The Shadow Views Vessels

It may be Labor Day Weekend, but your friendly neighborhood Shadow is still viewing art and attending art receptions.

Yesterday, The Shadow viewed a new exhibit from ARTWorkSF at the Hotel Triton in downtown San Francisco entitled "Vessels".

One of the works from the exhibit

Artists showing at this exhibit are:

• Linda Hanson
• Allan Ayers
• Jamie Erfurdt
• Pauline Crowther Scott
• Phyllis Rockne
• AnneKarin Glass
• Charlotte Kay
• Marcia Middleton
• Michael Bell
• Victoria Heilweil
• Rod Prideaux
• Rachael Hospodar
• Charles Trapolin
• Shawna Scarpitti

Guest curator for this exhibit was Pauline Crowther Scott, assisted (in small part) by Chief Curator Matt McKinley.

Guest Curator Pauline Crowther Scott with some of her works

Pauline's eye in selecting the works in this show was excellent. The work ranged from photos to paintings to one work that even came with its own lighting.

The show as described is as follows:

The idea of a "vessel include cups, containers, bowls and ships -- all have the ability to hold "something". Alternatively, it also has a religious connotation, i.e., "a vessel of the Lord" or someone who is infused with a divine quality. There is even a biological meaning: arteries in animals, tubes or canals in plants. This exhibit features vessels in all senses of the word!

Artist Jaime Erfurdt with one of her works

This show will be open at the Hotel Triton, 342 Grant Avenue, in downtown San Francisco, through September 5, 2007. Public viewing hours are 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. daily, including the Labor Day weekend.

And for those of you who may be interested, The Shadow has been informed that the ARTWorkSF show "Soft Core", which The Shadow brought to you here will be extended through September 2, 2007 at the ARTWorkSF Gallery, 49 Geary Street, #234.

Other Photos from the "Vessel" Reception are available here.

The Shadow Sees Life Is Beautiful

One of the reasons why The Shadow enjoys going to ARTWorkSF receptions is that he gets to view the art in different venues besides the 49 Geary Street Gallery. On August 9, 2007 visited La Vita e' Bella in the SOMA area of San Francisco for a new exhibit entitled "Life is Beautiful".

One of the works at the exhibit

Artists showing at this exhibit are:

• Janet Allinger
• Celestte Girouard
• Grayson Yeager Malone
• Natasha Dikareva
• G.K. Callahan

The Guest Curator for this show was G.K. Callahan.

More work from the exhibit

This was a great show in a fantastic venue. Works were selected in several mediums and were hung well. Among other touches for the evening were great wine, good food, and a DJ.

Curator G.K. Callahan (left) and art patron with his new purchase

La Vita e' Bella specializes in modern affordable kitchens, closets, furniture and bathrooms imported from Italy. They have a beautiful showroom located at 1000 Brannan Street, Suite 102 in San Francisco. You can view their website here.

People enjoying the reception

This exhibit will be open through September 12, 2007 at the showroom of La Vita e' Bella.

More pictures of the reception are available here.

The Shadow Views Soft Core

Many of you have written to The Shadow to ask about ARTWorkSF's feature show "One Night Stand". Well The Shadow has found out recently that "One Night Stand" will not take place this year, citing scheduling difficulties. The show will return next year.

In the meantime, ARTWorkSF has made up for the loss of "One Night Stand" with their August First Thursday show entitled "Soft Core".

One of the works at the exhibit

Artists showing at this exhibit were:

• Fernando Reyes
• Michael Childs
• Joan Miro
• AnneKarin Glass
• Alexandra Chowaniec
• Genea Barnes
• MB Stephens
• Ann T. Elliott
• R.B. Ward
• Anahid
• William Ulrich
• Victoria Mara Heilweil
• Bruce K. Hopkins
• Karen Gutfreund
• Heather Robinson
• Dianne Estrin
• Sarah Whitecotton
• Lois Llewellyn
• Will Maller
• Nina Goldfeather
• Amelia Lewis

Artist Genea Barnes with some of her work

This was a beautifully done show. All of the works were very sensual and sexy without being over-explicit. There were works from just about every medium (The Shadow especially enjoyed the photos), and there was even erotic poetry recited.

A poet recites from some of his erotic works

This show will be open through August 25, 2007 at ARTWorkSF's studios at 49 Geary Street, 2nd Floor.

Artist MB Stephens with 2 of her works

More pictures from the reception are available here. The Shadow should warn here that there is mature subjects in the link.

The Shadow Goes Beyond Fiction

With The Shadow now through all of his technical problems, this blog can now do what it was designed to do: Bring to the world the darker side of art and culture in San Francisco.

On July 25, 2007, The Shadow visited the new studios of ARTWorkSF. More on the new studios in a moment. The exhibit he went to view was entitled "Beyond Fiction".

One of the works at the exhibit

Artists showing at the exhibit were:

• Darwin Price
• Will Bulas
• Christine Tsouo-Harvey
• C. Crampton
• David Otto
• William Mayfield
• Kenny Mencher
• Carol Wedemeyer
• Gk Callahan
• John H. Jones Diallo
• Judy Johnson Williams
• Vladimeer Feokirtov
• Jane b. Grimm
• Alicia Debrincat
• Phyllis Rockne
• Lois Llewellyn
• Christine Cianci

A sculpture sits on the floor at the exhibit.

This exhibit was curated by Guest Curators Gisela Tangui and Grant Lewis. Gisela and Grant described this exhibit as follows:

Figurative elements in these works illustrate cultural commentary through allegorical narratives. Whether respectively subtle or overwhelmingly obvious, this exhibit features a myriad of mediums that supply the mind with symbolic interplay and stories of cultural mythology from around the world.

Guest Curators Grant Lewis and Gisela Tangui

As this was the first show that Grant and Gisela have curated for ARTWorkSF, The Shadow gave this show a very critical eye. And he was very pleased with the show. They selected several works from several mediums which told a fantastic story. The Shadow expects to see many good things coming from them in the future.

Artist William Mayfield with one of his works

This show has ended and if you were not there, you missed a good one.

Which leads us to our second announcement.

ARTWorkSF has moved to larger quarters in the 49 Geary Building. They took over the old Catherine Clark Gallery (which is now located in SOMA) and have done wonders with the place.

Scenes from the reception

Be sure to stop by the Gallery soon and see the new space. For more pictures from the reception, click here.

The Shadow Is Back

The Shadow has come back from the darkness.......

The Shadow was having technical difficulties recently which prohibited us from posting entries to this blog. The difficulties have now been remedied and The Shadow once again is ready to bring to you the best of the art scene in San Francisco.

Stay tuned.