March 18 2003

art

Art listings are compiled by Sarah Han. Because of space limitations, new art shows are listed the week they open (thereafter, shows are listed on a rotating basis), and we cannot list café exhibits. For information on how to submit listings to this section, see 8 Days a Week. Reviews are by Lindsey Westbrook.

museums

Asian Art Museum 200 Larkin; 581-3500. Starting Thurs/21: Tues-Wed and Fri-Sun, 10am-5pm; Thurs, 10am-9pm. $6-10 (Thurs after 5pm, $5). "Treasures Unveiled" grand opening day, Thurs/21, 10am-9pm (free). See 8 Days a Week, page 46.

California Palace of the Legion of Honor Lincoln Park (near 34th Ave and Clement); 863-3330. Tues-Sun, 9:30am-5pm. $8, $6 seniors, $5 for 12-17, free for 10 and under (free Tues). "Leonardo da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland." works by the master. Through May 18.

Cartoon Art Museum 655 Mission; CAR-TOON. Tues-Sun, 11am-5pm. $2-5. "Small Press Spotlight." Work by comic artist Jason Shiga. Through April 20. "Hate Mail: Comic Strip Controversies," works by top cartoonists of the past 30 years, including Scott Adams, Berkeley Breathed, Frank Cho, Aaron McGruder, and Wiley Miller. Through June 8.

Exploratorium 3601 Lyon; 563-7337. Tues-Sun, 10am-5pm. $10, $7.50 students and seniors, $6 youths, free for 3 and under. "Traits of Life: A New Living Laboratory." More than 30 exhibits explore the definition of what it means to be alive. Through March 31. "LED Images: Studies in Motion and Rest." Jim Campbell's LED images use photography to distill the "essentials" of motion. Starting with high-contrast digital video footage of people walking and sitting, he reduces the resolution of each frame until it contains, in some cases, as few as 48 pixels. The images are replayed in the gallery on a grid of LED lights, and you have to back up a ways before your eyes can resolve the blinking lights into the form of a moving person. Through April 3. (Westbrook) "Folkall Project." A sculpture made out of donated eyeglasses by Eto Otitigbe. Through May 4. "Seeing." Though the title of the show is "Seeing," you'll probably be most surprised at what you don't see in some of the installations. Change Blindness is a huge computer screen showing a quiet storefront-sidewalk scene. Every few seconds the screen goes black for a moment, then flashes back to what appears to be the same picture. It actually changes significantly each time, but the intervening black screens prevent your eyes from perceiving the differences. Dozens of other installations explore the social aspects of seeing. Paul Kaiser's Inkblot Perceptions analyzes the ways in which interpretations of Rorschach-like blots vary with age and cultural background. Go to www.exploratorium.edu for complete information. Through Sept 1. (Westbrook)

Mexican Museum Fort Mason Center, Bldg D, Marina at Laguna; 441-0404. Wed-Fri, 11am-5pm, free. "Objects of Devotion, Colonial and Popular Religious Art in Latin America." Retablos, ex-votos, and religious sculptures. Through May 30.

Museo Italo Americano Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Marina at Laguna; 673-2200. Wed-Sun, noon-5pm (first Wed, noon-7pm). $3, $2 students and seniors, free for 11 and under. "Colore Ideale/Ideal Colours." More than 30 recent paintings by Franco Viola. "Crosscuts – Tagli Trasversali." Woodcut prints and an overview of the woodcut process. Both exhibits through April 19.

Museum of Craft and Folk Art Fort Mason Center, Bldg A, Marina at Laguna; 775-0991. Sun and Mon, 11am-5pm; Tues-Fri, 11am-6pm; Sat, 10am-6pm. "Quilted Journeys: Immigration Stories by Australian Artists." More than 20 quilts on the theme of the immigration experience. Through April 27.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art 151 Third St; 357-4000. Fri-Tues, 11am-6pm; Thurs, 11am-9pm. $10, $7 seniors, $6 students, free for 12 and under and members (free first Tues; half-price Thurs, 6-9pm). "Body Design." Works by various designers. Through Sun/23. "Architecture + Water." Models, drawings, and video animations by various architects. Through Sun/23. "Richter 858." Eight paintings by Gerhard Richter. Through April 1. "Andreas Gursky." More than 40 photographs by the artist. Through June 1. "A Passion for Paul Klee: The Djerassi Collection at SFMOMA." A comprehensive display of Klee's works from high school until his death in 1940. Through June 8. "Treasures of Modern Art: The Legacy of Phyllis Wattis at SFMOMA." More than 80 works acquired by SFMOMA through patron Phyllis Wattis. Through June 24. "2002 SECA Art Award: John Bankston, Andrea Higgins, Chris Johanson, Will Rogan." Works by the recipients of the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art (SECA) Art Awards. March 20-July 27. See "Big Time," page 35. "Earthly Bodies: Irving Penn's Nudes, 1949-50." Silver and platinum prints by Irving Penn. March 22-July 27.

San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum 401 Van Ness, Fourth fl; 255-4800. Tues and Thurs-Sat, 11am-5pm; Wed, 11am-7pm. Free. "Kronos@30: Thirty Years of Kronos Quartet." An exhibition dedicated to the musical legacy of the Kronos Quartet. Through June 21.

Seymour Pioneers Museum 300 Fourth St; 957-1849. Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm (also first and third Sat, 10am-4pm). $3, $1 seniors and students. "California: This Golden Land of Promise," almost 40 paintings from the 1860s to 1920s, including works by William Coulter, Edwin Deakin, Percy Gray, and Charles Rollo Peters. Through May 3.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 701 Mission; 978-ARTS. Tues-Sun, 11am-6pm (first Thurs, 11am-8pm). $6, $3 seniors, students, and youths, free for members (free first Tues). "Charles LeDray, Sculpture 1989-2001." Contemporary sculptures by the artist. Through April 6. "5ive Projects: Contemporary Art from Sweden." Works by Eva Ek-Schaeffer, Roger Andersson, Peter Geschwind, Johan Zetterquiest, Maria Lindberg, Jon Brunberg, Annika Larsson, Anneè Olofsson, and Annika Ström. Through April 13.

Bay Area

Museum of Anthropology 103 Kroeber Hall, Room 3712, UC Berkeley; (510) 643-1193. Wed-Sat, 10am-4:30pm; Sun, noon-4:30pm. "The World in a Frame: Photographs from the Great Age of Exploration, 1865-1915." Over 30 images by Carleton E. Watkins, Timothy O'Sullivan, Edward S. Curtis, John Hillers, William Henry Jackson, Frederick Monsen, Maison Bonfils, and Felice Beato. Through March 2004.

Museum of Children's Art 538 Ninth St, Oakl; (510) 465-8700. Tues-Sat, 10am-6pm; Sun, noon-5pm. Free. "Salon of the Independent - Original Artwork by Bay Area Children." Works by children from Piedmont Schools and Montessori Family School. March 20-April 20.

Oakland Museum of California 1000 Oak, Oakl; (510) 238-2200. Wed-Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun, noon-5pm (first Fri, 10am-9pm). $6, $4 seniors and students. "State of Emergency: Disaster Response in California." A survey of California disasters since 1906 through photographs by Maggie Hallahan. Through April 27. "Wild Wings: The Waterfowl Art of Harry Curieux Adamson." Oil and tempera paintings and sketches by Adamson. Through March 30. "Shaping Possibility: Pacific Rim Sculptors Group Invitational." Works by Jerry Ross Barrish, Jane Grimm, Cynthia Handel, Margaret Herscher, Richard Knight, and Nikki Schrager. Through April 2. "The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration." More than 60 works celebrating plant and animal life. Through June 15. "Quizzical Eye: The Personal Photography of Rondal Partridge." Photographs, photo cubes, collages, and mixed-media works by Partridge. Through June 22. "Iconic to Ironic: Fashioning California Identity." More than 100 articles of clothing and accessories. Through Sept 21.

UC Berkeley Art Museum 2626 Bancroft Way, Berk; (510) 642-0808. Wed-Sun, 11am-7pm. $8, $5 seniors and youths, $4 members and UC Berkeley students and faculty (free Thurs). "MATRIX 202: Berni Searle A Matter of Time." Works by Searle. Through Sun/23. "Fred Wilson: Objects and Installations, 1979-2000." More than 20 works by Wilson. Through March 30. "The Black Panthers 1968: Photographs by Ruth-Marion Baruch and Pirkle Jones." Vintage photographs by Barush and Jones documenting the early days of the Black Panther Party in the Bay Area. "Aftermath." A new installation by Fred Wilson. Through July 20.

galleries
Opening

Aquarius Records 1055 Valencia; 647-2272. Mon-Wed, 10am-9pm; Thurs-Sun, 10am-10pm. "Immolating Without Oxygen," works by M.S. Walron (reception March 27, 6:30-8:30pm). March 24-June 30.

Balazo/Mission Badlands Gallery 2811 Mission; 920-0896. Tues-Sat, noon-6pm. "Theft: The Act of Inspired Borrowing," works by Beau Adams, Joyce Chou, Abe Orden, Nate Hooper, and others (reception with music performances by Two Gallants, Moon Partisans, Amber Asylum, Duckmandu, Vomica, Lincolns, Binky, Weegs, Sound Sister, and the End of the World, Fri/21, 8pm-midnight). March 21-28.

Baxter Chang Patri Fine Art Hotel Nikko, 222 Mason; 397-2000. Tues-Sat, 11am-6pm, and by appt. "Contemporary Spanish Artists: The Passion of Color," works by Maria Jesus Burgos Alonso, Josefina Fernandez Dopico, Celina Perez Arauna, and Regina Rubio de Ulloa. Through Wed/19. "Nature Morte," flora photographs by Ed Martin (reception April 3, 6-9pm). March 20-May 14.

Build 483 Guerrero; 863-3041. Call for hours. New photoworks by Kathryn Hillier (reception Fri/21, 7-10pm). March 21-28.

Catharine Clark 49 Geary; 399-1439. Tues-Fri, 10:30am-5:30pm; Sat, 11am-5:30pm. "Sprout," works by various artists celebrating new growth. March 20-April 19.

FiftyCrows Gallery 1074 Folsom; 551-0091. Wed-Sat, noon-6pm. "Defining Moments," selected photographs from the Fine Print Collection. March 21-April 19.

Heather Marx Gallery 77 Geary, second fl; 627-9111. Tues-Fri, 10:30am-5:30pm; Sat, 11am-5pm. Recent paintings by Gregory Dennis (reception April 3, 5:30-7:30pm). March 20-April 26.

Intersection for the Arts 446 Valencia; 626-2787. Wed-Sat, noon-5pm. "The World Is Beginning to Tremble: Ché = R + Evolution," an installation by Claudia Bernardi (reception Wed/19, 6-9pm). March 19-May 24.

John Berggruen 228 Grant; 781-4629. Mon-Fri, 9:30am-5:30pm; Sat, 10:30am-5pm. Figurative works on paper by Richard Diebenkorn (reception Wed/19, 5:30-7:30pm). March 19-April 26.

Kings Gallery 1187 Franklin; 776-4580. Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm; Sun, noon-2pm. "Suites for Unaccompanied Paintbrush," works by Mercie Harris (reception April 13, noon-2pm). March 22-April 26.

Meridian Gallery 545 Sutter; 398-7229. Tues-Sat, 11am-5pm. "Musical Cartography," works by Christopher Castle (reception Thurs/20, 6-9pm). March 20-April 26.

Bay Area

Ardency Gallery 709 Broadway, Oakl; (510) 836-0831. Tues-Sat, 11am-5pm. "Shipwrecks and Other Good Stuff out Back," works by Alexander Cheves (reception Sat/22, 5-8pm). March 21-April 19.

Cricket Engine Gallery 499 Embarcadero, Bldg C, Oakl; (510) 522-0471. "A Post 2/14 World," new work by Shalene Valenzuela (reception Fri/21, 7-10pm). March 21-30.

Ongoing

Chinese Culture Center 750 Kearny, Third fl; 986-1822. Tues-Sat, 10am-4pm. "Chinese Fauve," works by Lin Feng-mien. Through April 26.

Crown Point Press 20 Hawthorne; 974-6273. Tues-Sat, 10am-6pm. "Spring Fever V: Group Exhibition," woodcuts and etchings by various artists. Through April 19.

Culture Cache 1800 Bryant, Ste 104; 626-7776. Thurs-Sun, noon-5pm, and by appt. "Glob Farmers," with Attaboy and KRK Ryden. Through March 30.

Galería de la Raza 2857 24th St; 826-8009. Tues-Sat, noon-6pm. "Somoson," work by Patrick "Pato" Hebert. Through Sat/22.

Gallery Paule Anglim 14 Geary; 433-2710. Tues-Fri, 10am-5:30pm; Sat 10am-5pm. Works by Louise Bourgeois. Through April 12.

Hosfelt Gallery 430 Clementina; 495-5454. Tues-Sat, 11am-5:30pm. "White Paintings," works by Ron Griffin; "Seeking Subtleties," works by Nelleke Beltjens. Through April 19.

John Pence 750 Post; 441-1138. Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm; Sat, 10am-5pm. Recent oil paintings and drawings by Juliette Aristides; "Minerva J. Chapman: Selections from the Estate," more than 30 paintings by Chapman. Through Sat/22.

Limn Gallery 292 Townsend; 977-1300. Wed-Sat, 11am-5:30pm; Sun, 9am-3pm. "Abstract-ed," works by 11 artists from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago. Through May 3.

Logan Galleries California College of Arts and Crafts, 1111 Eighth St; 551-9210. Wed, Thurs, Sat, 11am-6pm; Tues, Fri, 11am-8pm. "Capp Street Project: 20th Anniversary Exhibition." The Capp Street Project was the first internationally recognized program to focus solely on installation art. The California Institute of Arts and Crafts' Wattis Institute took over the project in 1998 and is celebrating CPS's 20th anniversary with a special four-part exhibition featuring Roni Horn, Ann Veronica Janssens, Mike Kelley, and Mike Nelson. Nelson's Pumpkin Palace is a former Green Tortoise Adventure Travel bus that the artist totally gutted and reconstructed into a claustrophobic, mazelike residence. Climb aboard and you're suddenly in a windowless anxiety dream that spits you back out with sensory overload and oxygen starvation. Kelley presents Light (Time)-Space Modulator, a room-sized, motorized contraption with an entire spiral staircase extricated from his Los Angeles home. A cleverly crafted slide show creates a kind of time-bridge between Kelley's current remodeling job and the house as it looked when the previous owners lived there, casting the artist as a kind of Shining-esque Jack Nicholson character (but without the murder part) and asking probing questions about spaces and their histories, and how a residence can retain bits of its past lives and even exert influence on its current occupant. Through May 10. (Westbrook)

Michael Martin 101 Townsend, Ste 207; 543-1550. Tues, Thurs, Sat, 11am-5:30pm. "Subtil(e)," a group show featuring works by seven artists. Through Tues/25.

Mills Building 220 Montgomery; 399-0333, ext 15. Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm; Sat, by appt. Works by seven CCAC alumni artists. Through Fri/21.

Mission Cultural Center 2868 Mission; 821-1155. Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm. "Corazonada: Quinceañera/Fifteen Years of Women's Work," an exhibition commemorating Latina artists. Through Fri/21.

Octavia's Haze 498 Hayes; 255-6818. Wed-Sat, noon-6pm; Sun, 11am-5pm. "Dreamscapes: Paintings by Kytha Gernatt." Through Sun/23.

111 Minna Gallery 111 Minna; 974-1719. Tues-Fri, noon-5pm; Sat-Mon, by appt. "Sci-Fi Western," a group exhibition featuring works by Robert Williams, Mark Ryden, Todd Schorr, Gary Basemen, Isabel, Samaras, Clayton Bailey, Ron English, Jeff Soto, and Eric White. Through March 29.

One Market One Market; (707) 745-3157. Daily, 7:30am-5:30pm. "Works by members of the California Watercolor Association. Through March 28.

Punch Gallery 155 10th St; 522-5555. Mon-Fri, noon-5pm, and by appt. "Yes Yes Y'all," more than 70 photos by Charles Ahearn documenting the birth of hip-hop. Through March 31.

Rena Bransten Gallery 77 Geary; 982-3292. Tues-Fri, 10:30am-5:30pm; Sat, 11am-5pm. "Another Look, the 1960s and 1970s," works by Rupert Garcia; "New photographs," works by Candida Höfer. Through Sat/22.

S.F. African American Historical and Cultural Society Fort Mason Center, Bldg C, Room 165; 441-0640. Wed-Sun, noon-5pm. "Black Artists: Creations 2003," works by various artists. Through March 30.

SF Black and White Gallery 619 Post; 929-9424. Call for hours. "Sex in the City," works by more than 35 photographers. Through March 27.

San Francisco Main Library 100 Larkin; 557-4400. Mon, 10am-6pm; Tues-Thurs, 9am-8pm; Fri, noon-6pm; Sat, 10am-6pm; Sun, noon-5pm. "P1," graphic art, fine art, photography, and digital works by local Pilipina and Pilipino artists of art group PilDesign. Through March 30. "Traditional Childhood in Poland," books, toys, and clothes from the private collection of Caria Tomczykowska. Through May 31.

Sargent Johnson Gallery African American Art and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton; 771-AFRO, www.afrosolo.org. Tues-Sat, noon-4pm, and by appt. "My Race My Grace 2003: The Art of Living Black," works by Casper Banjo, Lorraine Bonner, Bill Dallas, Quella Mikell, Leslie Printis, and Hilda Robinson. Through March 29.

600 Townsend 600 Townsend; (510) 527-8715. Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm. "Winter 2003 Member's Exhibition," works by the Pacific Rim Sculptor's Group. Through Fri/21.

66 Balmy 66 Balmy Alley; 648-1760. Thurs-Sun, 11am-6pm. "methid: Paintings for Lucid Dreams," works by Jonah Burlingame and Raymond Difley. Through Sun/23.

SomArts Cultural Center 934 Brannan; 552-2131. Tues-Sat, noon-4pm. "Punto de Conversión," works by Marta Ayala, Catarina Gonzales, Gabriela Lujan, and Elba Rivera; "Our Eyes: Origen y Pasion," photos by Lucero González Montes, Maru de la Garza, and Lorena Alcaraz Minor. Through March 26.

Spanganga 3376 19th St; 307-0109. Tues, Fri-Sat, 8-10pm, and by appt. "An Uncertain Line." This exhibition features works by Tucker Nichols and three other local artists with dramatically different approaches to the art of drawing. Whereas Nichols uses stolid black lines for his haiku-like poetics and minimal imagery, the work of Libby Black reveals a delicate hand that's more in keeping with the show's title. Lee Walton's drawings utilize elaborate systems of shorthand to record activity on Market Street or baseball plays in the 2001 World Series. They have a certain internal logic, but they're more like meditations on life's randomness than actual decipherable codes. Rounding out the show is Jennifer Kaufman, whose drawings are by far the most abstract and, like Walton's, incorporate elements of chance into a structure of mark-making. Through Fri/21. (Westbrook) "The Center of Attention Search Engine," works brought in by artists that are discusses, accepted or rejected to be displayed (reception Sun/23, 6-8pm). March 23-30.

364 Hayes Street Gallery 364 Hayes; 431-0364. Tues-Sat, 11:30am-5:30pm. "Kits and Caboodles," needlework by Becky Schaefer. Through March 28. See Critic's Choice.

Triangle Gallery 47 Kearny, fifth fl; 392-1686. Tues-Sat, 11am-5pm. Wood sculpture by Barbara Spring (reception Thurs/20, 5:30-7:30pm). Through April 19.

Bay Area

Mills College Art Museum 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakl; (510) 430-2164. Tues, Thurs-Sat, 11am-4pm; Wed, 11am-7:30pm; Sun, 1-4pm. "All Apart," works by 10 artists (reception Sat/22, 5-6:30pm). Through April 10.