Matthew Bernard Loggins installation, Creativity Explored
So. ArtPad. Definitely the hippest of the fairs, taking place as it did at the Phoenix Hotel in the Tenderloin, and fun to roam around in thanks to each gallery taking over a hotel room and often doing creative things with the space. Suffice it to say I felt a lot more comfortable here than at artMRKT. Things I especially liked:
- My first stop, at Steven Wolf: Club Paint, Bessma Khalaf, George Kuchar, more. Steven has always shown the most interesting work.
- Creativity Explored had some amazing work on display, but the best part of their room was the bathroom (pictured above) that was inspired by artist/author Matthew Bernard Loggins. I was reassured to observe an entire small area of the wall dedicated to snakes.
- A few Oakland galleries were in attendance, and I spent a good bit of time in Swarm. I can never get enough of Jessalyn Aaland's sticker pieces, and I was very pleased to see some of Jennifer Brandon's incredibly tactile photographs in person for the first time too. What Jennifer does with a bit of cushioning, tangled thread, and a few pins is revelatory.
- Also from Oakland: Johansson Projects had new wood sculptures by Misako Inaoka that show the artist still pushing her altered animals into wonderfully twisted forms. Tons of great work by Jennie Ottinger on display too, which leads me to shamelessly plug the Headlands auction and your chance to win her absolutely perfect Astronaut Family painting.
- Got the chance to explain Gareth Spor's Pictures of the Sky series to a small clutch of enraptured onlookers at Eleanor Harwood. Loved that.
- Still impressed with what the guys over at the Popular Workshop are doing, particularly after seeing a whole group of their artists in one place (including Luis Urculo and Facundo Arganaraz).
