publicity stunted: Friday July 10

Kristy Perez All That Stands Between Us

Through all of the brutish attempts to exemplify what it is to be here now, Kristy Perez sheds the guiding light. Perez surpasses the burdens of drudging through failed contextual explanations, sociological synopsizes, and juvenile rubric towards an understanding of where we are at this point in time. Perez offers a beautifully rendered definition of our current mire in the confines of our boundaries and barriers, our expectations and unfulfilled wishes. Perez creates a sense of shock at the sight of an empty Sala Diaz--a void where the show should be. This confusion is alleviated when, glancing down, you find the answer forged in brass, embedded in the floor.

Bihl Haus gallery serves up blobby oils of floral motifs in pastel hues and tie-dyed fabric hanging from the ceiling. I don’t want to see any more tie-dyed fabrics hanging from ceilings.

Centro Cultural Aztlan features paintings by Andy Villareal. Fluorescent oils with heavy impasto.

Andy Villareal

At Zubiate Projects, Peter Zubiate displays his superbly crafted furniture and woodwork. Katie Pell presents some very pleasing drawings and prints. The mixing of mediums and the forthcoming texts has me wanting more. I think Pell has hit something here, and I would like to see this project pursued further. According to show attendee, Kendra Curry, Katie Pell should “rock this Pop-Tart all the way to Jupiter.” To top it all off, Fear Snakeface brought the rock with a powerful vengeance.

Katie Pell

Zubiate/Pell installation

Next door at Gallery 118, collaborative duo, Alas, put up an exquisite show. Unfortunately, they did not list it on the CAM calendar. Let this be a lesson: if you make truly interesting work, make sure people know about it.

ALAS installation

A large portion of the evening was filled with the Tobin Hill Art Walk. I really hope this isn’t supposed to turn into a monthly thing. I can’t foresee the need for another ordinal-number-day-of-the-week art walk. If that’s the case, count me out. Let me make this simple: High Wire Gallery--bad abstracts, drippy abstracts, shiny abstracts, under-developed paintings and sculpture, and a theatrical video. REM Gallery shows Margaret Craig’s glass objects that are decorative at best. This is unfortunate given she has done some very engaging installations with this medium in the past. Ben Mata presents masculine abstracts in metal at the Josephine Theatre. 621 Screen Printing is full of undeveloped West Coast lowbrow. M4 Dance Studio has amateurish acrylics, more bad abstract stripes, a turkey, and an Elvis. Unfortunately, I didn’t see the work at Tycoon Flats. I went, but I honestly couldn’t find the work. Maybe a restaurant full of diners is not the best venue for perusing art.

Highlights include: Paco Felici at La Casa Rosa, and Sarah Jones at G2. Jones’s constructions show craftsmanship, good design, and intelligence. She incorporates disparate mediums to put together a collection of objects that is both sharp and subtle.