Through October 1 - Jeffrey Cheung: Did you know love is healing? at pt.2
I didn't intend to take a blogging break over the last couple months, but then the August doldrums hit hard, plus the Delta variant, plus trying to figure out what still feels safe to do (not much), plus canceled and rescheduled travel, plus several friends getting breakthrough infections...I just needed to hunker down. Thank goodness for socially distanced gallery visits though, especially when Jeffrey Cheung has a whole pile of joyful new work to unleash. Cheung remains reliably salacious in this show, and the way he groups nude figures together just hits differently after 18 months with very little proximity to other humans. His DIY roots are still firmly on display even as he is more assured in his artistic choices than ever, and Cheung's vision of a vibrant gender-fluid, shame-free utopia is completely necessary right now.
Other things I liked this week:
- Peach Blossom Paradise by Ge Fei. Despite some disturbing scenes of assault I was impressed with how Ge Fei wove together this fable, set during a time of Chinese history before the idea of revolution turned sour, and I also appreciated how the female characters were centered in the story.
- Old Enough by Marisa Silver. This gem of a coming-of-age film from 1984 takes place during a hot NYC summer and is anchored by Sarah Boyd's wide-eyed, fearless performance as she befriends an older teenage girl and broadens her privileged horizons. There's a great scene in a makeup aisle that was giving me serious Wet 'N' Wild flashbacks too.
- I was hiding out in a rainy Fort Bragg last Saturday for Coastal Cleanup Day, but was delighted to see so many friends posting pics of their environmental efforts! And it's never a bad day to gather up some garbage, particularly here in Oakland.
- During a time when even masked-and-vaxxed events feel nerve-racking to me I'm extremely grateful to the cultural organizations that are still offering Zoom options, and I had a ton of fun laughing along with Lockdown Comedy during their monthly online show on Thursday. Host Lisa Geduldig is always a pro and the bits she does with her mom Arline are pure gold.