In the front gallery, Johansson Projects presents a two person exhibition entitled Some Math. Jana Flynn creates 3-dimensional sound drawings out of string; colorful networks stuck on an infinite loop of interconnectivity. Her architectural interventions respond to and define the spaces they inhabit as they undergo a transmutation from line to form.  Jill Gallenstein exposes the flawed side of geometry, packing her elaborate drawings with a visual stimulation even nature can’t match. Her pseudo-scientific worlds pose unsolvable equations between pattern and spontaneity, simplicity and complexity. Watch as two different modes of abstraction- art and mathematics- have their way with concrete materials.

Show runs July 30th – September 11th, 2010
Reception Sept 3rd, 5-8pm

In his first solo exhibition at the gallery, Between Currencies, Erik Parra examines the tension between the meticulously cut and the shredded with his sharp juxtaposition of vintage pop media clippings and multicolored paper cutouts. These images dwell in a strange temporality, serving both as documentation of the past and a proactive peek into future shapings of collective hopes and dreams. The tangled layers of artificiality implicit in both the medium and the message- between black and white and RGB, history and desire, question the relevance of a search for American authenticity.

Show runs July 30 th- September 11th
Reception September 3rd, 5-8pm

Closing reception for Andrew Romanoff: Tsarist Heir and Shrinky Dink Artist.

Studio Quercus, 385 26th Street, Oakland

SLATE art & design presents a group summer show entitled, “Lines Lanes and Planes”

This exhibition is a meditation on lines and planes, how they define one another, how they influence our making and reading of art and illusionism, and how they record our need to build, create, and mark the world we live in. As soon as we make a mark, we have a subject that was not there before, a figure that relates to a ground, and an object that exists in time and space.

In formal terms, these artists raise many questions: what is a line versus a plane? When does a swelling line become a plane (Lo)? Can you make a plane out of many small lines (Thomas, Sugita’s prints)? Can a narrow plane appear as a line (Lo, Thomas)? Is a line necessarily a mark, or can it be as ephemeral as a transition between horizontal and vertical planes (Nickel) or between two colors (Nickel, Subercaseaux)? What happens when we look at a plane without a line (Davis)? What happens when we have a line without a plane (Sugita’s ropes)?

The “lanes” in the show’s title refers to paths of linear movement that bring an element of time and narrative to many of these works. Toru Sugita and Patricia Thomas’ rope pieces, for example, introduce a choreographed dance-like movement with their loops and turns, and invite an almost compulsive engagement with figuring out where the lines begin and end. The diagonal lines in Anne Subercaseaux’s Crossings, which are based on photographs taken while crossing the Bay Bridge, capture the rush of driving through the modern built urban environment. Toru Sugita’s prints are also composed of lines and planes formed by light and shadow and on buildings. In these pictures, however, the viewer remains still – and it is the changing light at different times of the day that alters the composition. Mel Davis’ Green Composition takes this a step further. The viewer who actually takes the time to stand still and look will be rewarded with subtle but infinite changes in color and tone. Part pigment, retinal, and part contextual, this is a piece that looks different with every shift in light over the course of a day.

Artist’s Reception: Andrew Romanoff at Studio Quercus