The Artful Home: We = Trouble

Last fall, the print-release site Tiny Showcase put together a group show at Brooklyn's Secret Project Robot gallery. Called We = Trouble, the show featured collaborative works (as well as several solo pieces) by a international group of 32 artists. (Above: Three Cranes and a Deer by Nigel Peake and Holly Rice.)

The exhibit "was designed to showcase communities of artists that do not subscribe to traditional art world values of egocentricity and competition, but rather foster communities of trust and encouragement. Sixteen artists were given complete freedom to invite a partner that they would most enjoy collaborating with. Responding with an avalanche of marathon drawing jams, long-distance parcel post, fake feuds, spying, empty threats, pseudo sabotage, and curiosity, the participants spent the last six months oscillating between forgetting about the show altogether to pulling all-nighters just trying to out-trouble one another, or simply trying to trouble to their maximum extent."

A few of the artists are familiar names -- there's a significant Bay Area contribution, for instance -- but many of them are new to me (and several of those were love at first sight). Now these original artworks are available through the Tiny Showcase website. Some of my favorite pieces:

Slutty Plan by Riikka Sormunen

Pony by Riikka Sormunen

Sex Grill by Jaakko Pallasvuo and Riikka Sormunen

Caves, Telescopes, and Slides by Nigel Peake and Holly Rice

Acclimation Blast by Maxwell Loren Holyoke-Hirsch

North by Caroline Gaedechens

Secrets by Caroline Gaedechens and 1911 (aka The Good Machinery)

Bird Series V by Matt Furie and Aiyana Udesen

Ghost in the Graveyard by Jen Corace

We Were There by Catia Chen and Danni Meyerson

Boglight by Michelle Blade and Marci Washington

The Wanderer by Michelle Blade and Marci Washington

Moon Mouth by Michelle Blade and Marci Washington

Moon Bathing by Michelle Blade, Jay Howell, and Ferris Plock

Bones by Jay Howell, Deth P. Sun, and Ferris Plock

Lost Marbles by Ferris Plock and Kelly Tunstall

Untitled by Erin Althea and Drew Beckmeyer

Purple Panties by Mike Bertino and Daniel Gibson

Check out all of the featured pieces here, and contact Tiny Showcase for info and pricing on available works.

Mark Your Calendar: Southern Exposure's 9th Annual Monster Drawing Rally

Friday night, February 27: More than 130 of the Bay Area's rising artists making art on the spot. Original pieces for $60 a pop. Music from Bo Derelict, tacos from El Tonayense, and beer from Trumer Brauerei, Bridgeport, and Nectar Ales. What more could you ask for?

Southern Exposure's 9th Annual Monster Drawing Rally is a can't-miss event for local art lovers looking to build a collection on a budget, and those who want an up-close look at the creative process. All proceeds benefit the San Francisco nonprofit arts organization's Exhibitions and Artists in Education Programs.

Photos by rgr.jnr

The participant list is a veritable Who's Who of the Bay Area art scene: Brett Amory, Lauren Anderson, Kathy Aoki, Chris Applegren, Seth Armstrong, Johnna Arnold, Mara Baldwin, David Becker, Pete Belkin, Bert Bergen, Elisheva Biernoff, Evan Bissel, Michelle Blade, Val Britton, Charlie Callahan, Michele Carlson, Deric Carner, John Casey, Constance Castillo, Alexander Cheves, Youmna Chlala, Serena Cole, Randy Colosky, Lisa Congdon, Jaime Cortez, Lauren Davies, Christian Davies, Veronica De Jesus, Tina Dillman, Nina Elder, Marcela Florez, Amy Franceschini, Adam Friedman, Matt Furie, Narangkar Glover, Pete Glover, Ariel Goldberg, Michael Hall, Liz Harvey, Chelsea Heikes, Eric Heiman, Queena Hernandez, Terry Hoff, Misa Inaoka, Ian Johnson, Kelly Lynn Jones, Kara Joslyn, Josh Keyes, David King, Tashana Kjelland, Sarah Klein, Mary Anne Kluth, Chris Leib, Justin Limoges, Kenneth Lo, Ivan Lopez, Marina Luz, Nathan Lynch, Paul Madonna, Minette Mangahas, Michelle Mansour, Kari Marboe, Vanessa Marsh, Corinne Matesich, Christina Mazza, Mike McConnell, Gaelan McKeown, Jeff Meadows, Jody Medich, David Muller, Carson Murdach, Claire Nereim, Jessica Niello, Andy Nizinskyj, Sandra Ono, Jennie Ottinger, Matthew Palladino, Lana Parcello, Erik Parra, Kamau Patton, Hilary Pecis, Stephanie Peek, Chris Pew, George Pfau, Ferris Plock, Mel Prest, Kyle Ranson, Lisa Ricci, Ricardo Richie, Favianna Rodriguez, Lordy Rodriguez, John Rogers, Veronica Rojas, Thorina Rose, Nat Russell, Zachary Rossman, Sham Saenz, Colleen Sanders, Zachary Royer Scholz, Andrew Schoultz, Emily Sevier, Ryan Shaffer, Jennie Smith, Deth P. Sun, Jiharri Terry, Tracy Timmins, Trevor Tubelle, Jessica Tully, Kelly Tunstall, Gina Tuzzi, Aiyana Udesen, Paul Urich, Adrian Van Allen, Jamie Vasta, Ben Venom, Marci Washington, Virginia White, Amanda Williams, Jenifer Wofford, and Michael Louis Young.

Photos by rgr.jnr

The Monster Drawing Rally runs from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday at San Francisco's Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa St. at Potrero. A $5 (or more) donation at the door is suggested. More info here.

Mark Your Calendar: April Art Happenings

Another busy, busy art weekend (and week) ahead:

Friday, April 3

* At San Francisco's Rare Device, Portland artist Mark Warren Jacques' The Optimistic Life & Mind opens with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. The young painter's colorful, graphic, and highly detailed work is "a testament to Jacques' sense of order within disorder and acute presence of mind." The show will be up through April 29 at Rare Device, 1845 Market St. at Guerrero. (If you're not in the area, you can view and purchase Jacques' pieces for the show here.)

* The Mission's Triple Base Gallery presents Out of the Flat Files II, featuring new work from more than 30 local artists, including Alissa Anderson, Marty Anderson, Chi Birmingham, Michelle Blade, James Bradley, Todd Bura, Michael Cappabianca, Shashana Chittle, Serena Cole, Tara Foley, Bryson Gill, Leonie Guyer, Jason Kalogiros, Melissa Kaseman, Justin Limoges, Isaac Lin, Leigh McCarthy, Jay Nelson, Kelly Ording, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Hilary Pecis, Jesse Schlesinger, Orion Shepherd, Christine Shields, Paul Urich, David Wilson, and Edmund Wyss.

* Also at Triple Base, Bryson Gill's Mirror and Mirror, Warm Milk - Still Cream, Degrees of Separation, Shades of Blue and Throwbacks, small works that reinterpret "late 17th century portraits through the lens of advertising-inspired graphic pictorial devices." The shows will be up through May 3 at Triple Base, 3041 24th St. at Treat.

* Hop on the Bay Bridge and head over to Oakland's Swarm Gallery, where John Casey's solo show, Distant Cousins, opens with an artist's reception from 6 to 9 p.m. At first glance, Casey's works "seem to portray a menagerie of deformed creatures. A collective analysis reveals this array of oddball creations to be a series of psychological studies -- self-portraits of the artist's inner psyche in all of its multifaceted incarnations."

* Also opening at Swarm: Nature Boy, a collection of Don Porcella's pipe cleaner sculptures, which "play with our concept of consumerism, reality and our own weird mortality," as well as Regime Change, a group show featuring small works (all priced under $500) celebrating our new representation in Washington and the hopefulness that has inspired. Participating artists include Alfred Steiner, Amanda Williams, Amy Ross, Andy Vogt, Barbara Holmes, Casey Jex Smith, Chris Pew, Chris Sicat, Dan Nelson, David Higgins, David King, Ema Sintamarian, Ernest Concepcion, Fred Muram, Fumiha Tanaka, Gregory Euclide, Jaime Cortez, Jessica Serran, Jim Rosenau, Jordan Essoe, Joshua Hagler, Kathy Aoki, Kevin E. Taylor, Linda Braz, Mayumi Hamanaka, Michael Hall, Narangkar Glover, Pete Glover, Sarah Emerson, Sarah Smith, Terry Furry, Treasure Frey, Vaughn Bell, Vicki Walsh, Zach Houston. The shows will be up through May 10 at Swarm, 560 Second St. near Jack London Square.

* Good battles evil at Rock Paper Scissors Collective's new exhibition, Heroes and Villains, which kicks off with an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. The show offers "a new and interesting eye on the classic dichotomy of chivalry and ugliness, portraiture and caricature, love and death." Artists include Arnell Ando, Teppei Ando, Graham Annable, David Ball, Ben Catmull, Mary Cook, Alika Cooper, Matt Hart, Matt Hewitt, Obi Kaufman, An Nguyen, Jonah Olson, Deth P. Sun, Mark Todd, and Derek Wood. Heroes and Villains will be up through April 25 at Rock Paper Scissors, 2278 Telegraph Ave. at 23rd St. in Uptown Oakland.

* Jason Byers and Patricia Wakida will be in attendance for the opening of their join show, [Print] Run, at 21 Grand from 7 p.m. on. The show features new paintings from Byers as well as Wakida's linoleum block prints, and will be up through April 18 at 21 Grand, 416 25th St. at Broadway.


* Smokey's Tangle in Oakland's Temescal District hosts an opening party from 7 to 10 p.m. for Beatlenuts, an "attempt to bridge the gap between fine art and fan art." The show will be up through April 15 at 4709 Telegraph Ave. at 47th St. (hint: that's a few doors down from Lanesplitter Pizza & Pub, if you want to make an evening of it).

Saturday, April 4

* At Oakland's Rowan Morrison, Small Ruins, featuring the photography of Hannah Henry, opens with an artist's reception from 7 to 10 p.m. Henry's large-scale photographs showcase "objects from the bottom of people's hearts and drawers: things with a past but no longer a purpose. The photos depict an individual object set against a blank background, highlighting the object itself, and begging of it a myriad of imaginary narratives." The show will be up through May 9 at Rowan Morrison, 330 40th St. at Broadway.

Thursday, April 9

* Finally, the show I've been anticipating with baited breath for months: Marci Washington's Dark Mirror at San Francisco's Rena Bransten Gallery. Washington's "lush paintings work on several levels to build suspicion and to enhance an ominous sense of discomfort and crisis in viewers. She achieves this by depicting ghosts, haunted houses, vampires, dismembered limbs, bloody scenery, and an assortment of sallow young people who serve as metaphors for serious social ills. Washington’s model for a doomed society was Edwardian England, whose rigid social norms and repressive imperialist vision sparked its decline -- a situation Washington feels is mirrored by a present-day America. Her Edwardian characters and romance novel format allow Washington 'to construct an allegorical tale ... in order to reveal a much darker tale of moral decline, spiritual crisis, and rampant anxiety, all lurking beneath the siren song of material desire.'” I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I do know that Washington's deliciously dark and twisted images give me chills (in the best possible way). Dark Mirror will be up through May 16 at Rena Bransten, 77 Geary St. at Kearny.

Happy arting!

Mark Your Calendar: Auctions and Openings

Another fun weekend in store for Bay Area art lovers:

* On Saturday, March 21, from 4 to 7 p.m., Oakland's Johansson Projects hosts an opening reception for Kate Eric and Marina Vendrell Renaut's joint show, Flaming Furbelows. The exhibit "explores uneasy encounters between attraction and repulsion, tenderness and terror. From inside fleshy mounds of fur and yarn, Renaut's plush and bulbous monstrosities offer up wooly orifices and suggestive pleasures. Eric's 'Bug Wars' invoke similar unsettling dioramas of violence and seduction, as otherworldly insects wage battles across landscapes of post-apocalyptic glee and Dr. Seussian wonderment. Taken together, these artists present visions of a phantasmic post-natural world, where desire warps into perverse narratives and cross-contaminated forms." Johansson Projects is located at 2300 Telegraph Ave. at 23rd St. in Uptown Oakland.

* Over in San Francisco, the exhibition party for Hilary Williams's A City With Colored Dreams runs from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday night at the Frankee Uno. If you haven't seen Williams's incredible, surreal silkscreen prints of the City, you must rectify that immediately. Music, snacks, and libations will be provided. Frankee Uno is located at 1221 Divisadero St. at Eddy.

* Also on Saturday night, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., San Francisco experimental-arts organization the Lab hosts its 25th annual Silent and Live Auction. More than 200 local, national, and internationally renowned artists have donated work to the event, and most of the original pieces have a starting bid of just $25. Participants include Mike Arcega, Leo Bersamina, Michelle Blade, John Casey, Ajit Chauhan, Joshua Churchill, Gail Dawson, Victor De La Rosa, Tara Lisa Foley, Matt Furie, Bryson Gill, Taro Hattori, Cynthia Ona Innis, Xylor Jane, Jeff Kao, Tom Marioni, Karla Milosevich, Paul Mullins, Trevor Paglen, Hillary Pecis, Genevieve Quick, Ed Ruscha, Casey Jex Smith, Kirk Stoller, Stephanie Syjuco, Heather Wilcoxon, and many more. There's a sliding-scale, $10 to $25 admission fee, which includes snacks and drinks. The sale continues Sunday from 1 to 6 p.m., when admission is free. The Lab is located at 2948 16th St. at Capp in the Mission District. More info here.

* Finally, although Alex Lukas's new solo show, And Another Shall Rise to Take Her Place, actually opened at SF's White Walls Gallery last weekend, it looks amazing, so I had to include it for those of you who may not have checked it out yet. The show will be up through April 3 at White Walls, 835 Larkin St. at Myrtle in San Francisco's "Tendernob" area.