Art Picks, June 2010

Posted on June 3, 2010 – 7:29 AM | by OldManFoster

• 

Beyond the Frame
Solomon Dubnick Gallery
Through July 10
Reception June 12, 6 – 9PM

Wow.  Solomon Dubnick goes Juxtapoz…. for reals!  I, for one, just didn’t see this coming.  Sure, some of their stable is pop-surrealist tinged, but a portrait of Jesus as Peter Criss with Koolaid Man in place of his glowing heart?  WTF?  Wow.  Anyway, the big star in this group show is Don Ed Hardy. Hardy came out of the traditional tattoo scene and has hit it big with his art offerings – so big that his name has spun off to become its own brand.  At this point Ed Hardy is one of those love-‘em-or-hate-‘em types; he is almost absurdly popular among a certain demographic (whom I suspect also think brand new Harleys are REALLY COOL), and has become an object of scorn for others.  There was actually a popular Facebook group called ‘Thanks to Ed Hardy shirts I can now tell a douchebag from a block away,’ until Facebook yanked it.   Still, most who love or hate Hardy’s stuff have probably never seen his work in the flesh – here you’ll have the chance to see a handful of originals, along with work by other Juxtapoz-ers like Robert Bowen and Justin Lovato, plus plenty of local talent.

1017 25^th Street
Hours: Tues – Sat 11AM – 6PM

Dance, You Monster, to My Soft Song
2010 MFA Exhibition
Nelson Gallery/Pence Gallery
June 4 – 25, 2010
Reception June 4, 5:30-7:30PM

Show of this year’s crop of second year MFA grads from UCD.  While Davis’ art program isn’t quite the spawning ground of genius it once was, it’s still the best game in town… er.. region.  The work of the nine second-year artists is spread out between the Nelson Gallery on campus and the Pence in downtown Davis.  Looks like the Nelson got the freakiest of the work, at least if Aleksander Bohnak is up to his usual tricks.  Following an age-old Aggie pattern, Bohnak started out as a ceramicist and then worked his way into less traditional sculpture, i.e. building strange environments, moving into them and photographing the process.  The work is happily ridiculous – expect to see plenty of color, costumes and Bohnak’s wang. The show also features new work from sculptors Johanna Barron and Linda Miller, photos by Chinese photographer Jingjing Gong and a silk screen installation by Traci Horgen.  Also on tap at the Nelson is Robert Machoian, whose short film Charlie and the Rabbit got quite a bit of attention at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.   The Pence will be offering a wide variety of work from three artists: pro-quality photography from Christopher Woodcock (who, impressively, already has New York gallery representation); mixed media sculpture from Hyung-Mo Chu; and comic-influenced drawings by Josh Pelletier, who will be offering a limited editon book of drawings at the opening.

Nelson: Art Building, Room 124, UC Davis
Hours: Mon – Thurs 11AM – 5PM, Sat – Sun 2 – 5PM

Pence: 212 D Street, Davis
Hours: Tues – Sun 11:30AM – 5PM

It’s All About the Shoes
Eileen Downes
20^th Street Art Gallery
June 9 – July 3
Reception: June 12^, 6-9PM

Artist Eileen Downes works out of a tidy Carmichael studio that was built by her husband and daughters as a birthday surprise.  A graduate of Sac State’s art program, Downes has shown her work extensively, exhibiting in many major US cities and even as far away as New Zealand.  Her preferred medium is collage, or as she puts it, she ”’paints’ with bits of torn paper for a palette.”  Downes’ work tends toward the representational, and she is drawn to portraits and familiar things…. like shoes.  For this show of work from her ongoing shoe series, Downes and 20^th Street have partnered with Soles 4 Souls, a charity that provides shoes to needy children.  Throughout the show the gallery will collect children’s shoes, which will then be distributed to children in California.

911 20^th Street
Hours: Wed-Sat: 12 PM – 5 PM

Short List

Local.Indie.Music.Photos
Amy Scott
Luigi’s Fun Garden
Opens June 11

Young photographer Amy Scott presents nearly 100 photos of local musicians doing what they do.  Scott is a fixture at local music shows and has the proof: literally thousands of shots on her Flickr page.  It’s fitting that these portraits of local musicians should show in an all ages rock club, and the June 11 opening kicks off with performances by Ricky Berger, Reggie Ginn, Carly DuHain, Justin Farren, and Hardy Harr.

1050 20^th Street

Tags: 20th Street Gallery, Aleksander Bohnak, Amy Scott, Art, Artist, Christopher Woodcock, Don Ed Hardy, Eileen Downes, Hyung-Mo Chu, Jingjing Gong, Johanna Barron, Josh Pelletier, Justin Lovato, Linda Miller, Robert Bowen, Robert Machoian, Sacramento, Second Saturday, Solomon Dubnick, Traci Horgen