Imagining Val Travel Opens September 16th

Below is the information and statement for my upcoming installation:

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Imagining Val Travel

Glama-Rama Salon and Gallery

304 Valencia Street (at 14^th St.)

San Francisco

September 16^th – November 3^rd, 2012

Opening Reception

Sunday, September 16^th, 6 pm - 9 pm

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I have always been interested in history, from the big moments to the everyday.  I have a special fascination for San Francisco history.  I even like to look-up the history of spots in my neighborhood.  For a relatively young city, San Francisco has a rich, layered history.  It is also a city full of ghosts.  It made me wonder about the space at 304 Valencia.  What was there long before Glama-Rama?

Now, just imagine what it was like at 304 Valencia Street when they were renovating and moving into the new location for Glama-Rama.  Imagine a trip to a dusty, dark basement and finding a forgotten corner.  They might have discovered a box filled with discarded items from a long gone tenant.  Imagine Val Travel.

Ask yourself, could a former travel agency be haunted?  What sort of ghosts would be there?  I like to think it could be a place of pleasant and happy spirits.  The positive energy left behind would be from the years of customers coming by to plan and anticipate exciting adventures.  A salon and a travel agency have something in common.  They are both places that fulfill dreams and make our lives more glamorous. It’s no accident that Glama-Rama found a new home at 304 Valencia.

With this mind, I wanted to create a new series of travel themed, mixed media pieces using travel-related ephemera.  The installation at Glama-Rama Salon & Gallery is meant to infuse the space with the soul of an imaginary, long lost travel agency.  The work pays homage to all travel agencies because they have all but vanished from our urban landscapes.  

I reuse and repurpose old bits of paper, everything from maps to postcards to stamps to photographs to magazines to various travel ephemera.  Recycling is only part of the agenda.  Even though I may destroy certain items to reuse them, there is a side of historic preservation with my work.  Rather than tucking something in a box or drawer, I prefer to permanently add it to a piece of art.  The work may have aesthetic value, but it also can serve as a time capsule by using items that would otherwise be lost or forgotten.  Many of the items I use are being rendered “obsolete” in our digital society.  Snapshots, postage stamps, tickets stubs are among things that are vanishing from our day-to-day lives.

It started with a box in a basement...

A forgotten box full of old travel brochures, maps and postcards, etc. + an old photo = more than 30 pieces of new work.  The story is revealed on September 16 when Imagining Val Travel opens (click here for details).  

Every time I go to the Post Office

Now that the Millennia Mail Art Project is underway, it seems every time I head to the Upper Haight to check on the P.O. Box I find another completed piece has returned.  Above are the most recent cards to make it back to San Francisco.

The pieces show include layers contributed by myself and the following artists:

Corrine Gilman, Danielle Williams, David Stanley Aponte, David Wilson, Dori Singh, Eduardo Cardoso, Gina Visione, Jane Smith, Janie Pinterits, Katinka van Ingen, Kelly Sikora Pocci, Lady Nigel Butterfly, Many Fariello, Mike Szwarc, MZ Carbuncles, Nico Van Hoorn, Pablo Piccasso (aka Guido Vermeullen), Pamela Gerard, Paul Graham, Picasso Gaglione, rodni.com, Rufina Abasova, Sandra Lefever, Serse Luigetti, Stacy Gibboni, Susan Gold, Tiziana Baracchi, Torma Cauli, and Virgy Milici.

You can see all the completed pieces at tofuart.com with details and links to the participating artists.  

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Texas Kaleidoscope, mixed media on board, 18”x18”

This is what happens when you have a stack of vintage postcards and postcard booklets from the 1940’s.  All from Texas, from El Paso to Corpus Christi, Amarillo to Galveston, there’s cowboys and cowgirls and, look closely, a few longhorn cattle. 

Prints and other goodies based on this piece are available from Society 6.

Southwest Kaleidoscope

Southwest Kaleidoscope, mixed media on canvas, 8”x8”

My work tends to be both labor and time intensive.  I always like to start small and experiment first before committing to larger pieces.  I feel yesterday’s experiment with vintage postcards of American Indians was a big success.  Stay tuned, bigger versions on this idea will be coming…

You can also get prints and other goodies with this image from Society 6.  

Atlantic City Boardwalk

Atlantic City Boardwalk, mixed media on canvas, 8”x8”

Atlantic City has been done over a number of times over the years.  Most famously, or notoriously, in the 1970’s when much was torn down to create a bit of Las Vegas on the Atlantic.  It’s a shame that it has always been about renovation instead of restoration.  Imagine if we had waited and now, a century later, Atlantic City’s Boardwalk was meticulously restored to its early 20^th Century splendor.  All we have now is old photos and postcards. The postcards used for this piece were nearly a hundred years old.  Come on down to the Boardwalk, jump in the sea, get some saltwater taffy and imagine the days when Nucky Johnson ruled the town.

Oh the amazing things I get in the mail

It started quite innocently for me.  Back in December 2010 I did a piece of art that I mailed in 62 separate parts as the year ended.  As 2011 was winding down, I decided to ask for postcards to use in the first piece of 2012.  That’s when it started to get out of control – in a very good way. 

I continue to get the coolest things in my mailbox.  Below are some of the recent arrivals.

Two Cards from Jennie Hinchliff at Red Letter Day and one from Carroll (aka dumpsterdiersanonymous on flickr.)

Eni Ilis sent me a couple of slightly enigmatic and groovy pieces of Brazilian mail art.

David Stanley Aponte tried to send me something from Berlin.  It arrived in a tidy plastic bag from the good people at Deutsche Post – Die Sendung wurde leider beschädigt – indeed!  A handmade card from a band named Trick Sensei came from Portland in much better condition.

In some cases the envelopes are as cool as the contents.  Eduardo Cardoso returned some Millennia Mail Art all the way from Portugal and Janie Pinterits sent this just across the Bay.

Another cool postcard from arlikeart in Florida and finally a postcard from the Hilarious Assistant Principal of Staten Island.