Things I Hella Love About Oakland: The Art Murmur

I know I keep harping on the Oakland Art Murmur, the "art walk" around the upstart, gallery-studded Uptown area that takes place the first Friday of each month. But I'm not going to stop until you all go -- at least those of you within driving distance.

Nick and I try to attend the Art Murmur as often as we can, because it's fun and because we've been introduced to several artists there whose work we promptly fell in love with. Last month, I actually had the foresight to grab my camera before we headed out the door, so here's my little amateur photographic ode to the monthly Murmur:

My favorite Oakland art gallery, Johansson Projects, where I'm always blown away by the shows. Kimberly Johansson: You're totally rockin' it, girl.

Nick ponders Paul Hayes' Cultivated Momentum -- made up of thousands of pieces of folded paper suspended from the ceiling -- at Johansson.

Sorry, just have to add a quick aside here to my kids, who lately have been refusing to do anything with us that doesn't involve, like, roller coasters and French fries -- and I'm talking the full-on, foot stomping, hands on hips, growling "I'm NOT going!" through clenched teeth sort of refusing. Last month, we got so fed up with this routine that we just tossed a cereal box at them for dinner, turned on our heels, and left them at home. (Our son recently turned 13, so I'm pretty sure that wasn't actually illegal.)

Anyway: See, guys, there *are* other kids at the Murmur! Some of your friends, actually! And doesn't it look like they're even kind of having a good time? I know you find it all sort of insufferable, but when you grow up I hope you'll be like, "Yeah, our parents were always dragging us to flea markets and noisy concerts and freaky art shows. That was cool." Plus, if you come next month without complaining, we might buy you donuts.

In order to get to the crackers and beer at the back of the Egopark Gallery, you had to climb through this web-like installation. I'm not quite sure what the message was supposed to be, but it was kinda cool.

"But what does it all mean?" she wondered ...

The Bloom Screen Printing/Small Stakes print sale was packed. We snagged this "scratch-and-dent" print by Portland's Ryan Jacob Smith for $5. It now resides on our refrigerator, where our daughter keeps covering up the bad word with magnets. We've tried explaining to her that it's Art, and thus OK, but she remains unconvinced.

I don't know what this bus was or what, exactly, it was doing there. But it was full of revelers having a mighty fine time, and had such a sweet herbal aroma wafting out of the windows that I'm pretty sure we got a contact high simply from standing next to the bus for a minute. So let's just call it "The Party Bus."

These pictures coming out blurry was totally unintentional -- I swear I wasn't trying to be arty. But I like how they sort of capture the roiling energy of the whole shindig.

Hmm ... do you think someone's trying to send me a message?

Here's the thing about the Oakland Art Murmur: You don't necessarily go for the art, because lately the Murmur has been so thronged that you can't actually get that close to the art. (Above is a shot of the scene at the Science Fair show at the Rock Paper Scissors Collective, for instance, where a DJ was spinning and people were mostly just hanging with friends.)

You go for the funky, celebratory vibe of it all, to hear some random dude throwing down rhymes on the corner, and for the chance to carry an open beer can around with you on the street. And then you go back to the galleries the next day and actually look at the art in peace and quiet.

This month's Murmur is Friday, May 1, from 6 p.m. to 9-ish. Here's my suggested game plan: Line up at the counter at Mama Buzz Cafe for a fair-trade coffee and vegan sandwich -- both served up with a side of tattooed-grrrl attitude -- and enjoy them on the back patio. Or go slightly more upscale at Luka's Taproom or the new Flora restaurant, which is winning raves. Then check out the galleries -- the Propagations exhibit pictured above is still up at Johansson Projects, as is the Venue show at Front Gallery, and there are openings or relatively new shows up at Blankspace, Mercury20, Esteban Sabar, Oakopolis, and Rock Paper Scissors. After the galleries start closing up, grab a drink and see a couple of bands at The Uptown, Stork Club, or 21 Grand.

Seriously, people -- it's a party. You should go.

Mark Your Calendar: Back to Basics

This Friday, February 1, Oakland's Industrielle hosts an opening reception for its Back to Basics exhibition featuring the pinhole and Dolga work of photographers Roy Berkowitz (above and below) and Travis Kuhl, as well as metal artist Khabir Salahadyn.

The reception runs from 7 to 10 p.m. during the monthly Oakland Art Murmur. Stop by and check it out if you're local. Industrielle is located at 33 Grand Avenue, in Oakland's gallery-packed Uptown district.

And while you're in the area, don't miss Neither Here Nor There (above) at Johansson Projects, Best Western (below) at Estaban Sabar Gallery, and Invisible Cities at Mercury 20 (bottom).

The Artful Home: Art by Sheila Metcalf Tobin

Colorful, kaleidoscopic, and unabashedly sensual, Sheila Metcalf Tobin's botanical art seems to burst off the canvas. Her fruit and floral subjects -- "the bounty of the earth" is an ongoing theme -- are at once instantly recognizable and intriguingly abstract, startlingly intricate and strikingly bold.

Rendered on sheets of birch and maple plywood, Tobin's works "interact with the material's surface and create a sensation reminiscent of the sensual experience of moving through a garden," says the Berkeley artist, an Art Institute of Chicago MFA who spent chunks of her childhood on her great grandparents' farm in rural Alabama.

Limited-edition, 22-by-28-inch screen prints (including "Primera Impresión," above, and "Falling in the Garden," below) cost $300, or $600 in hand-built maple frames. Tobin originals run $300 to $2,800.

A joint exhibition with Oakland painter Margaret Chavigny opens at Oakland's Mercury 20 Gallery on Friday, July 6 (in conjunction with the monthly Oakland Art Murmur First Fridays) and runs through July 29. (Among the new works shown will be "Emergent," left, $900.)

To see more of Tobin's work, visit her website.

Mark Your Calendar: Oakland Art Murmur's "First Friday"

Don't miss the Oakland Art Murmur on Friday, June 1.

On the first Friday evening of each month, galleries and artists' collectives in and near Oakland's newly bustling (but still edgy) Uptown area open from 7 to 10 p.m. for the coalition's monthly art walk. Participants include Rock Paper Scissors, Blankspace, Boontling Gallery, Rowan Morrison, 21 Grand, Creative Growth, Mercury 20, and Front Gallery, among others.

Affordable art is a key part of the mix: Original pieces by emerging artists can be had for as little as $20, while work from more established painters, illustrators, photographers, and sculptors runs several hundred to several thousand dollars.

Oakland has long been an artists' haven, but in recent years the art scene has exploded as high costs have pushed droves of working artists out of San Francisco in search of more affordable studio space. I liken it a bit to the arts pilgrimage from Manhattan to Brooklyn during the last ten years. (Indeed, Oakland is reputedly second only to New York in number of artists per capita.) The Oakland Art Murmur was born last year to showcase this growing local arts community.

So grab a coffee, a beer, or a bite to eat at Mama Buzz Cafe and then stroll from art space to art space. Among the artists exhibiting this month are Chris Truman, Carl Auge, Alexander Cheves, James Gouldthorpe, and Moira Murdock. Don't miss 21 Grand's "Small Works" fundraising sale, which features works from dozens of local artists, all priced at $100 or less. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket, too, and settle in for Asphalt Shorts IV, a series of short films about cities and urbanism that's being screened in the Broadway parking lot between 21st and 22nd streets at 8:30.


You're also likely to catch a drum circle, a bonfire, a guerrilla art performance, or a busking band amidst the milling students, hipsters, and art aficionados on the street. It's a happening Happening indeed.

Info, directions, and details here.

(Photos by Lane Hartwell for Oakland magazine.)