Part 1: Layout – The Artist’s Scrapbook

I have been buying about-to-be-discarded books from public libraries for years.  In San Francisco we have weekly sales plus two semi-annual events that are huge.  The typical price I pay is always $1.  These are books usually a step away from the recycling bin.  Sometimes I read the books but more often they get cut up for other mixed media projects.  In the last few years I have begun converting these books into artist scrapbooks.

This entire year I have been laying out a new artist book in an old copy of Layout: The Design of the Printed Page by Allen Hurlburt.  40 years on, the book still stands up as a good design book.  One might ask why I just did not add it, intact, to my own library.   There are no shortage of used copies available online for less than $5.  The book is not rare.  And, if you wish to indulge a delusional hoarder, you can buy the same book for $965.  I see these sort of dealers at library sales all the time.

 

The Layout Scrapbook  is now full.  It includes pages of my own work, ephemera old and new as well as some of the mail art I receive.   It includes things picked up at this year’s inspirational Codex Art Book Fair.  The book contains pages with contributions from the artists at the San Francisco Correspondence Coop.  There are two pages full of ticket stubs. Mostly from 2019.  It is like a diary of museum shows I saw.   Another page was inspired by my visit to Then They Came for Me — an excellent show about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.  My response to this who was to create a collage by adding maps of the U.S. Southern border where children are currently being forced into concentrations camps.  In the center of the collage is El Paso where a week after finishing the collage, a terrorist targeting Latinx people drove across Texas and murdered 22 people and injured 24 others.

 

Next — Part 2: Mail Art in the Scrapbook

Mildred Howard

 
 

I have already seen Mildred Howard’s TAP: Investigation of Memory twice at the Oakland Museum.  Art that expresses time, memory and a big grid, so many of my favorite elements.  And then my recent trip to the di Rosa  up in Napa offered another look at her bottle house Memory Garden, Phase 1.  I am a big fan of bottle houses, both historic and contemporary.  

The SFMOMA has also posted a really good video and overview of her art.

I need to keep an eye out for every opportunity to see more of Mildred Howard’s work.  The installation in Oakland is on until September 1, 2019 — it is highly recommended.

Culture Moves the Message Forward

As a white kid growing up in America I “knew” the Black Panthers were scary, radical, militant and dangerous.  As an adult, I was more skeptical of what I knew about the Black Panthers, but it really was not until earlier this year, when PBS ran Stanley Nelson’s film The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution that I began to learn the real story.  (Everyone needs to see it).  It is a more nuanced and complex story of a militant activist group that created so much positive change.  It is a story of community empowerment and a story of people coming together to improve lives.

Today I got over to the Oakland Museum for their new exhibit All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50.  After a grim week, where the most hateful and racist elements of American society have remerged to remind us that they are still there – it was a wonderful thing to visit a museum for such a positive and uplifting message reminding us that when we come together we can accomplish so much good.

I come to expect the best from the Oakland Museum and was not disappointed.  It is an excellent exhibit that infuses art and artifacts placed within both a historical past and an active present.  The exhibit website provides more details, but I particularly like seeing both the art from the period, for example the art of Gayle Dickson that appeared in the Panther newspaper and new work that includes powerful, disturbing and yet aesthetically pleasing pieces.  For example We The People, a quilt made by Hank Willis Thomas from decommissioned prison uniforms and Ellen Bepp’s word piece made of the names in hand cut paper titled 100 Unarmed African Americans Killed by Police in 2014. 

Every year there is one or two “don’t miss” exhibits that come to the Bay Area.  This is the one.   You have until February 12, 2017.

What is a Major Museum?

I just saw my third excellent museum show this spring.  In March, I was down at the San Jose Museum of Art for the Eric Fischl show.  My most recent trip across the Bay took me to the Oakland Museum where I was overwhelmed by Hung Liu’s retrospective show Summoning Ghosts: The Art of Hung Liu.  And on Saturday, I was down in Pasadena at the Pasadena Museum of California Art for California Scene Paintings from 1930 to 1960. 

I went into the Hung Liu show blind, knowing virtually nothing about the artist or her work.  This might be the best way to approach an artist that one is unfamiliar with.  When you “discover” and love the work, it makes it all the more exciting.  The exhibit site has background details and examples of her work.  More can be seen on Liu’s website.  The biggest surprise about the exhibit was that this outstanding, local artist was still unknown to me.  And while the San Francisco museums have all picked up her work for their collections, they certainly haven’t featured it and given Hung Liu the attention she deserves.  This might be a job for the Guerilla Girls. 

As “old fashioned” as it might be too some, I love representational, pre-abstract, pre-WWII, American painting – Edward Hopper, Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood et al.    If all three of them had headed west and settled in California, they would probably be part of the current show of California Scene Paintings in Pasadena.  It is full of work by artists I need to become more familiar with, names like Phil Dike and Emil Kosa, Jr. along with another California favorite – Millard Sheets. What’s particularly special about this show is that most the works are borrowed from private collections. They rarely get seen by the general public. 

The exhibit is more focused on Los Angeles and Southern California.  Many of the paintings have preserved rural scenes lost to suburban sprawl long ago.  There are also paintings of lost neighborhoods like Los Angeles’s Bunker Hill and Chavez Ravine — communities that were completely destroyed in the name of urban renewal and building freeways.  After seeing the show, driving down the Pasadena Freeway and coming to the interchange where The 5 and 110 meet, I was trying not to get too distracted imagining the hilltop neighborhood of Victorian homes that used to be in the same spot.

Seeing all three of these shows, reminds me of why I go to museums.  It’s all about exposing myself to work that influences me, often on a subconscious level, as well as my ongoing art education.  But I also can’t help noticing that I am seeing the best work in what many might dub small, or “second” or even “third tier” museums.  Few would call any of these three “major museums.”  But I have to begin to ask, just what makes a “major” museum?  Is it the hyped up blockbuster shows with high admission prices?  Is it sticking the Girl with a Pearl Earring’s mug on everything from a mug to shopping bag to a tie? We might need to revisit what really defines a “major” art museum.  Shouldn’t it be about the art instead of the hype?

Go West (on the Eastern Span)

Eastern Span, 5.5” x 4.25”, mixed media on paper and the new and old Eastern Span

We know it has to be replaced and it should have happened years ago.  The new Eastern Span is almost ready.  Still, I will miss the old bridge.  I remember that first ride across the upper deck as a kid and seeing San Francisco for the first time.  Every time I drive west on the upper deck I know I am almost home to my magic City.  it is especially welcoming after a long road trip.  Above is a piece from a series of handmade “souvenir” postcards of our good old Eastern Span.  76 years, it’s time to retire.

The coolest place in San Francisco on a Friday Night

Table by Lexa Walsh and Mutants by Annabel Blue Dudash and Elsa Rudolph.

I have to start with a confession.  Usually when something is being described as “cool,” I run the other way.  The really cool doesn’t need to be told.  And, if it is “a scene,” that scares me off even more.  Still, I will let you in on the coolest place to be in San Francisco on a Friday night.  It’s in Oakland.  Yes, you have to hop on BART and take a quick ride to the Lake Merritt Station.  You might even hear the music when you come up the stairs – a block away is the Oakland Museum of California.  Their Friday Night “scene” is the best and precisely because it’s a non-scene scene.  A friendly crowd spilling out onto 10^th Street where there are food trucks if you’re hungry and, well, a great museum.

Most every major museum has one evening a week where they stay open late.  This is often the best time to go.  Admission is usually half-price, the museums are rarely over-crowded, and, when you wander away form the party, there is usually a calm energy in the rest of the building where you can enjoy the exhibits.  It’s like being at a big house party where you explore the house and find a quieter place to hang out with a few friends.  Even in San Francisco at the de Young, you can escape the fashionistas on a Friday evening and enjoy the museum in piece.  The LACMA on a Friday is something I try to do every time I visit Los Angeles.  One quiet Thursday I had a great time up in Boise, Idaho and felt I had the museum to myself. 

Currently in Oakland there is some good work to check out.  The on going We Customize exhibit is bringing different artists into the museum every week.  Lexa Walsh’s sound table is a lot of fun (I want one of my own) and Annabel Blue Dudash and Elsa Rudolph’s mutants cracked me up (see images above).  And the “don’t miss” show right now is Beth Yarnelle Edward’s Suburban Dreams.  She has brilliantly captured a time and a place in Turn-of-the-Century Silicon Valley Suburbia.  Her photographs are stunning in the present.  I suspect that a century from now they will be recognized as very important historical and artistic works from the current period.  Go see them!

Public Transportation

Public Transportation, mixed media on canvas, 24”x24”

I’ve lived car free since the 1980’s.  When I am feeling broke, it’s fun to estimate how much money I have saved over the years by not owning a car.  I do drive and rent cars for road trips and also use the car sharing service zipcar.  There are times I want to do suburban shopping errands as well as other times when a car makes life easier.  Living in a compact city with decent public transportation makes it all possible.  Out of both necessity and some genuine admiration, I love public transportation. 

When I travel to different cities I always seek out the adventure of public transportation.  There is something magical about emerging from a subway station in a strange city for the first time.  I still can remember the moment I emerged onto a Barcelona street and beheld Gaudí’s la Sagrada Família.  Many of my dreams play out on public transportation.  I often dream about stations and trains over and over for months before I first see them.  This has happened for me in places like Frankfurt and Washington, D.C.

This new piece is made up of public transportation maps from around the world.  From my familiar MUNI and BART to DC’s Metro, to London’s Underground and many more.  You also might spot a few bits of MUNI Fastpasses, transfers and BART tickets.  I also have a DC Metro Ticket with President Obama on it.  That one stayed on the refrigerator door.  I couldn’t cut that one up.

Prints and other goodies based on Public Transportation are also available from Society 6.

Art Museum Road Trips

I am a road tripper. I have traveled all over the Western United States on numerous road trips. It’s a style of travel that I enjoy. It gets me to national and state parks as well as many historical sites. My other interest when I travel is art. Unfortunately many travelers only think of art museums when visiting the biggest cities. I know plenty of people who will visit national parks, but they only think about going to art museums when they are in cities like San Francisco, New York, London, etc. When you’re on the road, I think it is important to seek out art museums.

Most of my favorite “road trip” museums are smaller than big city museums. Many of them are located in smaller cities. I would never advise anyone to take a trip to Reno or Boise for the purpose of just going to the art museum. But, I would definitely say you don’t want to miss either museum if you find yourself in Reno or Boise These are both small city museums with solid regional collections. It’s an opportunity to see work by artists that often have been overlooked by big city museums. Smaller museums also get traveling shows that usually feature less well known and emerging artists. The big cities get the blockbusters, but some of the most interesting art I have seen has been in these far flung museums.

Sometimes these small cities are not that small. Many large cities are normally not thought of as destinations to visit art museums. Portland, Phoenix and El Paso all have solid art museums worth taking a look at. Many people pass through El Paso on their art pilgrimages to Marfa, Texas. Marfa is amazing, but it’s a shame more art lovers don’t spend a few hours in the El Paso Museum of Art. It’s also a striking architectural space in a converted Greyhound Bus Terminal.

Often the small museums are in small cities known for their wealthy retirees. Museums in places like Palm Springs, Palm Beach and Santa Barbara all have collections of big name art donated by wealthy local patrons. Because these museums usually only have one piece by a major artist, their collections are often overlooked when large traveling shows are curated. The collections in these smaller museums rarely find their way into art books as well. Santa Barbara has quite a few treasures of this kind, and you’re going to have visit if you want to see paintings like a fantastic George Belllows streetscape.

Finally, many of these small city museums are in cities that are near or even adjacent to bigger cities. Museums located in cities that are overshadowed by bigger cities are usually overlooked. Only the most determined by art travelers seek them out. Tacoma shares an airport with Seattle but few visitors to Seattle take the time to visit Tacoma’s two art museums. Sacramento and San Jose are cities with good art museums that are both overshadowed by San Francisco. And right across the Bay in Oakland is one of the West Coast’s best art museums. Many San Franciscans have never been, even thought it easier to reach the Oakland Museum on public transportation than many San Francisco museums. In Southern California one my very favorites is the Pasadena Museum of California Art. Already overshadowed by the bigger museums in Los Angeles, then when art lovers do trek to Pasadena they are more likely to seek out the better-known museums in Pasadena. Having visited all the museums in Pasadena, it’s the PMCA that has me returning and going out of my way when I am in Southern California.

Below is a list of the museums mentioned above with links to their websites:

• Boise Art Museum
• El Paso Art Museum
• Oakland Museum of California
• Norton Museum of Art (Palm Beach)
• Palm Springs Art Museum
• Pasadena Museum of California Art
• Phoenix Art Museum
• Portland Art Museum
• Nevada Museum of Art (Reno)
• Crocker Art Museum (Sacramento)
• San Jose Museum of Art
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art
• Tacoma Art Museum
• Museum of Glass (Tacoma)