art gallery shakedown!

For a moment- away from a sentence- mostly because I have not come up with one today.
Instead I bring a few "reviews" of 3 art openings I 've been to this month. Since I have only gone to each of these shows once- these are more like "first impressions"-

On Fri. Dec. 2

The http://www.redinkstudios.org/index.html
Stephanie Dean- Sleeping Men photography http://www.stephaniedean.com/

I actually like Dean’s work a lot and was looking forward to this show. And it did not disappoint. And as the show is called, was what the subject: men (and boys) sleeping.
I find Dean’s fascination with men, well…fascinating. I’ve seen Dean’s work before and I’m impressed with how she captures her subjects so lushly and yet so naturally. Sleeping men may not sound like a wowee! sort of subject, but seeing these men in various vulnerable poses opens a door that you may not see otherwise.

The vibe- Dean’s photos were exhibited in one corner of a very, VERY large studio, and this night there seemed be like a large scale reception. Lots of people milling around looking at lots of art. Unfortunately I didn’t have time, since I had to head out to SFO to meet someone, so I was in and out. I would liked to have stayed and checked out the rest of the art; people looked like they were having fun- oh well.


The following week- 12/10 Sat. in Oakland

Forty Winks: at Ego Park
video art featuring-
Pascual Sisto
Semiconductor
Casey Reas
Chris Musgrave
Adam Marks
Barney Haynes
Sue Costabile
Joshua Clayton
Nate Boyce
Dave Berezin
Scott Arford

The Ego Park website doesn’t seem to work- but you can see the flyer for the show here:
http://www.7hz.org/upcoming.html

The gallery, which is located in an up and coming hipster part of Oaksterdam, constructed white 3-sided single-viewer cubes to watch the videos which ran about 1-5mn in length. The subject material encompassed a wide array from super-abstract (semiconductor’s 200 nanowebbers & arford’s static) to computery (Reas) to more figurative (people sneezing). I enjoyed the overall exhibition and watched all the videos.

The vibe- super rockin’- it was like one of the best parties I’ve been to all year! There were tons of young oaklander hipster, arty types as well as some of the more established artists. The gallery setup allowed conversations among strangers. Live music in the back along with cheap wine all contributed. Also the viewing cubes created some curious social interactions- I myself, ducked into a few cubes with strangers…quite cool!