Mark Your Calendar: Friday Night Art in Oakland

Photo by Vonguard

This Friday, April 4, is Oakland's monthly Art Murmur, which we've missed for one reason or another the last few months. I'm looking forward to getting out and seeing some of the homegrown art on display in the Uptown galleries. There are few new shows that I'm especially looking forward to:

My favorite Oakland art spot, Johansson Projects, 2300 Telegraph Avenue, is hosting Propagations, a mulitmedia exhibit from artists Tadashi Moriyama, Paul Hayes, Alexis Amann, Rebecca Whipple, and Kiersten Essenpreis.

Propagations "explores the conjunction of natural, cultural and technological forces that foster unexpected artistic transmissions, replications, and disseminations."

Across the street at the Rock Paper Scissors Collective, 2278 Telegraph Avenue, is Science Fair. Curated by Detroit's Andrew Thompson and featuring the work of eight local and national artists (including Amanda Lechner, Erik Peterson, and Trisha Brookbank), the exhibit "addresses the intersections of art and science as subject matter, whether it be through the guise of pseudoscience, the lure of technology, or the eccentricity of cultural anthropologies."

Front Gallery, at 35 Grand Avenue, is hosting an opening reception for Venue, a joint show from Judith White, Danny Scheible, and Art Hazelwood that's described as a study of spaces, "whether they be exterior or interior; physical or psychological."

Galleries participating in the Oakland Art Murmur's First Friday event are generally open from 6 to 9 p.m. -- though a few stay open until 10.

And Bloom Screen Printing, at 2310 Telegraph Avenue, is having a big print sale -- including rare, out-of-print, slightly damaged, and brand-new gig posters from Jason Munn's The Small Stakes (below) for $5 to $25 each. The sale is from 5 to 10 p.m.

See you there!

The Artful Home: The Small Stakes

I love the simple palettes and clever images of Oakland's The Small Stakes studio. Founded by Wisconsin transplant Jason Munn in 2003, The Small Stakes designs frameworthy silkscreened gigposters for a variety of bands, as well as CD packages, t-shirts, and book covers.

Take a look:

Ted Leo + Pharmacists

Chavez

The Decemberists

Mark Kozelek European Tour

Stars Canadian Tour

Noise Pop 15th Anniversary

Castanets

Mates of State

Mark Kozelek East Coast Tour

My Brightest Diamond

Each poster costs $25 and is available right here.

(And if you're in the area, be sure to check out "The Small Stakes: A Year in Posters" at San Francisco's new Curiosity Shoppe. The opening is Friday night, December 7, from 6 to 9 p.m., and the show runs through January.)