Though one would be hard-pressed to select a definitive group of exemplary San Francisco Art Institute alumni, Baer Ridgway Exhibitions has assembled a fine sampling of both upcoming and established SFAI graduates to give viewers a taste of the various artistic voices that have emerged from this reputable institution.
Featured talents include Joan Brown, Barry McGee, Enrique Chagoya, Jay deFeo, Brendan Lott, Rigo 23, Tony Labat, Regan Louie, and Ray Beldner among many others.
Committed to supporting emerging artists and showcasing local talent, Baer Ridgway Exhibitions will be donating twenty percent of all sales to SFAI's student scholarship fund. (To learn more about how you can contribute to SFAI: contact the SFAI Office of Advancement at 415-749-4582 or donate online).
Brendan Lott's work expands on the ubiquity of digital image and its various related contexts, posturings, and subject matter. One is reminded of Facebook photo albums, Myspace pages, twitter pics, the art of constructing the ideal profile picture, images on flickr of meals shared, drunken fetes, hiking trips, birthdays--we can all see ourselves in the images curated by Lott for his work. At the same time however, one is slightly repelled by these familiar images taken out of their context (say, in a family album or on a social networking site) --I am reminded of the way Diane Arbus' photographs make people look like bizarre human specimens. Lott's work calls attention to the patterns in amateur digital photography by recontextualizing the images in a new format--achieved by converting the image to an oil painting or by amassing similar images in a grid-like format as we see above. Each image in the grid is comprised of self-portraits taken in front of a mirror with the tell tale flash. Stepping back, we see a technicolor collage of flashbulbs; raising questions of spectacle in an increasingly web-centered culture; narcissism and the fantasy of celebrity; voyeurism and the redefinition of private and public spheres on the web. (Pictured above: Flash, 2009).
Miguel Calderon's video Yepa! Yepa! Yepa! (2006) indulges in lo-fi glamour--its flashy images, electric colors and gritty quality evoke the campy lustre of early eighties music videos. Calderon's youthful vision and proclivity for the absurd are also evidenced in his work for Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums. Some background from Baer Ridgway:
Yepa Yepa, Yepa!, is an eclectic music video for Mexico City musician Silverio, known for his cutting- edge performance-based electronic rock music , filmed at the infamous Patrick Miller night club in Mexico City. Calderon is the co-founder of La Panaderia, an alternative art space in Mexico City. His work has been shown in internationally in such venues as Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, São Paulo Bienal, Brazil and Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York.
Ala Ebtekar's skilled line drawings flawlessly marry traditional Iranian art forms with contemporary themes--injecting seemingly staid history with his political street art ethos. The practiced and precise hand of the calligraphy translate beautifully into Ebtekar's graphic style. I am intrigued by the conflation of sacred calligraphic texts and their meaning with the contemporary narratives introduced by Ebtekar's drawings--what kind of dialogue emerges from this pairing? Check out this interview with Ebtekar on Fecal Face.
***Be sure to check out the two video/film up coming screening events :
"The New Young Turks" Curated by Tony Labat. Friday May 29th, 7pm
“East Meets West: An SFAI Take Over” Curated by Christine Ancalmo Friday June 19th, 7pm
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