A few notes on some recently encountered awesomeness:
Ian McDonald
Matt Connors
-Ian McDonald, Matt Connors, and Gregory Lind at [ 2nd floor projects ]. McDonald's muted ceramic sculptures were a perfect foil to Connors's stacks of vibrantly-painted canvases with a beautiful edition by Gregory Lind to accompany. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love this space and how thoughtfully Margaret Tedesco puts together each show.
-Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt seminar hosted by the Long Now Foundation. Lipo and Hunt shared their paradigm-shifting research about what they believe really happened on Easter Island. For example watch the video above to see how the statues were likely moved across the island, and read their book The Statues That Walked for the full scoop.
Will Tait
-Will Tait, Rebecca Fogg, and Sgraffito Studio in Emeryville. If it weren't for my best friend's cat Tagalong deciding he liked them I never would have met this very talented artist couple or gotten a peek inside their amazing studio and gallery on San Pablo. You might have seen the outside, with its twisting metal vines in place of bars. Inside is a metal- and wood-working shop with enough specialized machinery and engineering cleverness to make me grin with glee.
-Three Shows curated by Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour at Royal Nonesuch Gallery. Mounting three shows in three consecutive weeks might destroy the average curator, but Im and Harbour have a lot of fun with the task they've set for themselves. I enjoyed the work by "two Bensons" when I was in the gallery Saturday, and this coming weekend is the final show: Object Oriented: An exhibition of obscured, misdirected, and/or autonomous objects and sites.
Jon Gourley
-Translocura: Art on the Brink of Madness at Headlands Center for the Arts. Curated by John Jota Leaños, this group show offers work by local artists that is in turn funny, disturbing, and contemplative. Well worth the drive, especially if it's a sunny weekend.
We Care Solar
-MLK Day of Service with WE CARE Solar at the Tech Museum of Innovation. Bay Area students building "solar suitcases" to send to schools in Sierra Leone and an orphanage in Uganda? Dr. King would have been proud.