Impeccably Installed

Paul Baker, Constructed Sculptures

Scott Schryver, "Figstract Expressionism"

Opening party, March 15th, 6 to 9pm
"Well-Phrased" Artists' Talk: Friday March 26, 7 to 9pm
Show runs March 10th though April 29th 2014 

Thousands of people in the Bay Area make art, and perhaps hundreds work in the museum field. But overlapping those two groups results in a much smaller number, perhaps just Paul Baker and Scott Schryver.

Baker and Schryver tap their museum backgrounds to present recent personal works with the skill, precision, and impact acquired in those marbled halls. “Outsider art” is a common phrase for marginalized or self-taught artists. Ironically, Baker and Schryver can lay claim to the description of "inside outsiders" since they are conversant with the world of established art institutions…but that in no way guarantees attention, let alone appreciation. Enjoy this unique show of two artists balanced between two worlds.

Paul Baker, Constructed Sculptures

Paul's found-object work, which he terms "constructed sculptures" since 80% of each piece is built from scratch, combine wit, intuition, arcana, and museum-level craftsmanship in an interactive enigma the viewer is encouraged to explore through action and memory. pbakerart.com

Scott Schryver, "Figstract Expressionism"

Scott Schryver is an Oakland-based artist dealing in non-figurative and figurative works on paper as well as pyrography on wood panels. Schryver's work has been compared to Pablo Picasso's as well as that of a kindergarten class in Point Richmond. Neither is accurate. Schryver delves into the narrative of everyday life. "I create characters and situations," says the artist. Once the ink hits the paper, it starts speaking. Giving directions." I don't always like the direction but I always learn a thing or two," says Schryver.

"My paintings are my experiences," says the artist as he sips a peppermint tea and fans his pale face with a worn copy of Art in America. - Scott Schryver

Schryver's recent works are a combination of sumi ink and acrylic on cold press paper. They are an opportunity for Schryver to capture the gesture, the quick sketch and "freeze" it with paint. Posterity begins where the paint covers the white negative space of the paper, trapping the sumi-inked figure or non-figurative sketch. scottschryverart.com

AutoErotica 2

 

     "It's all about the Car" A group show featuring:

Phillip Hall - Digital light painted photography
Bill Silveira - Auto inspired assemblage sculpture
John Sheridan – Paintings and prints 

Opening party, February 1^st, 6 – 9pm

Show runs through March 8^th, 2014 

Let’s face it…. Big old beautiful cars are sexy!

The US, with its love for the car, is still fighting the need to become fuel efficient, healthy and green. But no, we don’t want to adorn our walls with mini porn car art! Huge American cars are in our blood and we aren't letting them go easily.

Each of these three Bay Area artists has their own unique take on the love of the car. They honor our rapidly disappearing, uniquely American, decadent automotive past.
About the Artists:

-Philip Hall
Philip Hall takes photographs of classic cars. Or, at least, at first glance that’s what the viewer might assume he does. However, on closer inspection, it becomes clear that while the classic (and sometimes not so classic) car is the predominant object in the pictorial field, it certainly isn’t the only subject. In fact, what Philip Hall does quite remarkably is use the classic car as a vehicle (pun intended) through which he can talk about highly sophisticated concepts in contemporary art and photography.

Philip Hall graduated from the California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts) in Southern California and as this might suggest he has a very thorough understanding of contemporary art concepts and the mechanisms of art criticism and appreciation. His images are littered with visual quotes from Contemporary Art. One of the artworks being shown is “California Cruisin’.” Hall has layered warm, diffuse sunset tones over the contours of a rare vintage 1953 Corvette. The car’s cherry-red taillight and the flesh-colored curves subliminally evoke the nude female form. The filtered, patterned light in

this composition is the direct influence of cinematic lighting techniques Hall learned in his Hollywood years: shadowy fronds, like palm leaves in a coastal breeze, fade into and out of focus. Hall’s dreamy composition equally encapsulates the sensuality and nostalgia of an imaginary ideal—an ideal not only personal to Hall, but nearly archetypal to an entire generation. Philiphallimagesandlight.com 

-Bill Silveira
Slightly curmudgeonly, a bit on the eccentric side and possessing a rabid enthusiasm for the automobile, Bill Silveira enjoys making art out of discarded auto parts, rusty scrap metal and other unique items that seem to find their way into his vast collection of interesting and eclectic junk. A long term resident of Oakland's Jingletown Arts District, Bill can often be found wallowing through the skeletal remains of his rusty old vehicles while pondering the future of what was left behind. Picture a maniacal Fred Sanford with a warehouse full of crap, a scruffy dog named Scrapmeister and an old welder.

-John Sheridan

Imagine trying to find the Muse of artistic inspiration in an American culture that is both expanding and deflating at the same time. Where a minute is like a century. And where its people can only recall the past as a kind of blur. 

John Sheridan chooses and arranges images found in a long (endless) search for meaningful content in American culture. He has discovered and learned much from the past 50 plus years of portable, commercial and short-term imagery - put it on canvas and painted and printed the results. 

The artist uses a large, colorful and surprising palette of existing images, words and paint which strike resonant chords because they are both art and also come from and target the American working class. The paint is simple house paint, saved before it becomes landfill. The images he uses often contain logoistic corporate and other mesmerizing and controversial elements, which cannot be separated from the great energy that has always marked the poor, blue collar and working culture of the country. These works on canvas explode with cars, pinups, superheroes, numbers, logos and images from the deep (or not so deep) popular unconscious as well as from the most persuasive propaganda machine the world has ever seen – American advertising. johnsheridanart.com 

“follow me, don’t chase me!”

“follow me, don’t chase me!”

Photography by Jan Watten & Sculpture by Benjamin T. Smith

Closing party 1/11/14, 6 to 9pm

Show runs November 17th January 11th, 2014

Two Oakland artists capture the symbols that both surround and embrace us.
Please join us!

Photography by Jan Watten:
Born into an artistic family, photographer Jan Watten has a passion for expressing the essence and core of her subject's being.  Her work revolves around the idea of identity – capturing an aspect of her sitter in an isolated moment.  Intrigued by the concept of Self, Watten has been attempting to capture unique qualities and characteristics in her subjects for more than two decades.  Whether she is photographing an adolescent boy, the weathered hand of a gardener, the elegant face of a musician or a young girl clinging to a family portrait – she is attempting to portray identity through a small but very revealing and symbolic aspect of someone. Watten photographs her subjects in black and white, as it reduces an image into simple elements and without the distractions of color and extraneous information.  Her images are captured with film and are archival traditional darkroom prints.
Watten attended California College of Arts and Crafts, and has shown domestically and internationally, and was recently profiled in Black and White Magazine.
  www.janwatten.com

Sculpture by Benjamin T. Smith:
Since the beginning I was pursued by monsters in my dreams. Until one night I stopped short and said, “If you’re going to run behind me, follow me, don’t chase me!” Since then they have been my subjects.
 
   There’s the friendly monster story. Alternately, there is the horror of the momentum of our current trajectory.  My art is a static representation of hallucination. My favorite piece is a painting by Brueghel, the Blind Leading the Blind.
 
   When you see a face in a grain of wood where is that coming from?
I’m sure we have all also seen other things that are even harder to explain. Anyway I do, everyday, in every little piece of junk around me. Incessantly, they call out to be saved. -Benjamin T. Smith
 benjamintsmith.wordpress.com

“psychological landscapes”

 

Photography by Philip Ringler & Paintings by Cheryll May Macintyre
Opening Party Saturday October 12th 6 – 9pm
Show runs September 30th through November 16th

Bay area artists Philip Ringler and Cheryll May Macintyre explore challenge and embrace our psychological landscapes.

Philip Ringler photography:
Artist’s Statement
I photograph ideas.

Philosophical/psychological landscapes of the human predicament.

Found. Constructed. Conceptual.

Suffering and redemption, confusion and clarity, existence and death, turmoil and healing, sorrow and joy.

Depth contrasts the superficial. Subterranean visions subvert consensus reality. Nothing is what it seems.

Paradox. Absurdity. Simulation. Authenticity. Life. Death.

Titles inform images, metaphor overrides logic, and ambiguity emerges.
Layers of symbols created though action/observation transcend ordinary assumptions.

Moments are not captured and memories are not preserved.

Ideas are presented. .
 Philiprilgler.com

Cheryll May Macintyre, Paintings:

”Storytelling without words; explore, express and liberate, my heart. Art has deepened the appreciation I have for myself. Creating space in my life to do what I love, this act makes me feel worthy. For me, this act is love.

The artwork you see is a snippet of my life’s journey—the journey from my head to my heart. As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, I have been blessed to have individuals share their failures, dreams, successes and tragedies. However harsh or joyful, the vulnerabilities of others are the vulnerabilities of my own. These experiences have shown me that no matter how different we are or scared we may be, in our hearts we are connected. I want to be open with you so you will be open with me, I want to share those intimate details. I dream of creating art that vibrates my inner being to yours; art that inspires, uplifts, soothes, and art that create space for all that fills my soul and yours. This act of art, this art of love reminds me of how beautiful life is, mine and yours. Each piece is infused with energetic intention that sustains me on this journey. Share this journey with me.” - Cheryll May Macintyre
 coloursoutsidelines.com

Silence!

Can you hear my heart?

 

Photography by Thomas Lindahl Robinson & Jewelry and Sculpture by Victoria Skirpa

Opening party July 13th 6 – 9pm
With live music by woodwind renegade Cornelius Boots
Show runs through September 28th 2013

In a world that revolves around money, money that is entirely imaginary, existing only in our minds, as humans we manage to enslave all forms of matter on this earth, living or not. Oakland artists Thomas Lindahl Robinson and Victoria Skirpa are uncovering this silence.

Thomas Lindahl Robinson documentary photography  
Often confined to a box of silent voices, whispers abound, as sentiment for the revolution dissipates like the summer rains falling on the Caribbean Sea, “What can we do, but open our eyes and look beyond our window shades, beyond the iconic images of what has been left behind of our revolution, past the horizon where we dream.”

And when we dream, we dream all things Cuban, as we accept the reality with which we are presented – government handouts of sugar, beans, and rice. Despite our decaying roof-tops, our, crumbled side walks, long hot days without water and electricity, and many moments of frustration and despair, yet even in chains, we Cubans still learn how to dance.

Somewhere between melancholy, tranquility, and non-sobriety, in a place so surreal, fiction is truth. I remain silent, without a Spanish voice, invisible, and like a fly-on-the-wall; I leave without a trace, my existence in the here and now fade into the fiction, as I too, begin to dream in Cuban.

Thomas Lindahl Robinson is documentary photography, who lives and works in and around the Bay Area, and continues his photo documentations of families in Cuba and Asia. His works are held in private collections, and have been exhibited domestically and abroad.  Thomaslindahlrobinson.com

Victoria Skirpa, sustainable jewelry & sculptor
Victoria’s interest in the body and visual forms led to a deep exploration of jewelry as an intimate sculptural medium. In 2009 VRS by Victoria jewelry design was founded. Jewelry is so special, says Victoria "because it is intimate and can foster human connection."

The love of beautiful objects, and the dismay over human and environmental destruction that often accompanies the supply chain, brought Victoria to the shores of sustainable jewelry, and Sulusso Custom Sustainable business. For Victoria, the foundation of sustainability is to value, facilitate, and sustain relationships over time, between human beings and the environment. It is simple. When we wear sustainable jewelry we commit and trust both beauty and meaning.

"Designing custom sustainable jewelry for clients is a delicious opportunity for collaboration and engagement with those committed to sustainability in a profound sense."  - Victoria Skirpa

Victoria is an entrepreneur and artist of incredible creative and material breadth.  As an experienced visual artist, her work dialogues between contemporary design and visual archetypes; contemporary, yet anchored in history. While Victoria respects craftsmanship and is meticulously attentive to detail, her work also radiates energy, movement and life. Studio 106, Victoria’s first successful business, produced sculpture for galleries, museum pieces, as well as architectural metalwork for select clients in the wine country of California. VRS, victoriaskirpa.com

Opening night music by Cornelius Boots
East Bay reed renegade Cornelius Boots is a progressive rock composer, bass clarinet performance specialist, wu wei woodwind instructor and Zen flute adept.  Since 1996, he has led and released two albums with Edmund Welles, the world’s only composing bass clarinet quartet, for which he has composed and arranged over 60 pieces of virtuosic “heavy chamber music.”  Recent projects include Sabbaticus Rex (elemental sound-structuring ensemble) and mukyoku etudes: 27 Training and Performance Pieces for Taimu shakuhachi (large Zen bamboo flute). He has three music degrees (clarinet, audio, jazz) and is currently working towards his shihan (master teaching license) in shakuhachi. CorneliusBoots.com

Renewal and redemption

Sculpture by James Mullen
Closing  party Saturday July 6th 6 - 9pm
Show runs April 29th through July 6th, 2013

A solo show by James Mullen showcasing his 8x8 abstract assemblage art and interactive sculpture, an artist never sleeps.

Artist Statement:
"First and foremost, art is an opportunity for me to express my sense of the absurd. It's like the multiple choice tests we took in school: "Which item doesn't belong in this group?" Answer? "All of the above." James 8x8 Secondly, these abstract assemblage pieces are an exploration in renewal and redemption, in second chances and rebirth, in recycling cast-off items into fresh works of art. The influence of the "Outsider" school of art is also evident in this piece, with its combination of primitive and compulsive elements.
I've fully embraced the art of assemblage, where form is suggested, directed, even dictated, by the objects at hand. My palette is the boxes and shelves of metal and wood cast-offs that I've collected over the years.
Like most artists, I'm seeking pleasing proportion and line and form, through the judicious placement of the elements of each work.
This piece is a celebration of the nonsensical and irrational spirit of Dada. I see it as a study in relationship and pattern, which the human eye is so adept at discerning. It's also an exploration of the power and spirituality that may inhabit objects, even when assembled from the most common and ordinary of materials." - James Mullen
More about Mullen's work: jamesmullenartist.info , submergemag.com/featured/james-mulle

Opening night music:
Laura Inserra is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, teacher, and artistic director. She is a classically trained musician with a strong improvisational background. She plays contemporary and world music in different projects as a percussionist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. She authors and performs music for theater, dance performances, exhibitions as well as soundtracks for movies with internationally acclaimed musicians.
Laura Inserra.com

Positive Identifications, Prints by Whitson Hunter, Sculpture by Jeff Ritter

Positive Identifications

 
Prints by Whitson Hunter, Sculpture by Jeff Ritter

Opening party Saturday March 30th 6 – 9pm
Show runs through April 27th

Two Oakland artists create work that speaks to our human experience of time, space and identity.

Whitson Hunter
I define art as the physical manifestation of thoughts, predicated upon concept development, the creation process and the viewing experience. As an artist my ultimate goal is to make the immaterial material by efficiently communicating ideas or train of thought. Positive I.D.’s is a series of black and white linoleum prints with collages. Individually, each piece was made to illustrate human attributes and experiences. Collectively they illustrate relationships and commonalities. I hope this body of work can encourage understanding and solidarity among humans.

Jeff Ritter
Going down the river, a clockwise deflection, images on wooden chairs.