It was timely reading today’s Chronicle article by Tom Stienstra: 'Tis the season for "Dancing with Fog." Indeed our namesake fog has once again enveloped us in its deep fold. Gone the crisp clarity of last week and in its place our summer layering of soothing gray. Our nightly walks with Carmen are once again enshrouded in the moist haze of our marine curtain. Enjoy our misty Ocean Beach, or come to FOG and catch Paige Laverty’s stunning take on all things ocean. -Peter
Paige Laverty's Opening
Paige Laverty, better known as @thesaltylenz, in front of Summer Days.
Lots of surfer girls in attendance ...
Does this person look excited about her work? We are too!
Paige gives a WILD talk about how she shoots her images way out in the ocean without a surfboard.
Surf's up! Hanging Paige Laverty's Show
We were so excited to see Paige today, along with a truckload of her Everything Ocean photos!
Please join us this Saturday from 1-5 pm for her opening. She'll give an artist's talk at 2 pm.
FOG’s 3rd Annual Summer Solstice Celebration
Anne Marguerite Herbst Remembering Saint Remy oil on canvas 9" x 12"
Come join the FOG family as we welcome in the longest day of the year with anthemic airs, salutations, libations, and tasty snacks. Anna Galactica (our artful and fearless leader) might even join the festivities with her interpretive dance. But even if she can’t make it, we can all gaze at her atavistic, shamanistic and primordial paintings to enhance our solstice vibes. Druids and pagans are especially welcome. See you from 4:30 to 6 on Thursday. -Peter
A Delicious Book-Signing
Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff has a new book out called Cooking Together: A Vegetarian Co-op Cookbook. This afternoon she read to us, and then gave a demonstration using herbs and spices, and explained their role in various cuisines. She taught us how to make chutney, and served Chai and crackers! We ate it up.
A Visit From Joe
Two more weeks left to come in and see Joe’s exquisite show.
Joseph Zirker came in today with his daughter Lisa and her companion Danny from Thailand. Anne joined us and showed off a new painting. Joe will be back in the gallery this Saturday after Shanta’s book reading and cooking demonstration at 2. Joe is working on a new abstract acrylic project and asked Anne if he could have a show in two years (he’ll be 95). –Peter
Just a reminder: Stop in to meet Shanta Nimbark Sacharoff this Saturday from 2-3 pm! She'll be giving a book reading and cooking demonstration followed by a book signing.
Joseph Zirker's Opening
Walk into the gallery, and the walls practically vibrate with joy. A poem that Zirker wrote a few weeks ago explains why:
THIS SKIN I'M IN THAT HOLDS AN
ANCIENT ARTIST'S HEART AND SOUL
THINS AND STRETCHES COLD WITH
EACH SUNSET'S DARK. YET, ONCE
AWAKE, A HORIZONTAL DREAMER
DREAMS UPRIGHT, BRIGHT LIGHT
SHINING COLOR, LINE AND FORM,
WIELDING BRUSH WITH CANVAS
TIGHT, SLOWLY MOVING, SHAPES
RELEASING FROM MY HAND AN
INNER JOY.
–Joseph Zirker May 12, 2018
Countdown
Getting really excited about Joseph Zirker's opening tomorrow!
In Memory of Mamade Kadreebux
Last Saturday Anne and I went to Berkeley to attend Mamade Kadreebux’s memorial. Mamade had a joint show at FOG with Anne in November of 2016, and during that month he introduced us to his world.
Mamade Kadreebux
Born in Mauritius in 1946, Mamade spent a nomadic, spiritual life exploring and illuminating the globe. A philosopher, holy man, photographer, painter, and poet – he led an enchanted life, in turn enchanting all he met on his journeys. A truly mystical and magical presence, his was a true spirit of healing, love, and peacefulness. Mamade spread his love of life and art to all, and everyone at the gathering expressed their deepfelt admiration and thanks. He made life better for all he touched, and we at FOG were fortunate to be in his thrall. -Peter
Kasper Returns
Kasper Rodenborn is back!
You must remember this (Kasper working on the back wall of our outdoor space last year).
Yari Ostovany's Opening
Yari Ostovany with his painting Oracle II
...Pretty is a very dangerous thing versus beauty because sometimes you arrive at something pretty that you could be quite happy with, and some collectors would be quite happy with as well, but something inside is gnawing at you that it is not beautiful, it’s pretty. And then that destroying and rebuilding, that’s also kind of a tricky thing because if you think of it as destroying, that takes you in a different direction but when you step back and look at the longer arc of it, that’s just another step in the evolution of the work. And I always say you can never ruin a painting if you dare to ruin it. If you don't have faith and you get to some place that feels somewhat comfortable, you just stay there, and that I find dangerous. And that’s what Richter is talking about. I actually learned that through Francis Bacon many years ago, if I’m not mistaken, he said that when you get stuck in a painting, it’s usually what you like most in it that’s keeping you, so you have to paint that out. That’s a very difficult thing to do at first because you’re very attached to it. But then you realize it’s not about having a beautiful area in a painting, it’s about having a painting that works as a whole. (From an interview with Yari called Pretty is a Dangerous Thing.)
Peregrine 25
Our gallery will be bursting with Yari's luminous paintings through May 27.
Art Market SF
photo by Jeannie O'Connor
photo by Jeannie O'Connor
Don't miss our treasure chest in the back corner! Six drawers of tiny treasures.
Fort Mason, where Art Market is being held, is one of the most beautiful spots in San Francisco. There's a place you can buy a drink and flop down when you're too tired to walk anymore (above) – and look what you see out the window:
photo by Kevin Fong
P.S. (Sunday) We had a BLAST, especially this one in the middle. Many thanks to our old friends – and all the new ones we made – for stopping by booth 523!
We'll be here for 2 more days! Today, Saturday, from 11-7 pm, and Sunday from 12-6 pm. Booth #523.
Art Market San Francisco
April 26-29 at Fort Mason
Visit us in booth #523.
VIP Preview
Thursday, April 26, 2018 — 6:00pm to 10:00pm
Public Hours
Friday, April 27, 2018 — 11:00am to 7:00pm
Saturday, April 28, 2018 — 11:00am to 7:00pm
Sunday, April 29, 2018 — 12:00pm to 6:00pm
Andrew Ramer's Reading
Andrew Ramer is one marvelous storyteller. He read from two of his books this afternoon: Deathless, and Torah Told Different. His version of the Torah is deep, original, and lots of fun! Both book covers are graced with paintings by our Anne.
Happy Birthday, Jeanie
That's the birthday girl in the middle.
Come on down to FOG and wish Jeanie a happy birthday. During our Fog Family music session today we will pause to sing Happy Birthday and have some bubbly and treats - so please join us from 5 to 6.
Richard Kamler Remembered
Kamler with (left) "Last Statement," 1998, graphite, oil stick on paper, 61 x 31 inches; right: "Boy Warrior," 1975, graphite on paper, 75 x 36.5 inches
by Robert Atkins squarecylinder.com
The artist Richard Kamler, who died on November 1, a day before his 82nd birthday, was unusual: a conceptualist and social practice artist before the terms existed. He was trained as an architect and to say he was unconcerned about conventional disciplinary categories is to be guilty of understatement. His first museum installation, Out of Holocaust (1976), was as close to architecture as he would get again — it was a life-sized replica of a barracks at Auschwitz, produced for the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley. After that his work eschewed history for more contemporary concerns expressed in more hybrid idioms. He assembled a nationwide network of artists, for instance, to create visualizations of the concept, Seeing Peace, on unused billboards across the US. But it was the violence, racism, and wasted human potential typifying US prisons that became his signature subject. Continue reading.
Richard Kamler's Opening
Richard Kamler's (1935-2017) artist statement begins: In 1963 I had just graduated from UC Berkeley and had gone to New York to begin an apprenticeship with Frederick Kiesler, the visionary painter, sculptor, theater designer and architect. I was climbing the stairs to his studio and heard voices. He had left the door ajar for me and was talking to a museum director from Switzerland. He was saying that "through art we can change the laws of the world.”
This idea that art can engage in worldly affairs–“can change the laws of the world” –is what has driven my work these past 40 years. That art is a catalyst for social change and cultural transformation.
Read the rest of his inspiring statement here.
Tears,
Laughter.
photo by Cheryl Cooper
photo by Cheryl Cooper
Peter Munks, Jeanie Bertrand, Tim Thurman
Hanging Richard Kamler's Show
The show opens this Saturday, April 7, 12-6 pm. Talk at 2 pm.
We're In!
Art Market San Francisco 2014 photo via
FOG is honored to have been accepted into Art Market San Francisco.
A Personal Note: Highs and Lows
19th and Alabama, deep in the Mission and early in the morning, 7:00am. Carmen’s cardiologist rechecks her ex-rays and confirms her diagnosis - respiratory heart failure with enlarged heart and irregular beat. We go to our favorite cafe, The Atlas at 20th and Harrison, have a great breakfast and commiserate.
On the way to our car we see a flat file sitting out on the the street. We nab it and inside is a trove of fabulous colored paper. Anne is way happy, she has wanted a flat file for years.
Back to Carmen: She is now on four medications and has to curtail her exuberance (not easy). We rescued Carmen when she was a year and half, and have loved and lived with her for over 10 years, and our journey continues. Come by and give her your good wishes. -Peter