 Geof Oppenheimer: Versus, 2005 16mm film, looping projector, screen, chair, Overall dimensions variable On the Road Again: Beat Culture, Bush Era Devendra Banhart, Erik Frydenborg, Oliver Halsman Rosenberg, Colter Jacobsen, Ian McDonald, Jay Nelson, Geof Oppenheimer "On the Road Again: Beat Culture, Bush Era" looks at contemporary artists who are inspired by some aspect of Beat Culture - whether art, literature, the life style, or the practitioners themselves. Although the varied creative processes on display share some overlap with Beat ideologies, concerns, media and process, the show is more about a spirit than a "look," more about an attitude or sensibility than a defined aesthetic. Devendra Banhart's fine-grained ink sketches of imagined things or creatures focus on ways in which drawings can depict what is less easily articulated. Erik Frydenborg's collaged drawings take their inspiration directly from popluar culture and are rendered with a rhythmic dynamism that is almost musical. Oliver Halsman Rosenberg's hexagonal mandalas explore sacred geometry and the interconnectedness and mutual dependency of the universe and reality. Colter Jacobsen's delicately rendered memory drawings incorporate remembered fragments of a previous series of works by the artist to create surreal vignettes. Ian McDonald's hand thrown ceramic "breathers" are beautiful objects in their own right but double also as drug culture accessories containing heated political messages at odds with their cool appearances. Jay Nelson's drawings invoke the sublime in nature testifying to the artist's intense communion with his surrounds. Presenting a reenactment of a scene between Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep from the 1979 movie "Kramer vs Kramer," Geof Oppenheimer's "Versus" is both an exercise in experimental film-making and cultural analysis. Exhibition: October 19 - November 25, 2006 Gallery hours: Tues-Fri 10:30am - 5:30pm, Sat 11am - 5pm Rena Bransten Gallery 77 Geary Street (between Kearny and Grant Streets) USA-San Francisco, CA 94108 Telephone +1 415 982-3292 Fax +1 415 982-1807 Email info@renabranstengallery.com www.renabranstengallery.com |
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