LUCKY RAPP & AXIMILLION HELGA DUSON AT W HOTEL SAN FRANCISCO
SMILE - Lucky Rapp & Aximillion Helga Duson
exhibit on display in XYZ Restaurant, XYZ Cafe, Library Room (2nd Floor), Bliss Spa
Lucky Rapp and Aximillion Helga Duson started collaborating by shipping art work back and forth from San Francisco to Europe in October 2009. After several meetings in Antwerp, Belgium, Lucky and Aximillion decided to combine their specialized skills and work together in San Francisco.
Lucky Rapp is a self taught artist from Palo Alto, California. Lucky moved to Europe in 1995 and was involved in both fashion and art for seven years, including a position as visual merchandiser for a large company (Engelhorn und Sturm). While in residence in Mannheim, Germany she focused on her art practice as a maker and gallerist, creating salon exhibitions for local visual artists out of her 18th century apartment.
Aximillion Helga Duson was born in Antwerp Belgium and graduated from the Sint Lucas Art Academy in 2001. She has a master's degree in 'Free Arts' and specializes in silk screen printing, woodcuts, photography, and etching. She continues to incorporate these skills into her abstract works.
Lucky and Aximillion have their own unique styles and the challenge, they share, "is to bring these separate styles into one idea and develop [their] ideas collaboratively." Language is the bridge that harmonizes their aesthetics. Evident in this exhibit is the progression of their collaboration, beginning with simple words against minimal backgrounds progressing to phrases in one vein, more complex backgrounds supporting one word thoughts in another.
Lucky Rapp and Aximillion Helga Duson live and work in San Francisco's Mission District. They have had recent shows in Antwerp, Belgium, New York, New York and San Francisco, California.
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
On exhibit through APR 4
NEW WORK BY BRIAN BARNECLO
IN SUPPORT OF 'SYSTEMS MURAL PROJECT'
exhibit on display in XYZ Restaurant, XYZ Cafe, Library Room (2nd Floor), Bliss Spa
LOOPED - BRIAN BARNECLO
Brian’s distinctive style, known throughout San Francisco and showcased in some of the city’s most popular restaurants and hotspots (ie., Nopa, District, Rye), deftly depicts the interconnectivity between elements of the urban environment. This new body of work, created specifically for W San Francisco, continues to explore the many facets of urban, environmental and experiential relationships of interest to Brian and is also thematically tied to his upcoming mural, ‘Systems Mural Project’. Of this new project Brian says, “As we move into the 21st century, what have we learned about sustainable systems – what works and what doesn’t? Should we revisit ancient technologies? Is the Industrial Age over? It’s through this conversation that we gain an understanding of perhaps the most complicated systems of all, our systems of belief.”
About the artist
“Most people know me for my large-scale murals in restaurants, bars, hotels, homes and on the streets of San Francisco. Possibly the most notable work I've done is the massive "Food Chain" mural which spans 225 feet (25 feet tall) and was created in just two weeks. I credit my experience as a sign painter as a major technical influence. Among stylistic influences are artists such as Pablo Picasso, Romare Bearden and Stuart Davis to name only a few.
What I enjoy most is combining and blurring the lines between styles. My work can go from surreal/folk to pop/cubism to urban/modern, all the while maintaining an aesthetic that's all my own. It adds up to a lot of play, and that's how I approach my work. It's serious fun. Seriously.” ~ Brian Barneclo
PREVIEW IMAGES
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
On exhibit through DEC 13
SURREAL CITYSCAPES RECALL HERB CAEN'S 'BAGHDAD BY THE BAY'
exhibit on display in XYZ Restaurant, XYZ Cafe, Library Room (2nd Floor), Bliss Spa
TILTING BABYLON
Lynn Rubenzer
With a title evocative of Herb Caen's "Baghdad By The Bay", "Tilting Babylon" features 11 new cityscapes that explore the mystical underpinnings of San Francisco. These are portraits of the city, where familiar landmarks wander into neighborhoods populated by scarlet monkeys and Painted Ladies. Utilizing deep earth tones and alternating between brush and palette knife, Lynn Rubenzer creates vast urban expanses filled with Edwardians and Victorians that toggle up hillsides like a stadium of chattering monkeys, and palm trees that sway and pierce a raw ochre sky. Here, humanity emerges from the landscape in the form of floating eyes, reflecting the resplendent and the surreal.
Awarded “Best of SF” by San Francisco Magazinein 2005 for her portraits of San Francisco, Lynn exhibits regularly around the Bay Area. Her work has been published on book covers and featured in literary magazines. In addition to painting and sculpture, Lynn also creates large scale installations, most notably her annual storefront window at 826 VALENCIA, the renowned writing center founded by author Dave Eggers in the Mission District.
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
On exhibit through SEPT 13
THE SECRET LIVES OF CHAVS
A retrospective for danyol at W SAN FRANCISCO
danyol's mixed media collage works juxtapose the idyllic innocence of 50's era fashion iconography with a modernized mischievousness contained in the underlying layers. danyol has always nourished himself on a a steady diet of pop art, cubism, and sarcasm. danyol's use of his own life and surroundings combine to form a dizzying combination of colors, patterns, and textures. While using equal parts nostalgia and current events together, danyol's pop-influenced works explore the liminal spaces between surface and emotion, gender role, responsibility and reality; along with other inconsistencies in our fragile social fabric.
danyol was selected as one of 1800 TEQUILA's Essential Artists for 2009. To celebrate this achievement, 1800 TEQUILA will be providing 1800 Silver Agave tequila for the opening reception which will feature tequila-inspired concoctions, of course
On exhibit through JUN 15, 2010
Quirky characters and collaged surreal narratives influenced by Oakland's urban environment
exhibit on display in XYZ Restaurant, XYZ Cafe, Library Room (2nd Floor)
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES
paintings by GARRETT ROBINSON
One gets the impression that Garrett Robinson’s characters are…experienced. They’ve seen things, they’ve done things and they wear expressions that suggest they’re not quite ready to recede into tranquil, quite lives. Their faces show the wear of living for the moment, not the wear of defeat. Maybe they can’t get out of their own way but neither can we stop watching them, waiting for their next adventure, hoping for the next chance to be amused.
Of his work, Garrett says, "I can't explain how I translate my ideas into art, it's just subconscious. I like painting and started doing it as a kid when I was skating around town. Like other artists, I get an idea and build on it. Sometimes, it can be difficult to realize my 'vision' so the actual process can take from days to weeks and, sometimes, years."
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
On exhibit through MAR 15, 2010
LOVE & OTHER CONNECTIONS...
Mixed media works by Kim Thoman
venue: XYZ Restaurant / W San Francisco
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
Kim Thoman's work is on display in XYZ Restaurant, XYZ Cafe,
Mezzanine Balcony/ 2nd floor landing, lobby of Bliss Spa (4th floor)
I interpret Kim's work, and her words, as exploring an honest path seeking maybe not truth but, perhaps, experiences. Exploring dualities provides ample room for probing and questioning. Kim uses digital media in a way that respects traditional media and techniques (both painting and drawing) through the pairing of images created in both ways. Each side is unique yet dependent upon its mate, able to stand alone but 'active' when paired. Common elements of form and color present obvious clues for comparing paired images at the same time visual tension is illuminated through comparing disparate elements. In-between the obvious connections and differences between images is where conversations about their interaction thrive. Matt McKinley, Curator
Dualities that exist in nature as well as in the mind intrigue me. I have a certain fascination with connections between body and soul, intellect and intuition, male and female, life and death. We order our lives in mundane ways, while we move continuously, and most often unconsciously, toward a final shape-shifting transition. In my work, I attempt to reflect these contrasts. - Kim Thoman
DREAMSCAPES
Atmospheric landscapes explore sensual expression, timelessness, and emotion rendered in oil on canvas by Audrey Kral
venue: XYZ Restaurant / W San Francisco
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
The paintings in this exhibit are from Audrey Kral’s ‘Dreamscapes’ series which explore atmospheres of sensual expression, timelessness, and emotion. These works have a mysterious, beckoning quality, often evoking the impression of a landscape. Combining the indelible color memories of her travels with a painting technique cultivated through the watercolor medium, Audrey uses the richness of oil paint to explore the depths of the mind, the emotional resonance of colors, and the transformational quality of nature. Through an intuitive process, her mind and body partner with the paint, canvas, brushes, turpentine, and gravity to explore the depths of beauty and wonder in the ordinary expressed as vibrant colors, soft brushstrokes, and bold compositions. In an improvisation of space and time, color and form spontaneously dance together to the rhythm of Audrey’s process, their interaction recorded onto the emptiness of raw canvas.
Image: 'Contemplation: Space' Oil on Canvas 24 x 18 2008
Worlds Within Worlds
Photography by Richard Tauber
venue: XYZ Restaurant
W San Francisco
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
Creativity with lighting and lensing is Richard's life long passion and informs both his commercial and personal work. Experience has taught him that the choice of lens defines how a subject is rendered and the lighting sets the mood and creates the emotion of the photo. This collection of macrobotanical images demonstrate that light and lens are the essence of creative photography.
Image: 'Attractor' Archival Digital Photo, 43" x 33" 2008
absinthe tasting during the reception provided by:
MESSAGES - Mixed media works by Judith Miller
DECEMBER 12 - JANUARY 30
venue XYZ
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
ARTIST'S RECEPTION: Thursday, January 8 6 - 8pm
"Many of the images I work with I draw from two environments. I try to integrate these two different environments:
1. The environment of my childhood. I lived on a cattle ranch in the cold/hot desert of Eastern Oregon. In the spring Dad and I rode to the cattle camp where we stayed until fall. My dad was born in 1889. We stayed in a small cabin without electricity or water. Our conversations are still with me. Some of his messages were universal and timeless,; others limited and irrelevant. Which are which?
2. Silicon Valley, where I raised my children, is a very different place. During these years the vallley was a great center of the communication industry. The world we live in is now a technical world. Which of the messages we receive day in and day out are meaningful; which relevant. Do we understand life and each other any better?
In these paintings I was thinking about messages we give and receive at every level: personal, spiritual, societal. Much information, both visual and textual, is truncated, partial, distorted, false, or esoteric. Our views of the world are shaped by such intormation.
Afterthought: My little dog, smaller than any of my three cats, joyfully bounces up to them with her helicopter tail wagging. The cats scream “She is trying to kill us!.” They echo a much larger stage." - J. Miller
Judith Miller graduated with honors from San Jose State University (B.A., New College, 1975) and from the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA, Painting, 1980) where she had an honors studio.
Her work has been in numerous shows in her home state of CA as well as in sixteen other states. The work is in public collections in CA, Washington DC, Japan and Iowa. Judith’s work has been reviewed in over twenty newspapers or catalogs.
Image: 'Connection' Mixed media, 52 x 44, 1994
IMPROMPTU - mixed media paintings by Jean Wu
OCTOBER 15 - DECEMBER 12
venue XYZ
181 3rd St (x. Howard) SF, CA
ARTIST'S RECEPTION:
Thursday, December 4 6 - 8p
(a FIRST THURSDAY event)
Wine tasting featuring selections by:
"My passion for life and years of training in both music and art motivated me to develop a series of abstract paintings with colors, forms, lines, and strokes all interplaying within a confined space. Much like a unique arrangement of musical notes creates a distinct tonal harmony, each canvas is a visually harmonious arrangement of color combinations designed to be universally understood as well as personally felt and appreciated." - Jean Wu
Image: 'Impromptu #1' Mixed Media on Canvas 48" x 60" 2005
