Sausalito exhibit showcases artists from iconic SF space
Through Oct. 5, Marin art fanciers have a unique opportunity to view the works of dozens of San Francisco artists without crossing the bridge.
Taking place at Sausalito Center for the Arts, this first-of-its-kind group show, “Perspectives/SF: The Artists of 1890 Bryant Street Studios,” features dozens of artists from one of the most iconic studios in San Francisco. Over the past 20 years, the building “has been home to a host of professional artists and creatives contributing their talents, drive and diversity to San Francisco’s evolving artscape,” said exhibit organizer Paul Morin, whose work is also on display at the Sausalito Center for the Arts.
Morin’s large portrait of an intense hypnotist (“You’re Getting Sleepy”) is among the many compelling pieces in the show. Works on display span the spectrum from whimsical clay sculptures by Linda Matson to a pair of exquisitely crafted “reliquaries” by Carl Tese to faux-antique “crackleware” plates by Linda Goldstone.
Catherine Mackey offers a stunning oil and mixed-media view of a pier collapsing under the weight of words, while Wendy L. Miller presents “No Destination” in earth-tone crayon and acrylic on paper. DK Haas departs from realism with happy, bright, colorful abstract paintings. Ali Saif celebrates a riot of organic forms with gorgeous large canvases “free of objective content,” in the artist’s words.
Kate Razo has two large oil-on-canvas paintings of pixilated humans and horses in blues, reds and browns, while Richard Turtletaub’s abstract paintings “Contents May Shift” and “Hervé, the Magician” reach back a century or more for their inspiration. Randy Titchenal explores geometric patterns with “Starburst 1-18.” Andrea Bass goes aquatic with her delightful diptych “Beneath the Blue,” while Sidnea D’Amico blends urban grit with floral forms in “Emotional Journey” and “Flor Azul.”
Andrew Pick offers lovely pastel interpretations of Bay Area scenes with “Conservatory of Flowers,” “Blue Heron Lake” and “Alcatraz.” Luz Marina Ruiz applies acrylic paint to panels, rendering bright, colorful organic forms inspired by California landscapes and light, but “no longer depicting actual places,” in the words of the artist.
Art is often more about how something feels than how it looks. It’s also, of course, often about how things look, as in Lisa Chen’s “Creature Feature,” a spectacular collection of animal portraits. Austin Boe presents some painted mirrors, while Adam Barry has dozens of whimsically figurative little 3-D squiggles.
The serenity of cosmic blue abstract paintings by Sophia Green is offset by the humor of Charles H. Stinson’s “Devices of Dubious Utility for Managing Walls,” among them an old Brownie camera stuffed with electrical wire and a doorknob spouting a spinal column. No one ever decreed that art had to be serious.
More than 100 artists call 1890 Bryant Street home — printmakers, letterpress artists, photographers, graphic artists, painters, sculptors, ceramicists and fabric artists — according to Morin, calling his city home “a truly special place.”
“Truly special” is also a great description of this huge exhibit at the Sausalito Center for the Arts, where samples of all styles and formats are artfully arrayed. The exhibit truly has something for everyone.
After a little glitch last year, the venue on Bridgeway is enjoying tremendous support from the city of Sausalito, according to executive director Shiva Pakdel. The gallery benefits from its cadre of “positive people,” said director of volunteers Jody Moore.
Contact him at barry.m.willis@gmail.com
If you go
What: “Perspectives/SF: The Artists of 1890 Bryant Street Studios”
Where: Sausalito Center for the Arts, 750 Bridgeway, Sausalito
When: Through Oct. 5; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays
Admission: Free; donations accepted
Information: sausalitocenterforthearts.org/1890