The South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk invites you to a unique evening of great exhibitions in galleries, museums and art supporting businesses. ArtwalkSJ hours are 5–9pm, free admission, all ages welcome, rain or shine.
MARCH EXHIBITIONS
ANNO DOMINI // the second coming of Art & Design – 366 S. First St. map
Opening reception in galleryTWO:
Death, God, Love Mike Egan (OH) solo exhibition
Death, God, and Love are three subjects that have haunted my life and artwork for many years now. Whether it was my short career as an embalmer, growing up in the Catholic Church or marriages and heart break. I wanted to do a show where each subject could shine on their own.
The Death paintings deal with death, dying, funerals, grim reapers and loss.
The God paintings deal with religious icons, devils and prayers, hell and halos.
Finally you have the Love paintings, which deal with true love, hearts, togetherness and broken hearts.
Although the three subjects stand strong on their own, there is a dance where they all dance together throughout in the show.
Death, God, Love is Egan’s 4th solo exhibit at Anno Domini.
On view in galleryONE:
Map to the Path Céline Lyaudet (France) debut solo exhibition
After many years as a Set Designer in the theatre, I started painting in response to some difficult and traumatic events in my life. I’m exploring the complexities of womanhood and my own personal experience as a human being, attempting to balance my unconscious visual response with the material world.
This body of work attempts to capture and map my interior landscape. I have Synesthesia, which means that neurologically, information meant to stimulate one of my senses stimulates several of my senses. This can also be described as an intertwining of senses, giving my perceptions of the world an added dimension. Colours and shapes often appear as sounds to me so when I’m painting so every artwork has an accompanying soundtrack.
What started as an expression of my most intimate emotions has evolved into something akin to a meditation or a trance state where I allow the subconscious mind to determine the outcome of each work. The key consideration for me is to feel or inhabit the work without intellectual or critical intervention, channelling the organic, human, and animal forms that populate my oeuvre.
I exist in the contemporary world but I am seeking a lost connection to the primal, natural state that is devoid of critical thinking or theory.
Artists I repeatedly turn to include Ana Mendieta, Hilma af Klint, Georgia O’Keeffe and Seraphine de Senlis, all of whom have a deep connection with the natural world and a lineage to ancient cultures. I feel a deep kinship with the work of primitive, unknown artists that expressed their creativity on the walls of caves or rock faces throughout the world.
“The pictures were painted directly through me, without any preliminary drawings, and with great force. I had no idea what the paintings were supposed to depict; nevertheless I worked swiftly and surely, without changing a single brush stroke.”
~Hilma af Klint
Art Ark Gallery – 1035 S. Sixth St. map
Opening reception:
Pathways: an exhibition about mapping, navigation, wanderlust and borders
Curated by Nanette Wylde and featuring works in artist books, glass, mixed media, painting, performance, printmaking, sculpture, sound, video, and installation by Afatasi The Artist (San Francisco), José Arenas (Davis), Carolina Cuevas (Mountain View), Casey Jay Gardner (Berkeley), Caroline Landau (San Francisco), Kent Manske (Redwood City), Neil Murphy (Burlingame), Melissa West (Watsonville), and Minoosh Zomorodinia (Richmond).
FUSE presents at the Citadel Art Gallery- 199 Martha St. map
Fuse presents– 199 S. Martha St.
Opening reception:
Rippled Reflections featuring artists: Ezra Mara and GLevy
As artists, our work often reflects reality, but in our own individual way, much as a rippled lake does. Our goal is not a copy of the perceived world, but rather a reflection of our responses to the ideas, references and inspiration that reality provides.
Ezra Mara and GLevy, while using very different styles, are inspired by the human figure and work in multiple mediums or surfaces. They have prepared some texts that convey their approach:
I am pleased with a work, when the disparate images, which I have created, respond to each other. -GL
A picture is both an illusion of the real world and a physical object at the same time. -EM
As an additive artist, I add planes, embellishments and complications. – GL
I disturb the flatness of the painting, make it more tangible and challenge a canvas’s traditional role of just being a surface to paint on. -EM
Figures are full of lovely lines and shapes -GL
An Artist does not copy the world around him but creates her own version of it. -EM
I want to make people look a little harder. What you see is all in your perspective. -GL
I love how an image of a person, whom I have never met, appears on my canvas. That is the magic of creativity. -EM
KALEID Gallery – 320 S. First St. map
KALEID Gallery is proud to present two new feature exhibitions by resident artists Sandi Billingsley, and Jean-Luc Pedanou. Also on view for one night only is San Jose Sounds in the project room.
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Opening reception:
Animals Are People Too Sandi Billingsley
Animals are people too.
With people being so serious, aggressive, and divided right now I thought I would like to paint a series that is light-hearted and hopefully a little bit funny. I believe laughter can bring us together. And I believe together we stand.
As an artist I love to create Beauty that represents personal beliefs and issues. I live to experiment with technique, style and materials. If I can make you feel something, then I feel like I have succeeded..
Opening reception:
Writer’s Breakthrough by Jean-Luc Pedanou
I first started painting exclusively for myself in an effort to work through writer’s block while working on a graphic novel. I had read somewhere that engaging in a different artistic endeavor could spur on creativity for writers. Unfortunately that idea failed but only from a literary standpoint but succeeded for me artistically by compelling me to pursue expression through painting and eventually mixed media. I had always wanted to paint and finally gave myself license to try unconditionally.
Once I started sharing my work, I was compelled by the diverse reactions I was receiving. I now understand that I love evoking emotion, feeling and imagination from viewers. From the start my feelings were expressed in cascades of colors, light and movement. Eventually however, I felt a need to add more dimension and texture to my work. I love the visceral reaction that textures and materials elicit in people.I create art that feels both organic and industrial, symmetrical and yet fluid, simultaneously raw and sophisticated.
Welcome to Art that Moves You to Feel and Touch
About the Artist:
Pedanou was born in Benin, West Africa, raised in New York and began his California dream 11 years ago. His inspirations range from the Bold Comic Book Art of Jack Kirby and Walter Simonson to Abstract Masters Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and many more . Pedanou’s aspirations are to have work in galleries, homes and even bring custom art to Silicon Valley StartUps!
In the Project Room:
San José Sounds: Downtown
Participating artists: Josh Nicolas, Enrique Muñoz, Lauren Doyle, More Más Marami Arts and SoundPlay.Media
SJ Sounds is a series of soundscapes and short stories, exploring the sounds and issues that make up San José. On March 4th 5pm–9pm, we present one of two soundscapes created by Josh Nicolas, with accompanying short stories by Lauren Doyle and Enrique Muñoz. This installation explores housing in the South Bay, and what the dream of it costs us. After you visit KALEID, walk down the street to San Jose Stage Company to hear and read the accompanying pieces.
MACHU PICCHU Gallery of the Americas, Est 1974 – 199 Martha St. map
Handmade multi color textiles or large cloths (approximately 1.2 meters) used for carrying babies or produce. The textiles are from the Andean region of Perú. Each is handwoven from sheep wool or alpaca for utilitarian reasons. Some are small blankets or women use them for carrying babies on their backs. Men use them to carry their harvest of fruits and vegetables or their communal lunch.
First Friday, March 4th 3-8pm
To enter, text 408 529 2296 or email MachuPicchuGallery@hotmail.com
MACLA Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana – 510 S. First St. map
On view: Beyond the Diaspora
Artists: Breena Nuñez, Diamela Cutiño, Patricia Encarnacion, Robert Trujillo, Anna Lisa Escobedo, Vanessa Wallace, Thomas Jones, DJLeydis
This exhibition will showcase the work of Afro-Latinx artists and will pay tribute to their roots and showcase the artwork we actively consume without realizing its connection to African culture. Beyond the Diaspora will look at both visual and performance art and its connection to the African diaspora in Latinx culture.
Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose – 560 S. First St. map
Closed this evening.
On view:
45th Anniversary Exhibition: New Directions
Join us for First Friday, to experience our new show: 45th Anniversary Exhibition: New Directions. This special anniversary exhibition highlights recent acquisitions at San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles in a series of thematic installations spanning three galleries. New Directions also prominently features recent artwork from SJMQT’s Artist in Residence program.
We are also pleased to introduce our new Artist in Residence Olivia Ronan. Olivia is an interdisciplinary visual artist and creative mender. She completed her BFA at University of California, Santa Cruz and currently teaches fiber arts and hand sewn repair in Aptos, California. She’ll be in her studio during First Friday to talk about her process and her projects during her residency.
SoFA Market – 387 S. First St. map
Nostalgia by A Kid At Heart
These pieces were created to not only capture a painting but also to tell a story.
Works San Jose – 365 S. Market St. map
The (Anti) Valentine Show!
Join us on South First Friday ArtWalk SJ for the closing night of The (Anti) Valentine Show, with 115 works by local artists expressing love and all its opposites. A wide range of statements and media include painting, drawing, sculpture, video, photography, collage and mixed media. This has been a very popular exhibition and this First Friday is the last chance to see it!
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The South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk is produced by CURATUS in collaboration with the participating art venues, local artists, musicians and independent businesses.