my love for you is a stampede of horses.

Chris Pugliese: Fur & Feathers.

I won't be covering openings much in the future other than here and there, and of course when it's something I really want to share with you guys. Honestly, I rather just go to openings and hang out with my friends and laugh. Plus, ML4U never really covered shows before I moved back to SF soooo....there you go. You'll see pics on the blog's flickr of shows I get to but going forward I won't be covering shows continually. If you aren't already aware of these sites, both are great sources for SF art openings; Alan Bamberger's site Art Business and John Casey's If You Can't Make It Big..., both of these sites are an awesome, comprehensive visual tour of the many Bay Area shows that happen on a weekly basis here.

So now that I have relinquished that duty, ;) I really dug Chris Pugliese's paintings in his show Fur & Feathers that opened July 10th at The Shooting Gallery and most definitely wanted to share these pics with you guys. I loved the moodiness of his work, not to mention the layers upon layers of oil that quite literally stuck out from the paintings. Totally dug it.

New Work: Christopher Davison.

It looks like the heat has been doing some colorful things to Christopher Davison's latest offerings. I'm loving how bright his new work is. Always a fan of Christopher's, it's exciting to see him change direction a bit and experiment with color. I can't get enough of Golden Boy, above.

Christopher and Kristopher Porter will be showing at Fred Torres in New York on September 16th, in Tall Tales.

Peeking in the Windows of Tracey Snelling.

ML4U's latest contributor, Kirsten Incorvaia visits with Oakland artist Tracey Snelling. Kirsten takes us on a virtual tour of Tracey's latest and incredible sculptures that could be any small town in Anywhere, U.S.A. Along with the visit, Kirsten talks with Tracey about her work and her newest endeavor her non-profit, San Pablo Arts District Fund. Truly inspirational! - meighan

When Meighan first invited me to contribute to My Love for You, I couldn't wait to get started. However weeks passed and I found myself dodging the lovely curator of this blog for I hadn't yet encountered an artist worthy of my first post! Then I came across this artist profile video of Tracey Snelling at a small film screening in San Francisco; and I knew she was the one.

Tracey's work is unlike any other. Lights buzz and flicker while music, voices, and street sounds fill the space between tiny apartment buildings and mini liquor stores. I felt like Gulliver walking through Tracey's current "Bordertown" installation; the warped perception created by floor-to-ceiling projections and little dwarf buildings makes you wobbly in the knees. Tracey caters to the voyeur in all of us with open roofs, teensy interactive rooms, and films playing from baby windows to tell a story about who lives (or lived) inside. Though nothing compares to seeing, feeling and hearing this work in person, tour the world of Tracey Snelling with words and pictures for an enchanting ride.

Are you very observant of details within an environment? What memories stick with you?

I do look at what's around me, but I'm more attracted to the type of places that I go. A new building is fine, it's ok, but I really prefer to look at a horribly ugly apartment building with peeling paint or a store with hand painted signage. Maybe it's not necessarily a place that I would wanna live in, but it's more interesting to go into a house that's not super clean and put together with everything in its place. The oldness and quirkiness of some of the ugly buildings is more attractive.

Did you ever imagine yourself incorporating video into your work?

It made sense that I would do video or something involved in film because I think that way. When I photograph my sculptures in an environment, I think in film stills- it's taking the sculpture and putting in a specific time, meaning and place like you do in a film. When I see one of these places, it's a setting and I think about who lives there and what's their story.

Do you ever consider going along the route of writing narratives exploring the lives of who lives in these homes and towns?

I'm pretty open to whatever happens, I'll always be a visual artist but I'm not stuck in any particular medium. I think it's good to keep my mind open that way, and allow the creativity to go where it wants to go. If I label myself as purely sculptor then at some point I could get stuck or limited. I hope to stay fresh and always exploring and changing and creating my whole life. I don't want to get stuck in a certain style and keep doing the same thing over and over for years- it seems boring to me. Maybe you should just start a factory if you're gonna do that.

With a background in photography, how did you come to incorporate collage, sculpture, audio and video into your artmaking process?

I don't like to have too much control or thought over what I'm doing. I let my thoughts lead me without having a super drawn out plan- it's more like an experiment or experience to let the art happen unconsciously. Nothing is ever used just once; layers of sculpture, photography and video are always distorting and changing to show that nothing is really one reality, but it's all based on perception.

Which artists do you draw inspiration from?

Artists that I find influence from at the moment are Pipilotti Rist and Missy Elliot. Though Missy Elliot's a musical artist, the way she puts together her songs is really interesting to me. There are so many layers and changes, it's more complicated than other music out today.

 

How did you learn to work with wood, video, lighting, and audio?

I had done some physical labor work when I was in the California Conservation Corps and the US Forest Service. It wasn't woodwork, but I just learned as I went along. Nothing's really precise in my sculptures- it's not like building a cabinet or table- the measurements are all off. As long as it doesn't fall apart. It's good to learn skills as a lot of them can be applied to doing handy work around my house. I also like learning about electronics and electricity, most of it isn't as complicated as it first seems. There are levels, starting with what you need to get done, and it seems easy. Then you go further and it jumps in complexity.

Sometimes you reveal the wiring behind your video and audio. How does this add to the installation?

I like having the contrast between the finished and the raw. To me it's not just a movie or a theater set, it adds another layer of meaning with the main presentation in the front and the back available. Exposing the process speaks to the idea of sets and facade.

Do you ever work on a larger scale?

It depends. When I lived in China for a residency one and a half years ago, I did a life-size shack like one would find in the village outside where I was staying. I enjoy combining it with the small scale I’ve been doing. It changes your perception, like you're a giant walking through.

Tell me about your non-profit, the San Pablo Arts District Fund.

I started San Pablo Arts District Fund with two friends to help revitalize this area of Oakland and help turn it into an arts district. Right now we have a storefront (donated to us by the Whittier family) with a few installations and a literary reading that happens every other month. Eventually we would like to expand and offer partially funded artist work spaces so they don’t have to pay so much. We’d like to get some gallery spaces and start programs with schools and senior citizen housing there so we can help spread the art. We’re also working on getting billboards donated so that international and local artists can do public projects.

What motivates you personally to drive this project?

When I’m not traveling somewhere to install work or do a group exhibition or residency, I’m often here in my studio working by myself or maybe with an assistant. It’s nice to be doing something I love related to the arts out in the community. It’s more about something outside of me and my work- something bigger.

Why did you choose San Pablo Ave. to start this program?

A friend of one of the founders has a building there that’s sat vacant for a long time. They talked about what to do with it and he ended up letting us use the storefront for installations. The discussion got us talking- why not? This part of the street hasn’t been a good place; with drugs, prostitution, and crimes. Emeryville is close by with shopping- why not turn this into a place where people want to stop and look at art? Nobody stops and gets out of cars there. There are lots of empty storefronts. It’s prime for something to happen.

Sounds like a solid plan. What can we do to help?

We need volunteers that want to help with some of the exhibitions coming up- administration and getting things organized. We also need artists to help create stuff. Email Tracey for details.

What’s going on this summer for San Pablo Arts District Fund?

We have a new video installation up in the window soon. Like the current installation, it will come on every night from 8pm-1am. We are also working with a literary group called Lip Service West to do a reading every other month- the next meeting is Friday, August 13th. 

Check out more pics of the Bordertown installation on flickr or see it in person on July 30, 2010 in Jack London Square for a one night Oakland Underground Film Festival salon event. You can also find Tracey's work in Baer Ridgeway's "It's My World" group show on July 24th and a solo show at Rena Bransten Gallery on December 9, 2010. 

Tracey is also looking for an intern to help with studio work and administration/organizing. If you have a general background in art and sculpture, live close to Oakland, and dig her stuff- get a hold of her at traceysnelling.com!

Street Waiting: A Progession of Brett Amory's Newest Work.

Brett Amory's latest group of work Street Waiting, is quite literally, larger than life. What started out as a mural at his solo show at Thinkspace Gallery, Brett struck upon a group of work that he could experiment with and exhibit in gallery spaces and elsewhere; the street. Brett shares with us images that catalog the progression of this newest body of work - from the studio, to the one night showing at Gallery Heist to their final showing out on the streets here in SF. By far teh thing that I love about street art is watching pieces come alive on the streets. You never know how a piece will look til it it's the pavement. I asked Brett to tell us a bit more about how Street Waiting came about:

"When I did my debut solo show in LA I painted a life size figure on the wall in the gallery. Painting a life size figure planted a seed in me to do big works on paper. Most of the people I painted are taken from my smaller "Waiting" paintings. They are painted from random snap shots of people I don't know but see on a regular basis in the city. I thought it would be cool to do large portraits of these people and put them back in the city. The "Waiting" paintings I do for galleries are my landscapes and these are my portraits.

I spent four months getting ready for my solo at Thinkspace. I am usually pretty loose but the seven I did for Thinkspace I was really careful and tight from start to finish. When I got back I needed to unwind and do some work that was totally different from my gallery work. I painted these pieces with the idea of putting them on the streets so the paintings don't have to be of a certain aesthetic or archival like my gallery work. With this in mind I have total freedom to paint as loose and expressive as I want. This body of work is my most honest work I have done.

I have gone out with friends and watched them put pieces up and it seemed really fun. I thought it would be cool to show the work in my studio, then a gallery, and finally the streets. The idea of doing work and showing it in a gallery and then putting the work on the street seems really interesting."

Street Waiting in Brett's studio...

Getting ready for the one night show at Heist Gallery.

And finally out on the street.

Booooooom! Little Drifters Project.

Booooooom's new project, Little Drifters sounds like so much fun. Such a rad summer activity and the perfect excuse to bring your inner child out! Jeff is asking that you build a little boat out of all natural, woodsy materials: driftwood, twigs, leaves, berries, dandelions, pine cones, feathers, pretty much anything that can be considered “natural.” (No plastic, metal, or paper, etc.), take a picture of it sailing on a body of water. (For those of you that live in Vancouver, there will be an actual meet up, bring your boat & a picnic!) Then e-mail your photo to: submit@booooooom.com with “Little Drifters” in the subject line.

Look for the pics to appear in the Arts & Life section of The Vancouver Sun newspaper and the gallery on Booooooom! As always Jeff's encouraging everyone to join: "This project is open to people of all ages, students, lawyers, professional craft boat designers, “totally unartistic people”, bass-guitarists, wizards, cat-people, anyone who likes to have fun!"

I'll definitely be taking part and will post my pic here some time this week. To get more info on the project head on over to Booooooom!