Past art exhibits at the FLOAT Gallery: 11.16

An artist’s view of the Bay Area’s demolished past

Art Opening party October 8, 6 to 9pm

Show runs September 23rd 2016, through November 13th

It was a simple time – when we always packed a camera, and always had black and white film at the ready. Every artist photographer did, yes, maybe not. What stood before is the work of four Bay Area artists who accidentally documented the San Francisco Bay Area’s demolished past while having fun. Jumping over fences with latte in hand, trying not to drop the camera in order to capture to an interesting image, or even balancing on an inflatable raft in the bay, to find that different perspective. The work includes, long gone freeways, bits of the Bay Area’s industrial past, now lofts and condos, abandoned Muni buses, and old San Francisco skylines, work shot between the mid 1980’s to 2000’s.

Artists:

Jan Watten

Jan Watten spent the mid-80’s wandering areas of Oakland and San Francisco photographing the quiet streets and warehouses that were devoid of people, an absence weighted with meaning - an elegy for places that used to be thriving working communities. Equipped with a medium-format camera with black and white film, she captured the scenes by walking the streets and documenting what she encountered in the moment. Attracted by the simplicity and elegance of the urban landscape of East Oakland and South of Market, these photographs are also a reminder that we cannot halt gentrification, but merely record it. Her images are captured with film and are archival traditional darkroom prints. Image above: “Bay Two” photograph by Jan Watten. janwatten.com

Janeyce Ouellette

Janeyce Ouellette will often hear feedback about the noticeable absence of people in her work. Their very absence, however, notes, like negative space, their presence. Implied, anthropomorphized, or subject matter touched by human hands, now long gone, individuals are indeed present, spiritually, if not physically.