Maharaja: The Splendor of India's Royal Courts at the Asian Art Museum

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/maharaja-the-splendor-of-india-s-royal-courts-at-the-asian-art-museum-review

Masters of Venice: Renaissance Painters of Passion and Power at the de Young.

 Paolo Caliari, called Veronese.  Lucretia.  ca. 1580-1583.  Oil on canvas.  Gemäldegalerie of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. courtesy FAMSF/Andrew Fox

The de Young Museum is hosting another not-to-be-missed show - an exclusive presentation of 50 paintings by sixteenth-century Venetian painters Titian, Giorgione, Veronese, Tintoretto, Mantegna, and more,


Review at:  http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/masters-of-venice-renaissance-painters-of-passion-and-power-at-the-deyoung

Pissarro's People at the Legion

Self-Portrait

“Pissarro’s People,” opening this weekend at the Legion of Honor, brings together more than 100 paintings, showing his humanistic viewpoint through portraits of his family and paintings of working class people. Pissarro was the most modest, the most committed to the original principles of Impressionism, the most politically radical and for us, the least known.
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/pissarro-s-people-at-the-legion

Richard Serra Drawings at SFMOMA

Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective is the first-ever overview of Serra's drawings. This traveling exhibition brings together roughly 70 works made over the course of some 40 years—including many of the artist's sketchbooks that have never been shown before—and is presented chronologically, tracing Serra's ever-evolving ideas and methods since the 1970's.

Long before the 20th black on black painting the show became, dare I say it, boring? Would I be considered a philistine for saying so? Probably. One thing is for certain; if it weren't for Serra's international reputation, no museum would be showing all of these without some serious editing.


Click on the link, earn the writer a penny:
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/richard-serra-drawings-at-sfmoma

Open Studios, 3rd weekend

 "Mermaids at the fountain." Nancy Ewart. Ink and watercolor on paper, 2011

Weekend 3, October 15 & 16, highlights SOMA, the Tenderloin, Potrero Hill,
and Bayview.

I'm showing this weekend so I hope to see some of you there (Nancy Ewart, 689 Bryant St, #27). I'm having a half off price on lots of items so there will be bargains galore. 

SOMA Artists Studios at Bryant at 5th have 35+ artists showing everything from puppets to pottery to painting. 

More images at my Flickr account: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49938734@N06/


689 BRYANT ST @ 5th ST. SAN FRANCISCO, CA

The studios are easy to get to by walking, bicycling or by public transportation. All featured studios are close to the CalTrain station and only a few blocks from Market St. BART stations. Several MUNI bus routes run to the neighborhood including the 9, 10, 12, 15, 27, 30, 45, 47 and metro lines N and T.
Nearby street parking is available.

SATURDAY ONLY RIDE the SOMA BUS!
October 15th, 12-5pm: Download the bus map here: http://www.somac-sf.org/free-open-studios-bus.html

Click at the link and earn me an extra penny: 
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/sf-open-studios-weekend-3

Free Family Day at the Yerba Buena Gardens

And all museums within the area...

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/yerba-buena-family-day-october-16th?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Weekend Picks for October 6th - 9th

Haven't got plans for the weekend? Here are a few suggestions..

 At the Asian Art Museum: Ha Insun , working with pencil on Korean mulberry paper, explores the hidden afterlife of broken ceramics. She is part of the Seoul-based art collective, Ipgim, whose work reflects the emerging feminist art movement in Korea today.

More at:
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/creativity-explored-open-studios-asian-art-museum

Jay DeFeo at Hosfelt Gallery

In the first West Coast exhibition of Jay DeFeo's art in fifteen years, Hosfelt Gallery presents a focused investigation of some of the formal and metaphoric themes that run through various bodies of work made in the two decades between the completion of her legendary painting The Rose and her death in 1989. The exhibition includes approximately 40 works, including paintings, drawings and unique photographic-based works, many of which have never previously been exhibited.

Review at: http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/jay-defeo-at-hosfelt-gallery

36th Annual San Francisco Open Studios, 2011. 1st weekend

The Mission, Bernal Heights, Castro, Eureka Valley, and Excelsior are the
focus of Weekend 1, October 1 & 2. Paul Madonna, well-known Mission-based
illustrator and creator of All Over Coffee, a weekly strip in the San Francisco Chronicle and on The Rumpus, returns this year, as well as painter and installation artist Cynthia Tom, whose surreal paintings touch on cultural identity, women¹s issues, the circus and more.

 Alexandra Blum is showing her colorful monotypes at 661 Castro while Jennifer Ewing exhibits her work on "spirit boats" at 540 Alabama St. 

Felicia Hoshino's charming children's book illustrations at Art Explosion and the Metal Arts Guild on Valencia, showcasing the work of dozens of  skilled, contemporary metal and jewelry artists.

Sadie Valeri's exquisite realistic paintings, showing at the studio complex at 18th and Mission.

Check out other artists and art events at the Art Span website and download a map.
http://www.artspan.org/

New logo for the Asian

THIS cost $400,000?

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/sf-s-asian-art-museum-launches-a-new-brand

MOCHA, Muddle, Machiavelli and Middle Eastern Politics

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/mocha-muddle-machiavelli-and-middle-eastern-politics

Glenda Joyce Hape: Connections Through Fiber

The de Young’s Artist-In-Residence Program returns after a short hiatus with Glenda Joyce Hape: Connections Through Fiber, October 5–30, 2011, in the Kimball Education Gallery. Hape, a Maori artist living and working in New Zealand, has had an interest in weaving for as long as she can remember. In recent years, she has enjoyed challenging technical boundaries and combining multimedia in her form making.

Hape’s strong passion draws attention to traditional and contemporary weaving techniques in the context of Maori costume, especially as it relates to kakahu (cloaks). Hape acknowledges her family, kinship group and community as strong informants in her thinking and inspiration for creating artwork. “My artwork speaks of and acknowledges the exquisite taonga (treasures) created by our tipuna (ancestors),” explains Hape. Read more at:

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/nancy-ewart

Central Market Arts Festival Kick-Off Weekend at Mint Plaza

San Francisco sure knows how to party..Central Market Arts Festival Kick-Off Weekend at Mint Plaza

Celebrate the start of the annual 24 Days of Central Market Arts Festival at Mint Plaza with a weekend of performances by acclaimed local companies on Friday, September 23 through Sunday, September 25. A complete list of events here:
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/24-days-of-central-market-arts-festival

Smithsonian Museum Day, Sat 9/24/2011

Ji-Young Lee. Be Tinged, 2010 . Naturally dyed silk and silk yarn, traditional surrender technique, handstitching. Museum of Craft and Folk Art, SF

In the spirit of Smithsonian Museums, who offer free admission everyday, Museum Day is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine in which participating museums across the country open their doors to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket...for free.

Check out the link for a list of Bay Area Museums offering free admission. The beauty of this offer is that it's nation wide so where ever you live, there's probably a museum participating in the program.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/smithsonian-museum-day-sat-9-24-2011?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Dog murdering artist gets $750,000 grant from SFAC

When the San Francisco Arts Commission (SFAC) sent out the press release for the artists chosen to decorate the Central Subway project, I filed it in my "ticker" file with a note to keep checking back.

I didn't give it much further thought except to note, with irritation, that some of the larger grants had not gone to local artists.

Like many San Franciscans, I was dubious about the value of the subway project. The price tag of $8 million and rising was high to begin with and a few extra million to various artists didn't seem more than a drop in the bucket of political patronage.

The name "Tom Otterness" didn't ring a bell.

Read more: 
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/dog-murdering-artist-gets-750-000-grant-from-sfac

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the de Young

Diego Rivera (Mexican, 1886–1957). Two Women and a Child, 1926. Oil on canvas. Gift of Albert M. Bender to the California Palace of the Legion of Honor. 1926.122. © 2010 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F./ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Diego Rivera's art was rooted in European modernism and the Mexican Renaissance, which sought to reaffirm indigenous culture as a means of unifying national consciousness. Rivera's depictions of rural Mexicans transformed cultural stereotypes with negative associations of poverty and ignorance into powerful nationalist symbols of human dignity and perseverance.

more at:
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/celebrate-hispanic-heritage-month-at-the-de-young

Remembering 9.11

9/11/2011. The Day. Bern Rauch. acrylic on canvas, 9x8'. At Driftwood salon.


I was sound asleep when one of my friends called me with the news. She was an early riser and told me to turn on the TV. I could not believe what I was seeing and it took quite a long time for what was happening to really sink in.

I was touched by the world wide outpouring of support and grief. For once in my life, I felt patriotic and even listened to the ceremony where Kathleen Battle sang so powerfully.

Then came the rest - restrictions on our civil liberties, a bombastic jingoism, a hijacked election, a right wing Supreme Court, endless war, endless death. How many have died since 9.11?  I can't even begin to count.


I hate the meaningless rhetoric wrapped around the American flag. I refuse to accept that it's been the "worse catastrophe" since ever and I know too much to believe the fraudulent claim that nobody has suffered like we have. We didn't even attack the right country when we invaded Iraq for the majority of the hijackers were from Saudi Arabia!



But if Bin Laiden and his followers wanted to destroy America, I think they have succeeded in ways that they may have never predicted. We have a debt that will probably destroy the country, unless we can reverse the tax breaks given to the most wealthy. The right wing and the mega-rich have a death grip on our economy, seeming not to care if the majority of people fall into an abyss little better than medieval serfdom . We have lost thousands of our young and killed more than thousands of people in countries that we knew little about before 9.11 and probably still know little about. Our political discourse has become toxic. The middle class that supported our democracy is under attack - not from outside terrorists but from an equally ruthless right wing plutocracy.


There are a few artists and a few events that approach this anniversary with sensitivity and political acumen - Driftwood Gallery is featuring the work of Bern Rauch (my friend Bernie from Project Artaud) whose paintings are a powerful look at 9.11. Ben Wood will be showing a new video at an interfaith service, the Cartoon Museum is sponsoring an on line exhibit and SFMOMA is offering free admission to active duty police, firefighters and first responders (and their families) this Sunday, September 11.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/commemorating-sept-11th-driftwood-gallery-ben-wood-cartoon-museum

The Getty acquires the Abby Bible, a 13th century Italian masterpiece

The Getty Museum has just added to their already superb collection of manuscripts by the acquisition of the Abbey Bible, an Italian illuminated manuscript that exemplifies the highest achievements of the Gothic era.

more at....(plus more images: http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/the-getty-acquires-the-abby-bible-a-13th-century-masterpiece

Bay Area Fall Arts Preview

 

Titian. Danae, part of Masters of Venice: Renaissance Painters of Passion and Power From the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna: Key works by Tintoretto, Titian, Giorgione, Mantegna and others from one of Europe's great city collections. Oct. 29-Feb. 12. De Young Museum

Mark your calendars for we are in for a glorious fall. You will be able to travel the world culturally without leaving the Bay Area - Dada in Berkeley, Houdini at the CJM, Maharajahs at the Asian and masterworks collected by the Hapsburg Dynasty - including Titian, Mantegna and Giorgione at the De Young. Read on because there's more, much more...
http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/fall-arts-preview

Four Saints in Three Acts - no pigeons, no grass and that's a fact!

Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein looking over the score for Four Saints in Three Acts, ca. 1929; Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Library, Yale University; photo: Mabel Thérèse Bonney

Review up at: http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-francisco/four-saints-three-acts-at-ybca-no-pigeons-no-grass-and-alas-review