• Anno Domini // the second coming of Art & Design – 366 South First St. map

  

  Opening Reception: Anno Domini presents Walking in the White solo exhibition by PJOTA

  Currently residing in São Paulo, Pjota grew up in São José do rio Preto with an early interest in arts and graffiti. ”When I was 13 years old, I would paint the walls with my friends.” Pjota reflects upon that time often as he works, now aware that he was “studying the pictorial features of the streets without realizing it.”

  For his exhibition at Anno Domini, Pjota has created large canvases that are, according to him, “predominantly white” symbolizing his lone journey to California. One might conclude that the nearly miniature entities in his paintings are a result of his feeling “small” when thinking about traveling alone to unfamiliar territory. However, the gritty daily experiences of São Paulo, one of the most populated cities in the world, find their way onto the canvases bringing with them a density of texture, color, grids and hand-lettered scrawl…the canvases can hardly be considered “predominantly white” anymore. As with any environment, be it within a city or a painting, it is rich with discovery should you take the time to explore its depths.

  Pjota has had significant exhibitions since he was 18 years old including solo exhibits at Galeria Choque Cultural, Museum of Contemporary Art of Paraná and the Volcom Art Space, all in Brazil. Most recently Pjota’s work was included in the Paperview exhibition at the John Jones Project Space in London which brought together works on paper from three renowned London based art collections: The Zabludowicz Collection, The Lodeveans Collection and The John Jones Contemporary Collection. Walking in the White is Pjota’s debut solo exhibition in the United States.

  Music by: Shudder
  Shudder employs improvisation, composition, and deep listening in the service of an assertive minimalism, mining the intersection of digital and carbon-based sound. The horns emphasize fractured drones and complex textures highly informed by electronic music, while the computer’s dual role as sound generator and real-time processor creates an interactive, unstable hall of mirrors.

• Art Glass Center of San Jose – 465 South First St. (map)

  

  We’d like to welcome The Art Glass Center of San Jose to the SoFA District! This new venue is a project of the San Jose Glass Artist Alliance (SJGAA), a non-profit educational organization. Open seven days a week, the new center features classes, demonstrations and a gift shop/gallery.

  For First Friday, The Art Glass Center will feature a live glass blowing demonstration by Lionel Chapital. Lionel will create one of his esquisite Sevillana Dancers on the torch. Fused, blown and cast glasswork from 20 other local glass artists will also be on display.

• Caffé Trieste – 315 South First St. map

  

  Opening Reception: Fables, Stories, and Far Off Places An exhibition of paintings, prints, and drawings by Woody Miller. Inspired by stories, fables and far away places, both in reality and all together elusive, this collection of work features sunlit village wanderers, ships lost at sea, pathways yet to be explored and of course, a monkey with a fez.

  Live Music: Opera San José presents Rebecca Schuessler, soprano, Betany Coffland, mezzo-soprano, Isaiah Musik-Ayala, bass-baritone and Silas Elash, bass

• MACLA Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana – 510 South First St. map

  

  Chicana/o Biennial Artist’ talk at MACLA. Friday, August 7, @ 7 pm , MACLA will host selected artists for a gallery walk through and an engaging conversation about their work currently on view through Saturday, August 8th. The 2009 Chicana/o Biennial is a juried exhibition conceived to take inventory of, and invite reflection on contemporary Chicano art. (above image: Ester Hernandez, Sun Raid, screen print, 25/50)

• METRO Photo Exhibit – 550 South First St. map

  

  The Metro Photo Exhibit is a photography gallery based on a monthly theme showcasing local Bay Area photographers of all levels. Visit the artists and their work, also participate in voting on the piece that best represents the given theme of the month.

• Phantom Galleries – temporary exhibits in vacant storefronts

  

  386 South First St.: Alta Modern Graffiti by ARMOgedon 2057
  Armogedon blurs the line of typography and graffiti striving to find relationships between the two forms of communication.

  

  386 South First St.: Eddie Flores – an art exhibit in the medium of photography, illustration, and graphic design.

  

  388 So. First Street: An Initial Approach to Knowing Everything by Blaise Rosenthal
  Painter Blaise Rosenthal has fused post-pop iconographic sensibilities with an expressive and painterly style to create a dynamic and fresh body of work. And a body of work it truly is as the paintings work together to create a greater context, within which each individual painting communicates its message and achieves its goal.

• San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art – 560 South First St. map

  

  NextNew:Green surveys fresh perspectives from nine emerging artists on climate change and related environmental and conservation issues. Artists include Michelle Blade, Colette Campbell-Jones, Misako Inaoka, Vanessa Marsh, Carson Murdach, Sandra Ono, Ryan Pierce, Rebecca Rothfus, and Michael Ryan. Christel Dillbohner:Ice Floe is a solo exhibition featuring a large-scale installation, and multi-media prints and paintings referencing the melting glaciers of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Both exhibitions run through September 20th. Night Moves, after-dark video programming in the ICA’s front windows presents Gail Wight’s National Agenda – part eco-political activism and part Theater of the Absurd – through September 30th.

• San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles – 520 South First St. map

  

  On view: Fabric Tattoos: The Spirit of the Mola will transport you to the Kuna Indians’ world of winding snakes, birds, plants and myths. These designs were originally realized as tattoos and body painting. Now evolved into a sophisticated textile technique called ‘molas,’ these bold geometric shapes and vivid colors are surprising and stunning. In the main galleries: The World According to Joyce Gross is an exhibition of important historical quilts collected by one of the first quilt scholars.

  From 8-11pm renowned face and body-painting artist Christopher Agostino will transform faces in minutes with his imaginative designs and knowledge of world cultures and their body painting traditions, and henna artists will create mola-inspired henna tattoo designs just for you. All face and body painting is for a $5 donation to the Museum. Agostino will also be signing his book, Transformations! the story behind the painted faces.

• SLG Art Boutiki & Gallery – 577 South Market St. map

  

  Opening reception: Make a Jazz Noise Here – Jazz and Comic Books are tow distinctly American artforms and in the month of August the SLG Art Boutiki pays tribute to both as comic book artists celebrate the opening of the San Jose Jazz Festival.

  Live music by experimental Jazz group SLAB YARD.

• SoFA Mural Unveiling & Celebration – South First at San Salvador St.

  

  You are invited to come and celebrate the completion of “A Place In Mind”, a large-scale mural in downtown San Jose’s SoFA District by artist José Arenas.

  For José, this mural evolved conceptually from the idea of looking back – “growing up in downtown San Jose, I recall many childhood memories that were deeply connected to the places and people around me. In my mind they reflect innocence, hope, and of trying to reconcile a longing for ones past while navigating the present reality.”

  José started working on the mural six weeks ago and it was recently completed with the help of two gifted artists, Michael Torchia and Oscar Lopez, and a host of enthusiastic volunteers. José will lead a tour of the mural and light refreshments will be served at the mural site.

• South First Billiards & Lounge – 420 South First St. map

  

  SFB and HOC present: JAZZ OF COLOUR A homegrown jam and live art session, celebrating local Jazz & RB talent like never before!
  Musical Guests: Doug Ellington (trumpet), Ron Scott (keyboards), Jonah (vocals), , Matt Gonzales (keyboard and upright bass), Ryan Arellano (drums) and more guest appearances through the night!
  Guest Artists: Miguel Machuca, Jaclyn Alderete, Rod Santos, Diana Medrano, Minal Jeswani, Carolyn Espino

  21+ venue

• Space 47 – 47 East William Street map

  

  Opening reception: San Jose Yacht Club: An Installation by Christopher Reynolds. This exhibition is in conjunction with Space 47’s Mentoring Artist Program (M.A.P.). The San Jose Yacht Club (SJYC) is inspired by acts of camaraderie, tradition, and the ritualistic actions involved in obtaining a right of entry and membership to traditionally exclusive societies. The SJYC introduces a social environment not unlike an exclusive brotherhood by employing acts of initiation, role playing, and mergers, which result in hybrid sculptures, photographs, and paintings of time-honored traditions that investigate rank, identity, and fantasy, while questioning the social impact and relevance of exclusive societies. Welcome to the San Jose Yacht Club.

• Works San Jose – 451 South First St. map

  

  Join us for the opening reception of ‘Polar Identity’ in which six artists explore the North and South Pole. Global climate change has far reaching ramifications, and as a result the world as we know it will not be the world of 100 or perhaps even 10 years. Armed with awareness of how our actions impact the environment, how will this affect our ideas about who we are? Friday August 7th meet artist Phil Boissonnet with his work “CP/TOMS” and “Total Ozone”. In the Paulette Peterson Gallery see an installation by artist Margo S. Jones.

On South Fourth Street…

• KALEID gallery – 88 South Fourth St. map

  

  [7-9pm] Featured Artists’ Reception for TANGLE: wandering off trail by Janett Peace and Matthew Bailey Seigel.

  Matthew Bailey Seigel’s new paintings are a reinvention of the Japanese scroll in modern materials. And like their Muromachi era (1336-1537) counterparts, his themes are of local plants, flowers and animals. But unlike traditional kakejiku (hung scrolls), Matthew’s are less formal, and more of a tangled log of his wanderings off trail.

  Inspired by Matthew’s view of nature, Janett Peace has created a series of glass pieces in response. She evokes Matthew’s style in 3D while adding a luminous quality only possible with glass. While her interpretations are meant as a tribute to Matthew’s eye for color and composition, she further explores drawing in glass using techniques that give her work a painterly quality.