Hope you all are out and about this week enjoying some quality summertime activities. If you live in San Francisco, get up to the Russian River. Burkes Canoe Trips is a great option. 10 miles down river and they have a bus waiting to drive you back at the end. An hour from the city and the $60 for the canoe is well worth it. Warm water good times.
A ten mile self-guided canoe trip through the Redwoods with return shuttle included. Picnic, swim, sunbathe at beaches along this magnificent stretch of the river.
Summer in them mountains floating down the Russian River
We've had a couple of good galleries here in San Francisco close recently, unfortunately. We don't know the exact reasons why, but you can read thier press releases here for more infomation. Sad to see them go.
Lake Gallery, which was upstairs of the Plant It Earth's Divisidero location, had to shut its doors since their host, Plant It Earth, is closing.
Also, sorry to hear that Michael Rosenthal Gallery is closing its Valencia location and moving south to Redwood City with their last day open on Valencia St. Saturday, June 30th. You can read both their press releases here for more information.
Thanks to all who came through the opening of Edible Complex featuring work from Kelly Tunstall & Ferris Plock last Friday @FFDG. We'll be adding photos of the show and opening either later today or tomorrow. Playing a bit of catch up after taking a couple days off for a lil' R&R.
Speaking of Kelly Tunstall (read below), we're hanging her show with Ferris Plock right now (opening Friday at FFDG). Here are a few quick phone snaps.
Kelly Tunstall working on her show at FFDG opening Friday
Street Style Report: Local Artist Kelly Tunstall Shows Us Four Spring Looks, in Presidio Heights. <-- You may recognize Kelly Tunstall's artwork from her mermaid murals at Bar Crudo. Or maybe you've come across her work at a local gallery. I first saw her artwork years ago, at 111 Minna, and was instantly charmed. Her whimsical figures and enchanting use of color make her artwork distinct and easily lovable.
I later met Kelly at a party in the Mission, and went gaga over her green Dries Van Noten pumps. It's no surprise that the creator of such lovely pieces of art would have an incredible sense of style, too. -continue reading
Kelly's show w/ Ferris Plock opens Friday June 22nd @FFDG
Edible Complex Kelly Tunstall & Ferris Plock
June 22 - July 14, 2012
Opening reception: Friday, June 22nd, 7–10 pm
@FFDG
We're giving away 2 sets of VIP tickets for the Asian Art Museum here in San Francisco where you can view their current show Phantoms of Asia (running through Sept 2nd). The first 2 people who email a picture of themselves in front of their computer screen with Fecal Face on it takes them. --> contact(at)fecalface.com
Update: Congrats to Lauren Patridge and to Eug who got their photos in first and win the tickets. Enjoy the museum, guys.
Gary Baseman and The Loyal Subjects proudly bring you the Buckingham Warrior - Kostopol Edition. The Kostopol Warrior comes in cool powder blue.
The Buckingham Warrior is a fabled character, inspired from the real world deeds of his father, Ben Baseman - a Partisan in WWII. Kostopol is the name of the town in what was Poland, now the Ukraine, where Baseman's mother was born and bred. She, along with very few others from Kostopol, survived the horrors of the Nazi occupancy. Baseman used the name Kostoopl in the memory of those who lost their live, to honor those that survived and to celebrate those who saved them. - $120.00USD - Edition 250
Got this great photo submitted by SF's Dominic Santos today for Photo of the Day. Normally we throw submissions into a folder for later, but this one's too good not to share right away.
Yeah, we know we should probably stay away from any poop related artness, but these guys are too good.
Both hand made in London, UK, Lamps were designed as items of everyday use that make user a bit uncomfortable with every use. The On/Off switch is shaped as a turd that needs to be stepped on. Each take one month to create. Lamp are available worldwide in limited editions of Good Boy - 100 and
Good Puppy - 200 directly from artist at www.whatshisname.co.uk
Both lamps were supposed to be part of London's the Art Below exhibition on London Underground stations. Even though they were accepted by the organizers, unfortunately they were banned by London Underground due to being offensive. Good Boy - Good Puppy
The On/Off switch is shaped as a turd that needs to be stepped on.
Art with a bit controversy. Instead of all the twee shite most sites post these days (yours included). Why not post some refractory, intransigent, recalcitrant messages for a change. With that, I present my own work. It's getting turned back from most galleries right now because they want to sell nice pictures, with no message at all apparently. Any how, I'm Lusky. I love Gonzo journalism and basically being controversial through my art which is probably the best there is right now... Don't worry, I fully understand why you people wont post anything by me until it's too late. -Lusky
Wow. What a great email and work that's so controversial. Thanks for emailing, Lusky. We'll let the readers respond. See more.
A DFace/ Banksy hybrid? Not sure how controversial it may be.
This day may have been inevitable, but now it's finally here. In its attempt to take over the world - or at least everything that can be bought and sold in the world, Amazon is launching an art gallery.
This summer Amazon is planning to launch a Fine Art Gallery where customers will be able to purchase original artwork offered by a select group of invited galleries via Amazon.com. ~continue reading
A new HBO documentary looks at the work of street artist JR, whose giant portraits force people in troubled areas to confront the humanity that's all around them... On the day JR found out he'd won the $100,000 TED Prize, the French pasteup artist found himself in China being questioned by police for doing his thing on the streets of Shanghai. ~continue reading
Street artist JR HBO documentary premiered yesterday, May 20th
Art lovers, collectors and gallerists will gather on Thursday for Hong Kong's inaugural edition of Art Basel, sealing the city's status as an international art hub and Asia's leading art destination... Hong Kong has surged to third place in the global art auction market behind New York and London and Western galleries are falling over each other to open franchises in the former British colony. ~continue reading
Our buddy Ferris Plock opens a small show of drawings at Benny Gold on 3169 16th St this Friday, May 24th (7-10pm) featuring 31 drawings priced at 75-140 bucks.
Ferris also released the video Fingered! he produced with animator Jim Dirschberger. View it
Wowzas, there's a lot of art happenings this weekend, and while you're making the rounds, be sure to stop at SFAI's MFA show Currency opening Friday, May 17th at the beautiful old SF Mint Building (88 5th Street).
SFAI's 2013 MFA graduates—working in painting, photography, printmaking, film, sculpture, installation, digital media, performance, and across media—will present work that embraces the Institute's signature spirit of experimentation and conceptual risk-taking.
Opening reception: Friday, May 17, 7–9 pm & running through Sunday 11-6pm daily. -- complete details
London based Pedro Matos opens the solo show Building Castles Made of Sand this Friday in Los Angeles at the Martha Otero Gallery featuring a new series of oil paintings on canvas and azulejo panels - a traditional Portuguese medium of hand-painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile work.
San Francisco -- CCA opens their 2013 MFA Thesis Exhibition this Thursday, May 16th at their SF campus. Every year another graduating class produces steller work. One of the best SF art events worth getting to, but be sure to get there early as there's always a long line. ~details
Ryan De La Hoz' show in the Upper Haight at RVCA runs through this Saturday... And the next time you're in the Mission, be sure to swing through his new shop on 14th St, Cool Try... We need to get over there soon and do a little photo feature for ya.
The Book and Job Gallery (San Francisco) really stepped it up with the opening of Daniel Chen's loveBlast on May 4th. Complete with a doorman, piano player, old fashioneds, and some really nice paintings, I could hardly believe I was at the Book and Job. The paintings varied in size, and the show was balanced nicely between them, the spray-can work on the walls, and the smaller drawings displayed throughout. The kind notes Chen wrote on the walls are certain to brighten your day, and the rest of the work is definitely worth a look. It was a very classy evening and I hope they continue to intersperse shows like these into their schedule in the future
FFDG opened up the group show featuring original works by the artists of the world famous Skull & Sword tattoo last Friday here in San Francisco. Thanks to the huge crowd who turned out to support these four incredibly talented artists. Here is a taste of the show, and be sure to swing in to view in person. The show runs through June 8th.
Gary Baseman's retrospective "The Door is Always Open" at the Skirball in LA opened recently to massive crowds in a huge celebratory opening party. The exhibition is so complex and personal, delving into Baseman's background, family history, and all the layers of prolific work that he has done over the years. After the opening festivities winded down, I caught up with Baseman for an interview. We discussed the underlying meaning to some of the components of the show and how it felt for him, coming from such an honest personal perspective in putting this massive show together.
Fertile Menace, a new show of Mark Mulroney's (NY) work opened at Ever Gold on May 4th and it's not one to be missed. It is intelligently hilarious, with jokes riffing off sex, Foucault, and the body, and while it makes you laugh it's also going to make you think.
Our buddies Jay Howell, Andreas Trolf, and Jim Dirschberger are hyped as their show, which they've been working on for like 2 years, premieres on Nickelodeon Saturday. From the trailers we've seen so far and from what Jay has told us about, the show is going to be pretty epic. Congrats to those radical fellas.
Here's a little taste of work by the artists of the world famous The Skull and Sword tattoo shop who open their show at San Francisco's FFDG on Friday, May 17th (7-10pm).
Following his solo exhibition "The Collected" at Gallery Wendi Norris, painter Amir H. Fallah is in the throes of developing more new works for upcoming international exhibits. We spent some time in his studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles recently, discussing his process and inspiration.
We were first introduced to the photography of Spanish born NYC based Bubi Canal when he emailed us his great video Trust in Me a couple years ago. His solo show Special Moment recently ran at NYC's Munch Gallery in February, and he recently released his newest video Chrystelle below.
Although I missed the opening of Northern-California photographer Michael Garlington's newest show, Constructed Realities, I was fortunate enough to see the work still up during the Metaphysical fundraiser a couple weeks back at 111 Minna. Metaphysical fundraiser, an auction to benefit Wayne Ernzer. --- The ghoulish photographs in their heavy, hand-made frames are reminiscent of photos from the old west, and the glass crucifixes, complete with fetuses and guns, emphasize the accumulated time within the works themselves. Whether you're looking at the frames, the photos, or both, this show deserves a visit, and a walk through the golden archway Garlington constructed around the front door.
Fecal Face contributor Rachel Ralph (rachel(at)fecalface.com) has been profiling this Oakland based painter as he travels about Japan. In this segment, we feature some photos as he prepared for this show and residency at Spes-LaB in Tokyo which opened last weekend. Arnold will be featured in SFMoMA's Minna Street windows on June 8th.
Last Saturday, here in SF's Mission district, Guerrero Gallery opened two new shows with Philly based Alex Lukas and SF based Richard Colman respectively. Colman's work occupied the project space while Lukas' work and foliage was presented in the main space. Worth getting to if you haven't already.
Just got back to SF after a little trip south to Sayulita, Mexico. After 10 years without a vacation, me and the Mrs. headed south for some mental time off sitting in the sun, swimming and enjoying the watery Mexican beer. Here are some photos as we get back into the swing of things again.
Athens, Greece based designer, architect and artist Dimitris Polychroniadis emailed over more of his work which consists of mixed media, pop-humorous diorama sculptures that make a comment on the harsh realities my country and much of the world is facing at the moment.
FFDG will open a group show with the artists from the famed Skull & Sword Tattoo on Friday, May 17th (6-9pm). Artists: Grime, Henry Lewis, Yutaro, and Lango. Below are a series of videos on Grime for Vice's Tattoo Age produced in 2011. Fascinating look at one of the greatest tattoo artists alive today.
ARYZ (Spain) opened his newest gallery show at Fifty24SF last Friday and, if you live in the Bay Area, you need to go. This dude can obviously paint, and he doesn't need an entire building to show his impecable skill. The show has lots of small works on paper which contrast his highly-defined line work to his hard-edged painted objects. The contrast between the hard and soft was the most striking thing to me about his work, since I had never seen it in person before, and the washes blend with the thick paint seamlessly. The show also contains a larger work on canvas, a huge head suspended in the back of the room, and a big wood sculpture of a wolf figure. This diversity in such a small space was impressive, and those of us that went to the opening even got to meet the man in person. If you didn't make it out this weekend, check it out before May 31st when it closes and these works will be off to some very happy new homes.
Water McBeer is please to announce its latest exhibition "Precious" a solo exhibition by David Bayus (April 6 - May 4, 2013) -- David Bayus born 1982 holds his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. David lives and works in San Francisco and is a founding member of the basement collective. This will be his first exhibition with the world renown Water McBeer Gallery highlighting his most recent achievements with paint and digital media. David Bayus will be exhibiting 5 relatively large-scale mixed media works along with a collaborative object featuring Hungarian sculptor H.R KOONS.
The Shooting Gallery handed over the reins to the Red Truck Gallery (a New Orleans based gallery) which curated their new show, Hard Time Mini Mall and opened the it on Saturday night. This is my favorite show (so far) in the Shooting Gallery's new space and was packed full of art, a mini bar, and cowhide rugs. The Red Truck Gallery chose works with clear craftsmanship and it was easy to see in Ian Berry's denim assemblages and Chris Roberts-Antieau's awesome quilts. The space was completely packed, making it hard to see each piece individually, but this show deserves a second trip anyway. I look forward to spending more time with the chandeliers, automatons, and paintings before the show comes down on May 4th.
Toronto based photographer Nathan Cyprys emailed to let us know about his newest series "Neighbour State", and we were about to post it when we spotted this series on his site entitled "Ayre (of Distances)" and had to post this one instead. After you view this one, view "Neighbour State" on his site. Both are visually enjoyable.
Working from found photographs, Lyle's paintings are created through a reductive painting process where each piece is rendered using only black paint and turpentine. Lyle begins this process by priming a panel with white gesso. He then paints a thin, rich, oily black veneer over the primed panel, slowly and systematically developing his images by removing some of the black paint with a cloth. In doing so, Lyle renders layer upon layer of various values of black paint resulting in his signature-style of luminescent works.
London based David Shillinglaw who's blogged it up for Fecal Face in the past recently completed this mural in London as he prepares for his solo show at Stolen Space opening on April 26th.
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News
This day may have been inevitable, but now it's finally here. In its attempt to take over the world - or at least everything that can be bought and sold in the world, Amazon is launching an art gallery.
