Compound Gallery, Oakland: Making the Road by Walking. New paintings by Martin Webb and Thomas Haag. Opening Reception: Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 6-9pm. Artist Talk and Closing Tea: Sunday, August 21st, 2011 3-6pm(talk starts at 4pm). Take a look at some images here.
“Making the road by walking” is an apt title for this show by two painters whose work is heavily influenced by their own travel experiences. It also is a good encapsulation of their individual art-making processes where the making of paintings is an open-ended exploration of images and ideas, guided by a mix of strategy, reflection, and intuition. With a nod to the Magical Realists, the work of both artists features humans and animals as protagonists, symbols or metaphors in their oblique narratives.
The roles of migrant and traveler are central to Martin Webb’s work and this group of mixed media paintings draws partly from recent time spent in the coastal towns of Senegal. For some time, Webb’s work has reflected the belief that there’s more that makes us similar than makes us different, and this body of work looks more closely at some of those common denominators: the necessity of work; the desire to travel for opportunity; the centrality of water in supporting our lives. In this collection of work, an anonymous cast of animals and people play out these ideas to the accompaniment of spirituals and work-songs.
Gathering the symbols, iconography, and discarded materials of the various cultures in which he finds himself participating, Thomas Christopher Haag’s new work fuses various religious and spiritual traditions into a vague contemporary mythology. Using discarded books and “reclaimed” housepaint taken from chemical disposal facilities, Haag constructs multi-layered collaged paintings which reference mythical beings or creatures having a spiritual “event”. These new works explore the idea of the neo-pilgrim, the modern wanderer and seeker of the vaguely spiritual.
Earth Portraits: Contemporary Landscape Painters of California juried by Scott A. Shields, Associate Director/Cheif curator Crocker Art Museum, at Santa Cruz Art League May 28th to June 26th. Reception June 4th 2-4pm.
RED one of the Day Labor series is in the exhibition Red juried by George Rivera, Executive Director and Senior Curator of The Triton Museum, at the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto. May 6 - 26, 2011. Opening Reception, Friday, May 6, 5:30-8:00 pm. Pacific Art League, 668 Ramona St., Palo Alto, CA 94301
Disaster Relief Print available now!
Animal Dreams: Animals as Visual Metaphors, at A New Leaf Gallery, Sonoma, March 15th to June 12th 2011.
OUTSIDE THE BOX:Featuring Art in a Box Artists, Compound Gallery Oakland January to March 2011.
The Compound Gallery is pleased to present Outside the Box: featuring work by Art in a Box artists. Art in a Box, The Compound Gallery’s art subscription service, was established in 2008 and supports local Bay Area Artists. Art in a Box has sent out over 700 works of art by Bay Area artists to subscribers all over the world and continues to gain subscribers each month. Our featured artists create original works of art that fit inside our 11″x17″x3″ boxes. Outside the Box gives the public the opportunity to see and purchase full sized work by Art in a Box Artists. Featured artist: Martin Webb.
Public Art Newly completed public art commission in Cupertino, CA. Progress images here.
Bay Area Juried Annual, juried by Betti-Sue Hertz (Yerba Buena Center) at Sanchez Art Center, Nov 2010.
Quicksilver Mining Company, Forestville, Somoma Co, CA September and October. Details.
Access Institute for Psychological Services The Spectrum Art Auction is on Sunday October 17th at Mezzanine in San Francisco, 6-9pm. Follow the link to see the list of participating artists and other details.
The Peregrines solo show at the Metro Gallery, City Hall, Reno NV.
Images of The Peregrines solo sow on the curvaceous walls of Reno City Hall's Metro Gallery.
Transformative Experience group show at Art@theOakbook, Jack London Square, Oakland.
Best Western book now available at Blurb.com. Take a look here:
This book collects together thirty pieces from 2004 to 2008 about travel, landscape and memory. You can browse the book here "Best Western" and it can be purchased direct through the Blurb website.
The Latin Playboys. I have long been a huge fan of the band The Latin Playboys who's music mixes the old, rootsy, and soulful with the abstract, experimental, and obtuse. My art aspires to many of the same qualities so I'm thrilled that they have included some pieces on their website Latin Playboys.org . Louie Perez of the band is developing an art and culture blog linked to the site.
E-MAIL LIST Please send a message to martin@quicksandstudio.com to recieve occaisional news of shows etc.
