Second Saturday- Gallery Reviews

 May 8th, 2021

This Saturday was the "first" nominal Second Saturday of the Summer here in Sacramento.

A close friend the Mayor recently took up a residency at one of their studios near the front entrance. I decided to stop by and take a look at the many, many artists they have. I hear the studio has been around for almost 20 years, making it one of the older galleries in Sacramento, to my knowledge.

the Mayor, had 4 or 5 of his prints hanging in the main gallery area, right next to the entrance of his studio. My understanding of his printmaking work is that its atmospheric, and aims to utilize a traditional and classic style to convey less classic ideas. His work is concerned with disrupting perspective in the composition. Leaving you to spatially float around the colors and shapes, wandering like day dreams and  speculating at the location or reference for his figurations. I very much enjoyed being able to support him and his work at E Street.

Another piece of art that caught my eye was an abstract very, muddy yet bright painting. If I had to guess it was made using  spray-paint, and an airbrush with tape. However it was made, it felt like it was holding a moment of suspension in a illusion, A glitch on the edge of a smoke cloud. It felt hard to describe why its brightness and vagueness called to me. The painting just feels like the fog of the mind while trying to meditate, and maybe that's it, i feel that it could represent so many kinds of moments that all resonate with a similar and familiar feeling. A painting of something i can put my finger on, and have experience before while being utterly vague in appearance having not striking features.

Another Gallery attended was Groundswell on J st and 25th. I have come to know Micah and John who run the gallery and enjoy stopping in to see what they exhibit. This Show was called Alkaloid, and while the name is very pretty, I am unconvinced that it meant anything. There were 5 artist on show and i will talk about the ones that impacted me the most as well as leave a photo of it below. There were whimsical oil paintings that incorporated many elements including painterly brush strokes layered with calligraphy style line work imposed and floating in the composition with flowers and dainty yet lively colors. I think the black background did this piece all the justice, and as always the detail of blending in this particular piece was satisfying. It seems a nod to an Alice and wonderland feeling, a nod to surrealism, with out attempting to be those thing determinately. They do feel whimsical in their subject matter, and almost too pretty,  yet their daintiness adds their mystic allure.

Lastly, I ended my second Saturday charades at Project 25 where i used to show my work to stop by and support my friend Brandon Gastinell  who put up an interactive work in the gallery allowing you to write on on of his canvas prints with a sharpie. The work had accumulated a lot of writing by the time i added to it, but i wrote "i love my momma" across his forehead for fun. Then outside where a lit of the artist hangout on Saturday i jumped in on a few collaborative canvases and it was a genuinely great end to my Saturday that was absolutely full of art!!