SEPTEMBER INTO NOVEMBER: ART SCENE/SEEN
At the Sean Kelly Gallery (Chelsea, NYC) we saw this haunting exhibition by Dawoud Bey – photography and video – of his journey through old plantations and slave dwellings.
September in NYC
September is my birthday month, the start of a new season, the beginning of the school year, fall, and it is my favorite time to travel.
Talk about pent-up demand! It was my first time flying since Covid and I went “back East” to NYC. The trip was filled with food, friends, family, gardens, and art. We visited a number of alternative art venues, galleries, museums, and art fairs including The Armory Show and the Works on Paper Show.
Friends took us by car to The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx and to Red Hook, Brooklyn for lobster rolls and alternative art at Pioneer Works.
Our stay coincided with the 20th anniversary of 9/11/11, so the humid September air was heavy with sadness. New Yorkers were so traumatized by Covid in what felt like a different way from the SF Bay Area. For many New Yorkers it had something to do with being hit first and hardest, the constant screeching of sirens, deaths literally piling up, people fleeing for less populated places to stay and ride it out, and The City emptying out.
In NYC on September 11, 2021, it was not easy to ignore the 20th anniversary of 9/11/11. There were signs of it everywhere. This was in Riverside Park.
Barbie, my frequent travel companion, was hanging out with me on our friend’s balcony.
Joyful with Kasuma: NY Botanical Garden (Bronx)
I first saw Kasuma’s work in 2019 on the Art Island in Japan, where many of her giant squash sculptures reside. Seeing her vast installations throughout the Botanical Garden was impressive and delightful.
The NY Botanical Garden is special to me since I got married there – at their Snuff Mill (aka Stone Mill) by the Bronx River, several decades ago. When I go to NYC I like to visit The Gardens. Exhibits like this one show it off in a whole new light.
“The 250-acre verdant landscape — which includes a 50-acre, old-growth forest — and the landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory support living collections of more than one million plants.”
I spend a lot of time locally at the SFBGin Golden Gate Park. Many of my nature photos come from my walks there.
Even the trees were all dressed up – wrapped in Kasuma’s fabric.
My Soul Blooms Forever is a greenhouse-like building where you get to stick a flower.
Reflections outside of the Mirrored Room—Illusion Inside the Heart (2020).
Dancing Pumpkin in front of the flower conservatory.
A portion of Kasuma’s Dancing Pumpkin with Barbie enjoying the installation.
In and Around Manhattan
My destination was the extensive exhibit of Cezanne’s Drawings but the crowd pleaser at MoMa was Automania.
A powerful Mural by Eduardo Kobra of Gandhi and Mother Teresa.
Little Island is one of NYC’s latest exciting outdoor excursion options and it’s right off the Highline.
NYC at night is magical.
An archetypal pretzel vendor glows in the dark.
There are so many architectural gems around town.
A visit to the Philip Gaston: On Edge exhibition at Hauser & Wirth Gallery. Many Covid-safe galleries use QR codes for self-guided, safe experiences.
When summer slides into fall, and faux flowers decorate all…loved the outdoor dining setups decorated with flowers. But I felt quite wilted in the September heat and humidity.
New York’s Jewish Museum
This gorgeous portrait resides in the permanent collection of the museum. By Kehinde Wiley, The World Stage: Israel, 2011.
Oddly I have never been to this museum. It turned out to be a wonderful treat. The exhibition that drew us there was Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art. “This exhibition traces the fascinating timelines of individual (works of art) and objects as they passed through hands and sites before, during, and after World War II, bringing forward their myriad stories.” Needless to say, it was a poignant and provocative exhibition.
This exhibit runs through January 2022: Afterlives: Recovering the Lost Stories of Looted Art.
In Red Hook
On a warm sunny day our friends picked us up in their convertible and took us for lobster rolls (all the rage in NYC), then we toured Pioneer Works and experienced an immersive art piece created by MOSES SUMNEY
“We’ve learned to speak, dance, and feel from the depositories of our screens. From social media self-documentation to advertising’s algorithmic automation, in the midst of the echo, what do we teach our technology, and what does it teach us?”
— Moses Sumney.
Movement practice videos guide you while awaiting entry.
A container-made building on the grounds of Pioneer Works.
“Presented by Pioneer Works at Red Hook Labs, technoechophenomena is an experiential, audiovisual installation by Moses Sumney that offers an extension of his artistic and musical oeuvre, exploring isolation and our emotional relationship with technology. Echophenomena is the unintentional imitation of actions. This includes the repetition of words and sounds, body movements, or thoughts picked up from external stimuli. The artist adds the prefix ‘techno-’ to the psychological term, evoking the relationship between human behavior and modern technology. Visitors enter a custom-built cubic room, and learn a series of technology-inspired gestures choreographed by the artist.
Magnificent Morgan Library
Somehow I’d never been to “The Morgan” in all my years living and visiting NYC and now I can’t recommend it enough. There’s the original part (pictured below) and a gorgeous contemporary addition with changing exhibitions.
Looking up into the original library.
The Annual Armory Show
Photographed at two pink booths in the Armory Show in my pink artwear.
Our trip to NYC was planned around The Armory Show. Arranged in the spring of 2021, we didn’t know how life would unfold in the world of Covid. I’m glad we stuck to our plan and ventured across the country to see art, friends, and family – all of which we were starving for.
This caught my eye (among many pieces). It’s a huge, complex, fascinating figurative painting.
Here’s a corner of a gallery display of 2D+3D combo art ceramics at The Armory Show.
At Sapar Contemporary Gallery we admired Dilyara Kaipova’s coat art and Faig Ahmed’s sculpture basOriental carpets (on the wall).
3-D @ Art on Paper
I brought my visiting niece and her friend to this show and they were amazed. I believe that these massive, top-shelf art fairs are a different type of art experience for many. And it wasn’t overcrowded this year and it felt rather safe! The next Art on Paper show is in spring 2022.
Enormous paper sculptures at the Art on Paper show.
More giant paper sculpture wraps the columns - created by Samuelle Green.
October in The Bay Area
Fieldtrips! We took some breaks and went to Point Reyes National Seashore, Pacifica, and Half Moon Bay, among our various road trips around the Bay Area. We found signs of fall, large birds, and enjoyed long, misty walks.
In Bolinas the beach detritus looked like a fish or a boat.
While visiting Point Reyes we stopped into this artist’s studio. Keith Hanson is known as “The Birdman of Bolinas”.
Fall Gallery Exhibitions
It was a whirlwind of art events back in SF. I wrapped up my Sept show at City Art Coop, “Her Pinkness”; launched Oct shows at SFWA “Barbie on the Cusp” (below left) and participated in Artist’s Choice (below right); helped hang the Artspan Open Studios show (see it before it closes!); delivered my work for a group show, “The Naked Truth of Arts”, brought my piece to Root Division for the exhibition/art auction; and prepped my own open studio for a reception. I attended all of the openings. Plus, I returned to my role as SFWA’s Exhibitions Director.
San Francisco Women Artists Gallery (SFWA)
Friends at the Reception for SFWA’s Member Open Studio Show in front of my “Barbie of the Cusp” series.
City Art Coop Gallery
Taken in August Reception at City Art Coop Gallery in front of “Her Pinkness”, I’ve had shows there Aug-Sept. And will show there again Dec 2021-Feb 2022. Visit me at the gallery!
“Her Pinkness II” shown in Sept at City Art Coop Gallery (SF).
SFWA’s August Abstract exhibition was juried by Philip Bewley (left). My piece (right & below) is called “Bent not Broken”, a digital original collage (Edition of 1/1) printed on metal.
Here’s a virtual in situ version of the same piece on the gallery wall above.
Artspan Open Studios Exhibition
That’s my piece (top right) that I’ll be discussing my work TODAY in an Artist’s Talk: Tues, Nov 9 from 6:30-8pm - Eventlink. Tune into this not-to-be-missed Zoom conversation with Artspan Artists.
At the SFWA Annual show, “Artist’s Choice” with my 36” square metal print “Appear / Disappear”. This was an Open Call Show juried by Alan Bamberger. With artists Usha Shukla (left) and Pam Borelli (center).
My Open Studio
The hallway gallery entry into my workspace at The Sobel Design Building awaiting guests arrivals.
Friends attending my Open Studio Reception Oct 16, 2021.
The Naked Truth of Arts
“The Naked Truth of Arts” started out at the height of the Bay Area’s sheltering in place as an Instagram exhibition with artists – both visual and sound. We all posted black and white self-portraits and told our Covid stories. Curated by Nathalie Fabri and Fabio Reis, they brought the exhibition into an analog phase in SF’s Mission District, ironically it was installed at the analog gallery. They displayed our printed photos, stories, and artwork. And they threw a real, in-person opening party complete with live music! It is also a fundraiser with cool gifts like the cards below (right).
At the physical exhibition my piece is just below the sign. It’s titled “Body Paint (Janique)”.
The show poster with all our black and white self-portraits.
Friends visiting the exhibition posing in front of photos of the artists (I’m veiled in the middle).
When you give $45 to the project founders funding campaign, you get a deck of art cards with our photos and our stories.
Field Trip: Disney Museum
The view from the museum hallway, in the Presidio overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge.
What a hidden gem this museum is! Whether you’re a fan of Disney and animation – or not, there’s so much to see, hear, and learn here. The design of the space is stunning and the views are superb. It was a perfect crisp, clear autumn day.
Looking down through the beautifully-designed main museum. We also visited the WWII special exhibition and learned so much history!
A Disney miniature city is collaged with a life drawing (in person!). Model @Shari_Putra.
Fall at the DeYoung Museum
JUDY CHICAGO
The Judy Chicago retrospective is a powerful exhibition chock-full of feminist art organized by the artist’s thematic phases. The show starts at the later stages of her life confronting death and the climate crisis and goes backward to her earliest work and feminist roots. Unfortunately she also gave a live performance with billowing orange smoke pouring out of the museum and park that didn’t go over well in SF where we are in the midst of fire season.
PATRICK KELLY
The Patrick Kelly exhibition is a tasty treat with a very sad ending. His life was cut short by AIDS at the height of a skyrocketing career as a fashion designer in the 1980s in Paris. His work is still so fresh and contemporary for its multitude of social activist messages. See it to see what I mean.
Outside the Patrick Kelly show in my artwear and new Button Lady gloves purchased at the show.
Immersed at Asian Art Museum
My most recent museum thrill was getting immersed at the Asian Art Museum in a delicious, interactive, multi-media show by teamLab: continuity.
Root Division Art Auction
Here I am at the Root Division Exhibition prior to the Auction with my piece, “Vins”. My art was submitted through Black White Projects.
What’s Next?
EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS
> SFWA Art Fundraiser Auction (online) | Nov 6 – 13 (last day is today)
> Art Guild of Pacifica: Member Show | Oct 29-Dec 12 | Fri, Sat, Sun, 1-5pm
Artspan Open Studio Artist's Talk: My 5 minutes of fame on Zoom | Nov 9, 6:30-8pm | Eventlink
ARTSPAN OPEN STUDIO EXHIBITION | SOMArts | Oct 21-Nov 21 | 934 Brannan St, SF
> ARC PROJECT GALLERY: “Intimacy Illuminated" | Curated by Nathalie Fabri | In-Person Reception: Sat, Nov 20, 7-9pm | Exhibition: Nov 20-Dec 18
> City Art Coop Gallery | Dec 2021-Feb 2022 | Visit me at the Gallery Dec 13-14 & Jan 16 & 25
A new collage with GG Park twisted tress and figure drawing collaged together.