San Francisco Day 4 – Sunday, September 27, 2009

Day 4 – Sunday, September 27, 2009

We began our day in the Presidio to see Andy Goldsworthy’s Spire (2008). With the old felled trees in the Presidio, Andy created a sculpture that is meant to be ephemeral as in all his works. Over time, the younger, newly planted trees will grow and surround the sculpture.

After brunch, our final visit was to the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park before the group headed back to the airport.

San Francisco Day 3 – Saturday, September 26, 2009

Day 3 – Saturday, September 26, 2009

We headed out to San Gregorio bright and early to meet Jane Rosen and assistant/artist, Terrance Tierney. Visiting Jane and Terry was a perfect way to start the day. Jane’s professors in college were Chuck Close and Sol le Witt, but Jane was disconnected to the rise of conceptual art stating, “I don’t like to read standing up.” Early on in her career, Jane was very much aware of understanding who her audience is. She wanted people of all backgrounds to understand her work. Similar to Constantin Brancusi and David Nash, Jane is interested in using the story of art to talk about nature.

From San Gregorio, we drove a few miles north to Half Moon Bay to meet with Ann Hollingsworth in her studio. Ann works with glass, but often her work resembles forms in nature such as petrified wood, shells, and rock formations. Ann was first influenced by her visit to the Corning Museum of Glass in New York several years ago and became fascinated by the process of glass-making. On the upstairs level of Ann’s studio, there are collections of pods, seashells, and other glass works which gives a sense of a cabinet of curiosities.

After lunch, we headed back to downtown San Francisco, visiting a few galleries at 49 Geary. At Haines Gallery, Lisa Lindenbaum gave us a walkthrough of their current exhibitions Adou: Samalada and Julia Oschatz: Odd One Out. We also had a chance to see the gallery’s beautiful back room with an installation by Andy Goldsworthy and works by Max Cole, Mike Henderson, David Nash and Max Gimblett. All the way down the hall is Brian Gross Fine Art with new work by Freddy Chandra, Listening Sequence. And before we left the building, we popped into Gregory Lind Gallery to see Anders Ruwald: Almost Nothing (sculptures) and Aaron Parazette: Air Drop (paintings).

The group went to Catharine Clark Gallery to see Sandow Birk’s American Qur’an and Packard Jennings Afghanistan 1985. American Qur’an is an on-going project where Sandow hand-transcribes and illuminates the Holy Qur’an and illustrates contemporary American life. Packard’s Afghanistan 1985 uses three appropriated films illustrating a humorous dialogue between Regan, the Taliban, and the Soviets. Packard’s film looks at the use of propaganda and the problem of media.

We finished our visit with Frey Norris Gallery looking at the works of Mary Anne Kluth and Laurel Roth. Both artists are interested in the production science and perhaps a personal understanding of science. Laurel creates intricate sculptures with wood or common objects such as fake fingernails, barrettes, and false eyelashes, such as in Birds of Paradise. Anne Kluth meticulously paints the subjects of people and their aim to understand the sciences.

Our evening ended with dinner at Plouf. Items on our menu included: sautéed California calamari with baby spinach, olive tapenade, parsley and garlic; grilled sea bass Mediterranean with pine nut couscous, arugula salad, and Plouf harrisa; and for dessert, banana profiteroles with warm chocolate sauce.