Tonight is the First Friday of the month of September and a number of galleries in Oakland will be hosting their monthly Oakland Art Murmur.
Here are some picks for tonight’s event:
The Joyce Gordon Gallery is hosting an exhibition to honor the award winners of last month’s Glimpses in Time show. All of the award-winning images from that exhibition will be there, plus two additional pieces from each award-winning artist. Our Artist Directory member John Vias will be participating and will include two brand new prints that he hasn’t shown before.
A reception will be held on tonight, September 5, 2008, from 5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. The Joyce Gordon Gallery is at 406 14th St, Oakland, just steps from the 12th Street BART station.
Gallery Hours: Wed-Fri: 12 pm – 7 pm; Sat&Sun: 1 pm – 4 pm
Swarm Gallery will be exhibiting Materials Unorganized, work by Casey Jex Smith, whose:
life thus far has been fully immersed in the Mormon faith and culture. In this church, much like any other, there is a significant visual history. Most of this history is depicted in 2D illustrations that tell stories of the formation of the church, its growth, movement around the Midwest, its exodus to the West and finally, the settlement of Zion in Utah. The images of these stories are used primarily as educational tools in Sunday school. In the last two decades, there has emerged a new Mormon Art market, not much different than Thomas Kinkade paintings with Christian/Mormon themes. It has become what is popular taste in Utah and other Latter Day Saint (LDS) communities and the artistic and aesthetic standard that other art is compared (except for a very small portion of the LDS population).
Smith has complained that this “kitsch” is a misrepresentation of a new generation of artistic and aesthetic standards in the Mormon community. In graduate school, he decided to create a new Mormon Art that reflects himself and his peers more accurately.
Smith’s current work is about creating a visual narrative of spiritual experience. He uses pen and ink, graphite, colored pencil, acrylic and collage, and a mix of strict representation and abstraction. Conceptually, he connects his faith and belief of visions, celestial visitations, and divine dreams with the physical world. He borrows imagery from biblical and Book of Mormon illustrations and from modern and contemporary abstract painting and drawing. … — Swarm
The Artist Reception is tonight, September 5, from 6 – 8 pm and the exhibition runs through October 5th. Swarm Gallery is located at 560 Second Street in Oakland’s Jack London Square.
Casey Jex Smith, Untitled (Nephihah) (2008), Collage on paper, 8.5 x 11 inches
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Tags: east, first friday, oakland
