pm to 9pm
08.04.12 – Saturday – 12pm to 4pm
08.09.12, 08.16.12, 08.23.12, 08.30.12 – Thursdays – 6pm to 8pm
08.31.12 – Friday – Closing Reception, 6pm to 9pm
Press Contact
Obi Kaufmann, curator
Phone 925-951-7501
www.OaklandSweetart.Wordpress.com
Visual Arts Writer
WSD graphic by David Polka
Alexi Torres
David Allen Peters
David Maxim
Ross Bonfonti
James Niel
Hugo Lugo
Farnaz Shadravan
Robert Brady at Trax as published in the East Bay Express, 4-11-12
You can always count on smiles from Alissa and Kerri as you walk into Marion and Rose’s Workshop. Thriving in the middle of the Pop-up neighborhood that has established itself very nicely as the place to go for all kinds of locally made fine crafts, the Workshop is a cute little store that also sells wares from many big name artists. Gina Tuzzi, above left, and her votive candles and Michael McConnell and his animal headed little people are just a couple of the affordable treasures that I am in love with.
Pop-up hood is rocking Old Oakland these days. It truly has revolutionized the experience of strolling through those great old buildings near 9th and Broadway. Where just a month ago there were empty store fronts and struggling office-spaces, now brightly merchandised shops display local crafts – a brilliant turn around full of love and hope.
Above, left, Papa Llama’s awesome dreamcatchers…yes, I like dreamcatchers (at least awesome ones like these) at Piper and John General Goods, 465 9th Street. Above, right, Scott Macleod’s amazing boat at Holidayland in Marion and Rose’s Workshop, next door.
Some of the talented ladies of Pop-Up Hood. Left, Sarah Swell and Kate Ellen of Crown Nine at 461 A 9th Street. Then right, Alli and Sarah Filley, on of the co-counders of Pop-Up Hood.
Check out this great video documentary by Eva Kolenko that tells the whole story. The grand opening party was last night, so get down to Old Oakland and explore all the goods.
above, work by John Ruszel
In my continued quest to collect and document interviews and interactions with locals who work behind the scenes to make Oakland art happen, I sought out Lonnie Lee. Lonnie is the owner of Vessel Galley and in two years, has built a solid reputation as a staple on the Murmur route. I realize that my current portfolio of art-scene makers and doers is mostly artists on this website, that may be changing in 2012 as I am not organizing the venues as I have for so long now, in any regular way, ie, the wine bar, et al. I am very pleased to begin the new chapter of Swee(t)Art with a chat with Lonnie about her gallery and the beautiful show that hangs there now, with work by Gordon Glasgow and John Ruszel.
Obi: How did you come to a career in the art world? Is Vessel your first project?
Lonnie: I grew up drawing on paper napkins as a child in my family’s Chinese restaurant. From there I studied art seriously throughout high school, then proceeded to study architecture, and painting. I finished college with a major in visual communications + design with a minor in photography. Coming from a very traditional immigrant family, I was misunderstood in my pursuits and I had to make a choice to be practical in my studies and career. I had a design firm for 10+ years doing works for galleries, installations, fashion, VC firms, branding, packaging. After kids, I took a break, then took the opportunity to redefine my energies and move back to fine art. I opened Vessel Berkeley 7 years ago. 1.5 years ago I expanded that project to my current gallery location in Oakland, my home base since 1982.
Lonnie, in front of Vessel
Obi: When you opened Vessel a couple of years ago, there wasn’t a whole lot going on 25th was there? How did you decide to open Vessel there?
Lonnie: I was in search to expand my gallery space, while wanting to simplify my life by localizing it more. My kid goes to an OUSD school, and I live in Oakland. I really wanted to work and own a business here. So I searched high and low all over downtown for a potential gallery space. In fact, I know so much about Real Estate in our city that one realtor said I should go into RE as a profession. No thanks. I was really compelled by the interesting architectural spaces that were all over Oakland. I’m a bit of a compulsive hunter/scouter, and I love digging – I enlisted friends to be on the look-out as well. I called lots of people and looked at many spaces. I consistently found myself drawn to spaces that were overlooked, much too tattered and had POTENTIAL. I saw a sign on the 25th Street, viewed the space and instantly fell in love. It did not look the way it does now. It had a makeshift staircase to the second story – the walls and pitched roof ceiling had 3 millimeters of patina dust, the floors had so much grime on them you couldn’t even see the wood beneath. I was madly in love. Like a “bad boy” boyfriend that you want your friends and family to love, I brought everyone I knew to the space, including my artists, my clients and my family. They all said “Are you crazy?” followed by “Are you serious?” Because of their disapproval, I tried and tried to shake the gravitational pull I had for 471 25th Street. 3 months later, I was still thinking about the space, and my 16 year old daughter said to me, “Mom, I don’t understand, you keep asking for validation, you know where you want to be.” From the mouth of that wise babe and her faith, I decided it was okay to trust my instinct, and my heart. I contacted Drew Mickel (long time friend of landowner Matt Igleheart) and they trusted in my vision and supported me through the remodeling and opening of my gallery. The relationship we’ve built is much like that of a family. That space was a family business for 60+ years, and all of these elements added up to feeling right.
above, work by Gordon Glasgow
Obi: The new show in your gallery is beautiful, Can you talk about how this show came about?
Lonnie: This is a show that focuses on artists new to my stable, sort of emerging but not really – each are very practiced artists. Assembling shows is sometimes a very organic process. Connecting of dots and the desire to reveal certain notions with a show / exhibition. I know Gordon from my days in Berkeley, through two mutual artist friends. Gordon approached me to view his works. I was very impressed with his sensitivity towards the work and wit + humor revealed: I knew instantly I wanted to show it. John Ruszel’s work I had seen at an Arts Benecia show and took a note that I wanted to learn more about the work and artists. It wasn’t until meeting his brother Kevin who came to help with an installation that I learned who his brother was. More dots began to connect, John came by, and we began working together. Marirose Jellicich approached me after visiting Vessel on a walking tour. In this show I am drawn to the artist’s use of materials, but more importantly the artist’s use and approach to the subjects. There is a similar viewpoint toward structure be it figural or geometric design of form. IMO together Gordon, Marirose, and John present a beautiful counterpoint. In “Structure, Object and Truth Discerned,” these artists use expert skill and keen insight in creating their work, revealing the balances between pre-meditated design and human intuition, interdependence and independence, isolation and connectivity, as a subject or as a record.
There is a quiet and restrained quality to the work presented in “Structure, Object, and Truth Discerned” these attributes made me want to show these artist’s works, together. I like to shake things up and make my programming unpredictable. My hope, my desire, is to evoke a range of emotions, show to show, from the audience, be it intrigue, surprise, provoking new thoughts courageous, reflective, or meditative. This show to me is unlike the previous show and unlike the next. I guess I think of programming and curating as a narrative, and as a progression.
all photos taken by Obi Kaufmann, with permission from Vessel Gallery.
The galleries around 23rd and Telegraph are now open on Saturday afternoons. Being a fan of local art and not the stifling throngs that make up the First Friday crowd, I find that it is definitely the time to actually be able to appreciate the objects and environments on display. To be chosen as one of SWEE(t)ART Picks, the piece needs to exemplify exactly the point I believe the artist is trying to make in the context of the larger body of exhibited work. I only pick one piece per artist per show. In the case of a group show, I pick the piece that gets to the heart of the theme of the particular curation. I am very proud of Oakland art right now and the endless hours of labor and love that artists, curators and gallerists have put into making this thing happen every month has never been more readily apparent. The work is beautiful and the themes are real, visceral and alive…I believe the work below, as stunningly disparate as it is as a whole from one to the next, represents the very best of Oakland art today. –Obi Kaufmann
Below are my own pictures, with links to more information about the work. click on the images to enlarge.
David Gregory Wallace at Krowswork
Pamela Merory Dernham at Vessel, photographed with permission
Tabitha Soren at Johansson Projects
Cathy Cunningham-Little at Chandra Cerrito
Joseph Kowalczyk at FM (studio view)
Third Thursdays are now artwalk night on Piedmont Ave. I like it. Everybody is involved, including Video Room. Heck, that’s cool. It’s right outside my front door. I’m happy. Not really a gallery among them, but you know what? the level of quality, curated retail is pretty dang high. We’ll take on any neighborhood you got Oakland in that department.
Local artists David Seiler at left and Matt Decker at right flank Erica Skone-Rees, owner of The Rare Bird (3883 Piedmont Ave) at the Piedmont Ave Artwalk. The Rare Bird is the new star in our neighborhood. An excellent mix of arty stuff.
Artist Emily Coker is pictured her standing in front of the display of her awesome, handmade sketchbooks that you can buy at the Rare Bird.
John Casey and Derek Weisberg just published RIBS, a Quest for the Bay’s Best. Two dudes take their love of meat to the next level. What an impressive zine! Funny and informative. Kinda of a weird Time-capsule too…a moment in time, a picture of a particular facet of our local society that could have been anything: beer, clothes, hell…art? Just looking at the book though, makes my mouth water. I guess the best in their eyes is Phat Matt’s on Telegraph. It gets 9.5 stars. I think the run of zines is sold-out but you can check it out here.
photo of Derek Weisberg in his Oakland Studio, August 2, 2011.
Derek is moving to New York and we will all be wishing him the best of luck, tonight at the Commonwealth Pub in Oakland at 7:30. Derek and I have been working together for over five years now and I hope that continues as he sprouts wings and moves to the Big Apple. His always professional disposition and his impeccable eye both an artist and a curator will be sorely missed.
After a presenting a successful new approach to his popular “Logic Stone” style, one which involves color, at a last year’s auction at SoEx, Kerri Johnson approached Steven Barich about a solo show at Branch Gallery. “Zen with a Kickstand, and other New Work” debuted May 27th and will close following July’s Art Murmur, First Friday event. I sat down with Kerri and Steven and a bottle of cheap red wine to discuss what the hell is going on. Normally I do interviews via email but I am now going to present some recorded conversations to probe a little deeper, thus the wine.
Obi: Kerri, do you show a particular kind of artist at branch?
Kerri: Oh, like emerging versus established? I would say they are mainly mid-career. Not quite established, that generally means that the rent is getting paid through the art. Is there something between emerging and midcareer?
Steven: I would say there is the title, working artist. You are working to establish your art, pay your rent and find connections and a community. When you are mid career you are getting praised by the establishment beyond just working at it. Then, beyond that, the established artist is on a true road, accepted by the institution.
Obi: Is there any establishment or institution in Oakland beyond, say, the museum?
Steven: Well that is the thing about Oakland, before even the scene took off there were more established artists then I could count living in Oakland but showing in San Francisco and LA and even around Europe. They just lived here because it was cheap and they could be incognito. The museum was California and Bay Area art, they didn’t just look to Oakland. They just happen to be in Oakland. I would say there is no institution to validate anyone in Oakland.
Obi: We kinda like it that way though too.
Steven: That is what I was about to say, that is what makes it nice. You have to have far reaching goals, that is what makes you provencial or not.
Obi: But that is not you, I wanted to almost think of this show as a homecoming, but you showed last year at Rowan Morrison. You love Oakland.
Steven: Yes, I grew up here and I went to school here. Then I left and went to Europe and felt like I had my real education there. I became an emerging artist there. Then, by forces beyond my control, I ended up back here and just kept doing here what I had been doing there but by then the whole scene here had changed. I met people like Kerri and Jason of Blankspace and Matt and Lena of the Compound and Pete and Narangkar of Rowan Morrison and yourself, Obi, and other artists who were promoting it like John Casey and Derek Weisberg. There were all new players from before when I was here trying to do the same thing around 1999. They were all way more organized than I could ever have been. It was all better than I could have expected. I decided to stay. But the question is then what happens to all the players, both as gallerists and as artists? We hope that everyone who made the scene, succeeds and is recognized. Take for instance, Blankspace had a huge and great run but I noticed that you, Kerri, as a gallery did not get as much press as I thought you deserved only because of others, who arrived after you, got more.
Obi: Did Artopic arrive out of that? Your own frustration? Become your own press in true DIY Oakland fashion?
Steven: Yes, that was part of it. I wanted there to be a place where those who were developing the scene would have a chance to think and write about it. Establish the scene with words as much as actions. I believe you have to self-document yourself. Especially here where we don’t have Robert Hughes or Clement Greenberg or big art critic players. I don’t know, to make a long story short, I think of my work as able to move in a worldly global fashion and to be exhibitable anywhere beyond my friends, colleagues and peers. Beyond my local scene. But, I also have now realized in my age and experience that you really need to start where you are and develop the ground work with those around you, working the same scene, and to be reciprocal in that. To identify developments and only then will you have something to really talk about.
Steven Barich and Mable
Obi: Kerri, Did Steven show at Blankspace before you closed in 2010?
Kerri: He didn’t actually, we didn’t get a chance to show him. He has always been on my list of artists I wanted to show. At Blankspace, we were showing a lot of installation based work, a bit of a different track than here at Branch Gallery. Our big installation shows back then were the likes of John Rogers and Pete Nelson.
Obi: Blankspace was your first gallery, right?
Kerri: It was. I had curated here and there, but Blankspace was my first. When we closed Blankspace a year ago, I had already started BAYVAN with Nicole Neditch and Brooke Baird. We are coming on our two year anniversary at Branch. BAYVAN came from us talking to the Ellington in Downtown Oakland. They had asked us to find local artists for them. They ended up buying thirteen floors of local art. This gallery was the natural progression from that launch. A branch, so to say, of the larger network.
Obi: How has the mission statement evolved from Blankspace to Branch?
Kerri: It is very similar. At Blankspace we were already paying rent there because we were living there and it therefore we were really able to show more installation artists. A lot of our friends happened to be installation artists too back then. We haven’t had any installation work here yet but I am in talks with some artists to transform the space. We have 200 artists in our registry at BAYVAN and at Branch, we show artists from that registry. To become a BAYVAN artist, we do an open call and we also curate artists into it.
Obi: This a three month show, that is contrary to the norm here where you get your four weeks and you are gone. What was the intention there?
Kerri: We made the show run longer because we have limited hours. We wanted to make sure people had a chance to see it. We are open Fridays, eleven to two and then every First Friday, and then by appointment and we have had many people do that.
Kerri Johnson
Obi: Okay, let’s talk about Oakland. Steven, do you think your work is some kind of reflection or reaction to Oakland as a thing?
Steven: No, I don’t think art has to be a reflection of place at all. I would say that because I have had over twenty years of art making in Oakland, it has certainly influenced the choices of what I want to make work about. I think this body of work is particularly different than all my other bodies of work. I, myself, have become the reflection of where I live, of what I do.
Obi: I would say that your work is certainly influenced by multiculturalism. The Asian influence is strong in your work. The big one is called “Dragon’s Claws,” isn’t that a mediation of violence somehow?
Steven: Depending on what mythos we are talking about. For me, when I am making these works, based on scholar’s rocks, they are considering meditation on aesthetics. A dragon is a powerful thing. We are talking about powerful aesthetics. I am using the Dragon title as a strong thing, not a violent thing.
Obi: Do you identify with this kinda Neo-Op we see in such awesome local talent as Brian Caraway, a Branch artist, or Steuart Pittman, a Blankspace artist?
Steven: Funny you mention Brian. He and I have been talking a lot lately about art and issues like optics in our art. I would say neither of us think of ourselves as Op artists or post-painterly abstractionists or whatever. Both he and I, do though, think about marks with very specific ways of making them and if you deviate from that path, you ruin the image.
Obi: Kerri, I know you are an artist too. How has being an artist influenced your decision of who to show?
Kerri: Most of the artists I show make work that is radically different from my own. I enjoy that. I would never surround myself with artists who make work exactly like me. I appreciate people’s individual vision. When I am looking for an artist to show, there is usually one piece that really resonates with me.
Obi: What is the one piece in this show?
Kerri: Visual Blockade, the big color one. Similar to the one I saw at SoEx last year. I wanted to see where it could go.
For more information, visit Steven Barich’s website, Kerri Johnson’s art website, and BAYVAN’s website
Left, “The Angel of Sorrow and the Angel of Victory.” (detail) 80″x40″. Middle, “The Faces of the Protectors of the Soul of the Hand of the Earth.” (detail) 40″x 90″. Right, “The Child made of Stone.” (detail) 80″ x 40″
“I never had religion. On one level I equate religion with science fiction, then again I see the deep-psychological forces at work that drive us to describe a narrative to connect meaning to a void that stands as a miraculous contrast to all of existence. The character of an angel or a demon are the same to me; equally capable of violence, jealousy and working tirelessly for their own existential agendas. Is this a Buddhist idea? maybe. I love the terrible Dhakini’s depicted in so many Tibetan Tankhas, who defend Buddha’s truth with big swords and vicious relentlessness. All of this is a mirror of my heart and ultimately, only metaphorically connotative of a larger truth, not the truth itself. I believe this is the core dysfunction of fundamentalism. I am an artist because it is fearless in the face of God and makes worthy the efforts of angels and demons both. At Levende, I will be exhibiting the largest works I have yet to display in a gallery and the late night, First Friday Oakland setting will be just the crazy context for these works that have meant so much for me to create, and then of course, set free on my home town.” -Obi Kaufmann
Levende
827 Washington Street
Oakland, CA 94607
Email: obikaufmann@msn.com
http://www.oaklandsweetart.wordpress.com
Show: “ANGELDRIVER” by Obi Kaufmann
Reception date: March 4th, 2011, 9pm to midnight
Show dates: Mar 4th to April 1st, 2011
Gallery/Restaurant hours: 3pm to midnight, 7 days
Levende is pleased to announce that it will now be hosting First Friday art receptions to begin at nine o’clock. Levende, already the host of the successful Live Art Wednesdays, is opening up its walls to the large scale art works of a roster of national artists. Positioning itself as the place to go at the end of your First Friday Tour of Oakland Art Murmur by offering a full bar and Happy Hour prices after nine o’clock, Levende will be rotating art works every four weeks throughout 2011.
The first artist in the line-up is also the co-coordinator of arts events at Levende, Obi Kaufmann. Along with August Varlack of Bay Area August Promotions and Dirk Kahl, the owner of Levende, Kaufmann has been running Live Art Wednesdays from 5 to 8pm at Levende for nearly six months. Before that, Kaufmann was the curator of the Swee(t)Art Drawing Gallery and the Visual Arts Editor of the Berkeley Times.
Obi Kaufmann now brings his large scale paintings to Levende in a show called “ANGELDRIVER”. Obi’s provocative figurative paintings are a stylized hybrid of cave painting and street painting, where mythological forces wrestle with issues such as sex, violence, beauty and power. From the Berkeley Times, in reference to his recent successful show at Five Points Art House in San Francisco, “If anything, his paintings were primal and pure…so raw and so pure, begging the question, Does it get any more real?”
tshirt by Obi Kaufmann available at thetrappist.com
originally published 10.21.2010. click to enlarge
Warflower, my only show of paintings in the Bay Area this year, opened last night at Five Points Art House in San Francisco. The above picture, taken by Jason Bryan, the owner of Five Points, is of me about an hour before we started letting people in. The sun was still up and the candles were not yet lit. I am blowing on a small smudge stick of White Sage. There were almost a hundred candles that illuminated accompanied drawings throughout the evening, encircling the Coyote skull fetish in the middle of the massive gallery. As the night went on, the candles heated the room and as everybody began to sweat in the muggy atmosphere which added to the cave-like environment. The large cargo doors at the front of the gallery were opened and folks circulated between the sauna-like gallery and the cool San Francisco night air.
The place was packed from about seven o’clock till about midnight with a surreal array of community members from both sides of the bay including friends both old and new, collectors, family members who came from near and far, and a few press guys. Todd Kerr, my new boss at the Berkeley Times distributed free copies of the first issue of the subscription only newspaper.
Leb Borgerson, my dear brother-like friend from Portland, spun albums all night long creating an ambient, moody soundscape that complimented the work perfectly. I knew it would. Leb is not a DJ, he is a musician. He writes songs and plays a million instruments in spooling dark pop-based band called Quiet Countries.
I could not realistically have imagined a more perfect evening. I had about 100 works of art for sale and sold half of the show and I am so humbled and grateful for the community support. The show is up for about a month. If you missed it last night, check the Five Points website schedule for hours and events in the space throughout the month. I love that the Five Points community will be using the space even as the work remains on the wall. If you bought one of the works, you already know that the price includes either shipping on the drawings, or local delivery and installation on the large paintings. Thank you all. I look forward to seeing you again soon. -Obi
I’ll be at LEVENDE from now on, every Wednesday from 4pm to 7pm. I am so thrilled with this new idea. The Owner of Levende, Dirk Kahl, hired my friend August Varlack as a bartender recently and they got to talking about ways to get people into the bar before mid-week dinner. Dirk is a creative guy who has seen Sketch Tuesdays out at Minna; August contacted me about booking the artists…Voila! DRAWING WEDNESDAYS. I have been thinking about getting something like this together in the East Bay anyway. Funny how that works.
The place itself is beautiful. Levende has a nice long table where the artists will work. August will DJ and oh my, $3 Modelo on tap!
I have assembled forty artists, ten per week on a rotating schedule. Every Tuesday I will announce Wednesday’s line-up. -obi
Here are some images from the event. It is incomplete. I am am still learning how to contextualize it all.
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- Nathaniel Parsons
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- Nathaniel Parsons
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- Obi Kaufmann
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- Alex Rosmarin
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- Dave Higgins
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- Dave Higgins
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- Dave Higgins
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- Jake Watling
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- John Casey
Between Gray Areas. Graphite works by Bay Area artists. October 1. 2010. 6pm. Over 15 artists. click on image below to enlarge.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION OF THE GRAPHITE FLIER
OAKLAND SWEE(t)ART 
