Week 2 June, 2010
This week’s highlighted local treasure is the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley. From the East Bay Express regarding an exhibition there currently:
It seems like just yesterday that our free-market fundamentalists were drunkenly bellowing “Drill, baby, drill!” How time flies! Now that we’ve all entered a new phase of environmental consciousness — call it BPCE, the BP Common Era — the Kala Gallery‘s Groundswell show, curated by Betti-Sue Hertz of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, bears a timely and incontrovertible message: It’s time to stop fouling our nest. The artists here would undoubtedly agree, yet their artwork is anything but polemical. Elliot Anderson, Mitra Fabian, Nathan Hodges, Suzanne Husky, Joan Margolies Kiernan, Rebecca Najdowski, Emily Payne, and sonicSENSE (Jennifer Parker and Barney Hayes) combine, in Hertz’s view, a “poetic … acknowledgment of the unsteadiness of the culture/nature split” with an exploration of our relationship to “water, air, mineral, and plant life” through scientific data and methods. Anderson has created a hydroponic garden, “Nonsite: Alamitos Creek,” that cleanses mining-polluted waters; with glass-housed plants irrigated via plastic tubes, ventilated by an oscillating fan, and illuminated by garish yellow light, it suggests both science lab and Biosphere — an apt metaphor for our polluted planet. Link to article…
As one who appreciates how art reflects our times I’m pleased to see this local gallery take on this vital subject connecting both art and science. Many other unique installations in the exhibit as well.
So, let’s find some fun ’round the bay…
Renee Green: Endless and Time-Based Streams: From the Chronicle: Renée Green: Endless Dreams and Time-Based Dreams is a solo exhibition featuring the work of internationally renowned artist Renée Green. For more than 20 years Green has been creating works of art that critically assess the intersection of ideas, processes and creativities around a range of topics including cultural history, transnational travel, feminism and biography. At the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco.
World Cup Opening Party: Friday night at Butterfly on the Embarcadero in San Francisco. From their website: An exclusive international World Cup set by DJ Aykut Trevor Simpson, Samba Dancers, Leblon Caipirinhas, and our fabulous drummer ‘Mirza”. Come Join us on Friday June 11 at ‘Butterfly’ Pier 33 and wear the colors of your favorite world cup team in soccer jerseys, hats, make up, flags.
Marcus Miller, Tutu Revisited: the Music of Miles Davis featuring Christian Scott: From their website: Miller’s 2008 release, Marcus, finds him mastering keyboards, guitar, percussion and bass clarinet, while holding everything together with his uniquely funky bass foundation. For this SFJAZZ appearance, Miller delves into the vast repertoire of his own compositions including work from Tutu — the immortal 1986 Davis album he produced. Special guest Christian Scott is one of the leading young trumpeters on today’s music scene. His fourth CD for Concord Records, Yesterday You Said Tomorrow, will be released in March.
Pic of the Week:
A Spring Sunday in the Dry Creek Valley