FirstFriday

This is a large collage by Harry Clewans at Kala Art Institute. Ckeck out the upper right area.

This is that area in close-up. These collages are made from block prints he makes and then cuts up to form the collage. The vision, detail and skill required do this is phenomenal to me.

We tried to do FirstFriday but it didn't turn out quite as we had planned. I have an old friend, Bob (he is 87 and a little cranky), I thought his views would be interesting. Bob is a retired Hayward High English teacher, and he is very well versed in contemporary and modern art. We started in Berkeley at the Kala gallery but it appeared to be closed so we went down the street to Blankspace and Compound Gallery and they were both close too, we were too early. Bob's frailty, what with the walking and stair climbing, had him a bit irritated so we decided to go to dinner in Berkeley. After dinner we dropped Bob at his home, and Martha and I went back by the Kala gallery and found that to enter you had to ring the bell. They kept the door locked. It didn't seem very hospitable to us. Harry Clewans’ collages made from prints he had created were remarkable. Maizie Gilbert’s photography puzzled me. It appears, from my perspective that out of focus is the way to make photography contemporary.
Christopher Romer’s work at The Compound Gallery is interesting, but I found myself drawn to the exotic grains in the wood that he used as opposed to the painted protuberances sticking out of the blocks. I was reminded of a conversation I had with a sculpture instructor about mounting one of my works on an exotic piece of wood. His advice was to not do it because it is hard to compete with all the motion and intricacy in a polished block of natural wood.
Daniel Healy was at Blankspace explaining his work. I didn't listen much.
Hopefully next month I'll be a little more personally involved, and, as much as I love Bob I won't bring him along.