The Warhol Economy, Blank City, and a flyer
Blank City Sacramento
On July 15, I attended two very similar events that showcased the underground New York arts scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s: Midtown Business Association’s annual gala at Harlow’s, and Verge Gallery’s premiere of “Blank City” at the Crest Theatre. Both spurred discussion about the factors behind the creative environment that emerged from a dangerous, decaying neighborhood during the nadir of New York’s greater economy, and what that might mean for arts scenes in cities like Sacramento.
Local art superstar Skinner just popped up in John Seed’s HuffPo article about Alan Bamberger’s series of portraits featuring artists with their work. Bamberger runs artbusiness.com and attends a staggering 1000-1500 art shows a year, and photographs many of the artists with their work. It’s an interesting article.. check it out here.
A year or so ago, the SNR a man on the street question was something like, “What do you think is the best public art in Sac?” and 4 out of 5 answered the ceramic man on a can in the Downtown Plaza. Given the question was asked in the mall so the outcome was skewed, but that is WRONG! So wrong. Sac has so many pieces of great public art, amongst my favorites are the HEARTHEARTHEART benchs near the Convention Center because of the wordplay, the weird not-a-skateboard ramp thing in the West End project near 15th & Capitol and the classic painted poles on 16th & Q. In semi-public art news, have you seen the Chilhuly in the CAL-EPA building? And don’t get me started on murals. Really. Don’t.
But hands down, seriously abso-friggen-lutely the best public art in Sac, in my opinion, is Samson at the Sacramento International Airport. It was made by Brian Goggin, who I didn’t realize also did the awesome “Defenestration” in SF until just now. Samson is just so joyful and clever, it makes me smile every time I see it. I also love it because I am a vintage crank and while I never want to use an old suitcase again, but I do love looking at them. In conclusion- well done SMF!
And because my editor hasn’t taken away my blog password yet and through the magic of Facebook I can finally spell his name correctly, I now give you the greatest piece of art in my house. Yep, not midtown related at all. Give me a teeny bit of power and I will abuse it within an inch of its life. Anyway, Hands by Sac artist, hand model and awesome guy Patrick Slesicki.
P.S. My house is way cuter than that ugly ceiling fan conveys.
By Liv Moe Photos by Scott Duncan
December is not the best time to survey the status of Second Saturday. Each winter, the monthly event goes into a sort of suspended animation; it gets cold, Christmas parties start to rival art receptions, and the galleries themselves have holiday parties which upstage their own monthly events. Bit by bit Second Saturday starts to look like a ghost town. Read more »
Crocker Art Museum
Grand Opening: Teel Family Pavilion
October 10
The impending Grand Opening of the new 125,000 square-foot Teel Family Pavilion (and reopening of the rest of the Crocker) has all but sucked the air out of the Sacramento art scene Read more »
I thought I would pass this along. My Grandpa, Alan Klinger, who taught Art for over 30 years in both Oregon and mostly in Davis, is having his art showing at Steady Eddy’s in Winters through the month of December.
If you’re in Winters this month, stop by for a meal and see some of his art! The above pieces are from his collection, although I think a lot of the art he’ll be showing is more of his experimental pieces including his “coffee and glue paintings” and the more 3-D ones.
There was a good article in one of the local papers but I can’t find it online!! Anyways, just thought I’d let you know about another local art showing!
-Heather Klinger