Christina Empedocles
“Prints Byte: The Cutting Edge of Printmaking”
Get ready for “an exploration of experimental, digital, and installation-based printmaking” at SOMArts gallery this Friday! Co-Curated by Justin Hoover and Hanna Regev, Prints Byte features 30 local artists who combine politics and social observation with image-making, including the prolific Christina Empedocles, whose latest 3D creation, “Robins, Warblers, and Thrashers,” featuring manipulations of her fine art drawings into a freestanding sculpture by way of photocopies, wood, and staples, is pictured here.
And if the out-of-the-box art on display at the show blows your mind, be sure to check out the companion programs: “The Politics of Printmaking,” a panel discussion featuring Art Hazelwood, and Steve Lopez Gallery director of ArtZone 461 Gallery, moderated by Don Farnsworth of Magnolia Press, on Saturday February 20, 3:00– 4:30pm; and the Curatorial Walkthrough and Closing Reception on Saturday February, 27, 3:00– 4:00pm, as co-curators Hoover and Regev take you on a personal tour of the exhibit.
Not enough for one night? Get yourself over to Oakland, for the Opening Gala and Inaugural Exhibition for the Era Art Bar & Lounge in the heart of the uptown district. Billed as “a 5,000 square foot space designed to bring together art, handcrafted artisan cocktails, local small production wines and a wide range of music with a sprinkle of live performances,” Era fills two floors with decadent architectural detail such as hand- plastered ceilings, a thirty-five foot steel and concrete bar, vintage leather seating, reclaimed 1920’s hardwood flooring, and handblown glass chandelier, all to provide a magnificent backdrop for enjoying fine art, music, and boutique cocktails.
The opening exhibit, “Rhythm and Rupture,” curated in partnership with Jessica Cox and Cameron Jackson of Alphonse Berber Gallery, features even more artwork by Christina Empedocles, plus Yvonne Mouser, Joshua Dildine, Justin Margitich, Don Porcella and Stephanie Inagaki. The Grand Opening Celebration festivities will take place on Friday, February 5, from 4:30pm -1:30 am. The gallery’s opening reception is from 5-8pm, so presumably, you can show up a little early to check out the space, or stay late for an extra drink. Or two.
“Prints Byte”: Friday, February 5- Saturday, February 27, 2010 at SOMArts, 934 Brannan St., San Francisco; Opening Reception on Friday February 5, 7-9pm.
“Rhythm and Rupture”: February 5- April 4, 2010, Era Art Bar & Lounge, 19 Grand Street, Oakland; Opening Reception on Friday, February 5, 5-8pm.