{"id":3461,"date":"2012-07-12T08:24:51","date_gmt":"2012-07-12T16:24:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/?p=3461"},"modified":"2012-07-12T08:24:51","modified_gmt":"2012-07-12T16:24:51","slug":"art-for-arts-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/12\/art-for-arts-sake-3461\/","title":{"rendered":"Art for Art’s Sake"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on July 12, 2012 in The Alamedan<\/a>. Michele Ellson, editor. Reprinted with additional images.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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popUp Gallery Directors Gabriele Bungardt (left) and Mi’Chelle Fredrick, with Ken Draizen\u2019s \u201cSatisfaction.\u201d Photo: Michael Singman-Aste<\/p><\/div>\n

No doubt about it, this is a tough time to be an artist. The extended recession is drastically limiting would-be patrons\u2019 disposable income, and forcing some galleries out of business. Autobody Fine Art was one of these<\/a>. In February 2011 they ceased hosting exhibits on a regular basis, and converted much of its space into artist studios.<\/p>\n

With fewer galleries, emerging artists are having a harder time finding shows and, when they do, often hand upwards of 50 percent of their sale to the gallery as commission. Artists themselves, Gabriele Bungardt and Mi’Chelle Fredrick are all too familiar with these challenges. So they approached Jacqueline Cooper of Autobody Fine Art about renting her gallery space a month at a time when not in use. They call their venture popUp Gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The artists pay no entry fee, and the gallery collects no commission. The artists are merely expected to donate 20 percent of their sale to any art-related charity. How cool is that? \u201cIt’s kind of our way to pay back, to give artists an opportunity to show,\u201d Bungardt said.<\/p>\n

Although they may consider posting calls for art in the future, for their first show they contacted a few other Bay Area artists with whom they were already familiar. \u201cWe were very selective with this first one,\u201d Fredrick said. \u201cStill Life: A New Point of View\u201d opened with a reception at the gallery on July 6, and their selectiveness paid off with a show of very high caliber.<\/p>\n

In addition to Fredrick\u2019s drawings and watercolors, and Bungardt\u2019s acrylic paintings \u2014 the still lifes a dramatic departure from the latter\u2019s usual canine subject matter \u2014 they were joined by five other artists working in various media.<\/p>\n

Chris Tedesco\u2019s work is some of the most enjoyable and entertaining glass art you could imagine. He fashions handbags in a variety of colors, as well as a three-foot high broom. Break out your hanky for \u201cCome to Me My Melancollie [sic],\u201d a tribute to his dearly departed shop dog, Sid.<\/p>\n

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Dan Granett. Digital Photos.<\/p><\/div>\n

Dan Granett is an engineer as well as a photographer, and his photos are as much science as art. He shoots super closeups, of a weevil perched atop a watch mechanism, or a piranha munching a dollar bill, for example. To get every millimeter in sharp focus, he uses special software to perform \u201cfocus stacking,\u201d a technique which combines dozens of shots taken at various focus distances into a single composite image. You can get your geek on marveling at this advancement in optics, or simply enjoy the beauty of the finished product.<\/p>\n

Sue Averell\u2019s paintings are over the edge and over the top, and that\u2019s how she titles them. Her botanical series is a riot of color, the layers of acrylic rising a good inch off the canvas. The artist is having far too much fun painting, and her unrestrained joy is infectious.<\/p>\n

Because \u201cstill life painting\u201d usually conjures images of vases and fruit baskets, Elizabeth Zanzinger\u2019s paintings are a breath of fresh air. Her oils on linen capture a Macintosh (the computer, not the fruit) and its equally antiquated three-and-a-half inch diskettes, or a discarded cathode ray tube. These memento mori for the 21st century are nearly photorealistic, and just plain fun.<\/p>\n

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Elizabeth Zanzinger, Macintosh, 2011. Oil on linen.<\/p><\/div>\n

There is much variety in the show, and Ken Draizen\u2019s steel sculptures dotting the landscape help tie it all together. They demonstrate a wild symmetry and unlikely balance and are particularly remarkable considering this is the artist\u2019s first exhibition.<\/p>\n

Working around Autobody\u2019s exhibition schedule, popUp\u2019s next show is tentatively scheduled for November. It\u2019s a good thing they have some lead time, because with \u201cStill Life\u201d they\u2019ve set the bar pretty high.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill Life: A New Point of View\u201d runs through the end of July. Receptions will be held this Friday, July 13 and on Friday, July 27 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. They are also open Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment. popUp Gallery is located at Autobody Fine Art, 1517 Park Street. The facility is not wheelchair accessible.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Singman-Aste
\nPostdiluvian Photo<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared on July 12, 2012 in The Alamedan. Michele Ellson, editor. Reprinted with additional images. No doubt about it, this is a tough time to be an artist. The extended recession is drastically limiting would-be patrons\u2019 disposable income, and forcing some galleries out of business. Autobody Fine Art was one of these. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[23,6],"tags":[73,118,488,489,491,189,346,492,122,487,490,486],"class_list":["post-3461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artists","category-events","tag-alameda","tag-autobody-fine-art","tag-chris-tedesco","tag-dan-granett","tag-elizabeth-zanzinger","tag-gabriele-bungardt","tag-jacqueline-cooper","tag-ken-draizen","tag-michelle-fredrick","tag-popup-gallery","tag-sue-averell","tag-the-alamedan"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pPxQO-TP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3461"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3473,"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3461\/revisions\/3473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.postdiluvianphoto.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}