Alternative Exhibition Spaces (Artists Keep Inventing)

Alternative Exhibition Spaces (Artists Keep Inventing)

One of Richard Shelton's paintings, on large pieces of destructed buildings. At Temporary Space LA.

It’s no longer news that San Francisco is becoming more and more inhospitable to artists and other members of the working class. Many of us are leaving. The rest are scrambling, praying, and looking for new ideas. Dave & I started a public exhibition space in our living space. (Not a new idea, but not especially common either.) It’s just a stop-gap, until we find a more compatible community, which for us is probably going to be Los Angeles. 

Gallery visitor with iPad for enhanced viewing (point it at the art and it gives you more info on the piece, including preliminary drawings.) Work by Richard Shelton. At Temporary Space LA.

On a recent scouting mission to LA, we stumbled across an art opening at Temporary Space LA, which is (temporarily) at 5522 Wilshire Blvd. There was coffee, live music, and a big solo show of work by Richard Shelton. Temporary Space, like BigCrow, is about “creating an alternative art economy.” How refreshing! They were also started by artists, in this case Richard Shelton & Stacie Meyer. Unlike our invitational group shows, they are doing solo shows by mid-career artists and they have some cool tech-assisted art-viewing ideas that I’ve never seen before. They also encourage and facilitate direct collector to artist communication.

Gallery visitors at Temporary Space LA. Works on paper by Richard Shelton.

The best part of the experience for us (David W. Sumner, Pamela A. Heyda, John W. Wall, and yours truly) was the enthusiastic response from the gallerists when they found out we were artists from SF. We were welcomed, given freebies, invited to submit, and encouraged to move down to LA. 

Wow. OK. We’ll be back.

artMRKT & ArtPadSF opening this week.

Hung Liu, The Sewer, 2013, oil on canvas, 72 x 72 inches. Nancy Hoffman Gallery

This is certainly proof of the old adage that when it rains, it pours. Two huge art fairs, opening in the same town, in the same week. 7x7SF has a game plan for those who are already overwhelmed: http://ht.ly/l48ZQ

artMRKT San Francisco, the Bay Area’s premier contemporary and modern art fair, opens today, May 15, at the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason. The show will feature 70 galleries from around the globe, bringing some of the world’s most intriguing artists and galleries

Walter Robinson, Capitol Hill Billy, 2012; Plywood, steel, polyurethane plastic, rubber, digital print on tyvek; 32.5 x 32 x 21 inches. Catherine Clark

Regular hours: Friday, May 17, 2013 - 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.. Saturday, May 18, 2013 - 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Sunday, May 19, 2013 - Noon to 6:00 p.m.

http://www.art-mrkt.com/sf

Daniel Green. Smell Sumo Feet Wrestlers. 2002. Creativity Explored

ArtPadSF, a smaller but edgier art fair opens tomorrow. Located in San Francisco Tenderloin district, the area is a bit rough around the edges but full of hidden treasure for the adventurous art seeker. The Phoenix Hotel closes to the public and turns 44 rooms for the creative and traveling into an art benefit for SF MOMA.

Over the course of the weekend, art patrons will be given the run of the hotel including the tropical courtyard. That's just for starters. The 4-day weekend promises more of the same, with screenings, panels, performances, access to a wide range of galleries and opportunities to talk to the artists.
http://artpadsf.com/

http://www.examiner.com/article/art-pad-and-artmrkt-opening-this-week-san-francisco