'Impressionists on Water' at the Legion

 Pierre-Auguste Renoir (French, 1841–1919) Oarsmen at Chatou,1879

 The "Impressionists on Water" show at the Legion has received, at best, tepid reviews from our local art critics. I suppose that they prefer work that is considered more challenging, like the current show of work by Nicole Eisenman at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. 

Impressionism is so familiar to us by now that we have forgotten what a radical movement it was, a new way of experiencing the world through quick sensations, expressed in paint. Even their preferred mode of painting - en plain air - was considered revolutionary. They experienced nature directly, instead of through the medium of staged sets within a studio setting. Their art making depended on the radical changes in art supplies which included portable easels and manufactured paint in tubes. The impressionists created a work without mythology or kings or monsters; one which still speaks to the sensual and sensitive within us.

Paul Signac (French, 1863–1935). À Flessingue (At Flushing, Netherlands),1896

But in these perilous times, where it looks like we might be throwing more money at yet another Middle Eastern country in the middle of a confusing civil war, what would be better for the spirit than experiencing beautiful art? 

Why art that is beautiful became suspect and then, denigrated and even despised is an essay for another time. But for now, imagine yourself floating down the Seine on a summer day in 1898. The Franco-Prussian war is over and the horrors of WW I not even on the horizon. Enjoy a brief moment of tranquility before the 20th century arrived, beginning with optimism and ending with the destruction of so much that was promised but seldom delivered.

Paul Signac (French, 1863–1935). Le Soir (Abend-La Jetée de Flessingue) (Evening), published in Pan,1898


http://www.examiner.com/list/impressionists-on-water-opening-at-the-legion-of-honor

Sandra Yagi Open Studios Preview

I recently made a studio visit to Sandra Yagi, in her South Beach studio. Sounds almost tropical, doesn't it? It's an old CalTrans building nestled up against the Bay Bridge on-ramp. The last time I visited this building it was to see Tina Vietmeier.

Sandy just moved to this studio from her old place on Belcher Street. (I interviewed her there five years ago.) The same rolling cart and easels were here in "South Beach" (Rincon Hill), but this studio seemed a lot brighter, with huge windows along one wall. Sandy said it could get a little too bright, and she just got some curtains to cut down the mid-morning glare.

If you're not familiar with her work, Sandra paints with classic old-world methods, using familiar symbols and iconography to convey timeless and contemporary concerns. Lots of skeletons, animals, imagined landscapes, and darkly funny situations.



Sandra works out her ideas in sketchbooks before going to paint. She often uses 3D models to work out position, viewpoint, and lighting. Besides the occasional live model, Sandy has several skeletons (human and other) and she makes clay models when necessary. She showed us a box full of clay chimps that she was using to choreograph a fight scene.

These classic methods seem commonplace and hardly worth mentioning to most painters, but I think many art visitors/ viewers are completely unaware of the long road to the canvas. Another good reason to visit Open Studios (and ask questions) this month.

Sandra Yagi's building is holding an Open Studio event this weekend, starting Friday evening, October 23, 6-9 pm.
Saturday and Sunday, October 24-25, 11 a.m. to 6 pm. 
South Beach Artists Studios at 340 Bryant Street, near 2nd Street
Sandra Yagi is on the 3rd floor, suite 320, Studio 10.

Another interview with Sandra Yagi: NeverStopSeeing.com
Her blog: Beyond the Comfort Zone

Click on any image for more (and larger) photos of Sandra Yagi in her studio!

Open Studios Report: Kirstine Reiner

from guest blogger, T. Newson

I stopped by the new studio of my friend Kirstine (KerSTEEna) Reiner, during the ArtSpan sponsored San Francisco Open Studios. Her studio is now in Workspace Ltd., a revamped industrial space located at 2150 Folsom Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. The light is good and the space much more condusive to painting than her recent studio spaces in Dogpatch, where an unidentifiable miasma of environmental toxins made her feel sick all the time, or her first studio space in the Workspace building itself, which was also the access route for another artist into his studio.

Reiner has also recently found a new apartment in a nearby neighborhood (one of my absolute favorites), with a sunnier microclimate than her previous one.

The photos here don't do justice to Reiner's paintings. (Click on photo to see larger image.) She is one of the best I have ever seen for technique (including what I've seen in the Louvre), and within the deceptively simple images there resides both a vibrant tension and an expansive, often sublime tranquility.


See more of her work at:
http://reiner-art.blogspot.com
(photos by T. Newson)

Stanford Faculty Exhibit

Enrique Chagoya's "Illegal Alien's Guide to Greater America", at the Cantor Arts Center

Thirteen of Stanford University's art faculty are showing work from their own studios at the Cantor Arts Center in Palo Alto. I'm a fan of Enrique Chagoya's work, but I wasn't familiar with the other artists. Each artist was represented by a small selection of works, a photo of their studio and a short bio.

I'm embarrassed to say this was my introduction to the work of Matt Kahn. When I saw his pieces in this show it was obvious that the artist had spent a lot of time doing a lot of thinking and plenty of practice. The skill level and originality are off the charts. He's been an influential player in Bay Area art & design for 60 years (where have I been?) Kahn's paintings in this show were on canvas that was inconceivably stretched over curving forms and painted with immaculate precision. And the colors - each painting is a seminar in color theory.



"Cradle" (above) is two overlapping panels painted in shades of grey, the lower panel with an unseen, angled edge reflecting a red glow. Close-up, mid-range, and distant views are all rewarded by unique aspects of the work. A true masterpiece. Detail below:



I noticed that Matt Kahn is giving a free lecture on Sunday, Nov.. 8th, 2-3pm, at the Cantor Arts Center.

The faculty show, "From Their Studios", is up through the end of the year. CalTrain takes you right from SF to the Stanford campus and a shuttle bus will drop you off near the museum (it's an easy walk, too.) The museum is free and open to the public. They're open Wednesday through Sunday 11am - 5am.