Each month KQED Interactive visits a number of Bay Area art galleries to check out what's up in the local art scene. You can view a video of what we found below or subscribe via iTunes.
Beginning in January 2006, the underground Oak-town arts scene began hosting concurrent first Friday art receptions -- calling it Oakland Art Murmur. For this Gallery Crawl, we paid a visit to a small cluster of participating art galleries including Mama Buzz café, 33 Grand Gallery and Rock Paper Scissors. Surviving by the wits of its fierce independence and steeped in a DIY (or die) attitude, the creative core of these emerging galleries is a homegrown aesthetic with little room for the exclusivity that usually creeps to the surface of many well-intended art scenes. For more information about Oakland Art Murmur, go to oaklandartmurmur.com.
In its short existence 33 Grand, a working art studio and gallery, has been dedicated to promoting emerging talents who continue to push the boundaries of conceptual art. They show installation and video art, as well as work by artists who explore the traditional mediums of painting, drawing, photography and craft-oriented work.
Along Came a Spider (February 3-24, 2006) may bring to mind the story of "Little Miss Muffet," in fact, Martha Sue Harris, one of the two artists featured in this show, received a bite from a curious spider which inspired the entire exhibition. The show features arachnid-inspired work incorporated into diverse media such as sculpture, video, drawing, sound and painting. Harris's current body of work continues her interest in mutant plant life, which plays upon her imagination and her more recent personal experience. John Casey's sculptural and ink drawings expand upon his interests in creating fictional bio-morphologies. Where: 33 Grand Ave. (at Broadway), Oakland Gallery Hours: Saturday and Sunday 12-5pm Phone: (510) 866-9501
There are many things to appreciate about RPS: it's a store selling handmade wares by local crafties, it's a learning center offering many creative classes from underwear making, old fashion fiddle playing, printmaking to bike repairs, and it's an art gallery -- all under one roof!
The folks at RPS present Skull from February 3-27, 2006, a show of new work by local artists Jake Hout, Summer Bell and Nate Moore. The show examines the skull as a theme to explore how this iconic image been represented in many contexts from science and pirates, to witchcraft and spirituality, to the pop culture avenues of horror, punk rock and kitch. Hout presents the skull as the repetitive entity of pop culture in his oil on canvas works. Glass artist Bell's alter installation uses the skull to symbolize the marriage of creativity and self-destruction. Tattoo artist Moore uses illustration, installation and stencil to re-negotiate the skull in a variety of methods and forms.
Where: 2778 Telegraph Ave. (near 23rd St.), Oakland Gallery hours: 11am-7pm everyday except Tuesdays Phone: (510) 238-9171
Mama Buzz café it is more than stop for eats and organic coffee -- but those are definitely worth the trip -- it is a gathering place for the creative community. Part café, part reading room, this creative space is also home to one of Oakland's most exciting galleries which hosts monthly exhibitions by local artists working across a variety of mediums.
The gallery features Used Cars from February 3-24, 2006, a showing of new paintings, drawings and sculptures by Jake Watling. Based on the hard-knock conditions of urban life, this series transforms the artist's fears into tangible realities. His work is inspired by his North Oakland neighborhood into which he incorporates found objects, graffiti, and local storefront graphics mined directly from his local environment.
Where: 2318 Telegraph Ave. (at 23rd St.), Oakland Gallery hours: Monday - Thursday from 7am-9pm, Friday from 7am-10pm, Saturday from 8am-10pm, and Sunday from 8am-9pm Phone: (510) 465-4073
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