JOIN US for the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk
First Friday, FEBRUARY 2nd from 7–11pm
SoFA District (& beyond) downtown San Jose
RSVP on our event page here.
The South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk is a self-guided, nighttime tour through galleries, museums, and independent creative businesses featuring eclectic art exhibitions and special performances. All ArtwalkSJ venues are FREE admission & open to the public.
NEW EXHIBITS…
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Anno Domini // the second coming of Art & Design – 366 South First St. map
Artist’s reception + sound performance:
“Intimations of Substantiality Beneath” by Sergej Vutuc (B. 1979, Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina)Since the mid 1980s Vutuc’s work has been about observing the (over)development of modern society and the privatization of public space; nature being conquered by concrete, concrete being conquered by the subversive act of skating. The work is based in nomadic movement through space and time, an endless sense of mobility, existence in between cities, countries, borders, worlds etc. Contested spaces, such as Fukushima, Detroit, Chernobyl, Israel and Palestine–strong symbols of ongoing human error and conflict, mistakes and misdirections in socioeconomic development.
Then there is the documentation of this ever-shifting landscape (physical and symbolic) through analog photography, publishing zines, mounting exhibitions, making music, drawing on walls, constant collaboration (as the essence of human creative exchange) and generally non-stop action and movement; fragmenting, altering, rearranging reality over and over, as necessary.
But one must also follow the natural human urge to expand one’s consciousness, to live in parallels, through imagination and it is here that Vutuc makes his departure to embark on a new series of work entitled Intimations of Substantiality Beneath. This exhibition begins a journey between exploring the landscape of flesh and passing moments on the way to somewhere; held in between, chosen by moment, by light, and by the energy drawn on the moment. It’s a melting point of Vutuc’s two latest publications: “there was something on the fence” and “jenseits von innen” (“beyond inside)”.
Vutuc sees the “scratching on the surface of blurry dream and fantasy as the only existing reality based on self creation.” The analog photo process allows for altering and scratching the film; another manipulation and questioning of (documented) reality. Adding to his poetic imagery music and sound allows an instant connection with the viewer, and reaction from an audience. All of this combined unifies the space of the work and allows a complete transformative experience. The energy created in this visual/soundscape confronts the viewer, challenging them to (re)see the strength and fragility of human relationships, family, tradition, intimacy, personal and global conflict. Vutuc’s work functions to shift our perception of reality, humanity, and society in general.
Vutuc currently lives and works in Heilbronn, Germany.
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Art Ark Gallery – 1035 South Sixth St. map
Artist’s reception: Void Permission a solo exhibition by Tulio Flores
Please join us for our Artist-In-Residence Exhibition by Tulio Flores. Sculptures, paintings, works on paper, and live art installations! There will be lots of food and entertainment.
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KALEID gallery – 88 South Fourth St. map
KALEID Gallery is proud to present two new feature exhibitions by gallery resident artists Force 129, and Anthony Palomo for the month of February.
Artist’s reception: “Pintura Fresca” by Fernando “Force 129″ Amaro Jr.
Mixed media character studies inspired from a mural I painted (in the SOFA District) of figments of my imagination that included the people and their pets from the neighborhood.
Force129 is an artist & designer currently working & living in San Jose, CA.
Artist’s reception: “OMNI “ by Anthony Palomo
My paintings pry and dissect nature and memory to develop an ideal wreckage. Cubism is God’s clutter, an omnidirectional view, facets at all angles. I perceive and slit my roses within their all-seeing entirety whereas my Miasma Series breaks down cubism into abstract form. A frenzy of emotion layered over, under, and through each other to emanate the foulness in beauty and bliss in suffocation. Omni is Latin for all and it is commonly used with words that would describe a god who is all-seeing, all-creating, and all-powerful. I believe it to define most artists as well.
I evolved into a cubist painter after years of studying various artists, such as Pablo Picasso, Juan Gris, Georges Braque, and Paul Cezanne. The push and pull of the paintings forced me in. I could not have appreciated the balance and chaos in my life without the concept of cubism.
About the artist: Anthony Palomo is of Chamorro and Mexican heritage. He graduated from Notre Dame de Namur University in 2013 with Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art. He was presented with the Academic Achievement Award in Art by The College of Arts and Sciences. Currently Palomo works with the Community School of Music and Art as the Director’s Assistant, Teacher, and Kiln Technician. He also works at the San Jose Museum of Art as a Development and Rentals Assistant.
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MACLA Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana – 510 South First St. map
In the DMC Studio at MACLA: Youth Showcase & Open Mic 5:30-7pm
Join the DMC Studio youth for their monthly slam poetry, live music, and photography showcase on Friday, February 2nd! Must be ages 13-21 to perform in the Open Mic. Sign up list opens at 5:30 pm; open Mic/Poetry Slam from 6–7pm. Each performer will be allowed to perform 2-3 pieces OR a 5 minute set.
In the Castellano Playhouse Theater 8-10pm
Maracatu Pacífico is a performance group that brings Afro-Brazilian maracatu music and dance from Northeastern Brazil to the SF Bay Area. Maracatu is a popular folklore-tradition from the area around Recife in Pernambuco, Brazil, with roots going back to the colonial era and the heritage of the enslaved Africans. Today, many maracatu nações (“nations”) continue this tradition, acting as musical and religious centers for communities of color. Due to a resurgence of popularity and interest in maracatu, many non-traditional groups have arisen to the opportunity to play maracatu to more and more people.
Image: Juan Capistran, Anonymous (nothing everything), 2014In the Visual Arts Gallery:“Notes on Democracy” explores the depths of political discourse, process and the ideology of democracy.
Featured artists: Shey Rivera Rios, Juan Capistran, Jaque Fraguá, Luis ‘Xago’ Juarez, Gilda Posada, Ricardo “Tijuana Rick” Cortez, Rosa Gonzalez, RoCoCo (KC Rosenberg and Modesto Covarrubias)
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PhantomGalleries at The Pierce – 2 Pierce Ave. map
Image credits left to right: Jemal Diamond, Sara Tomasello, Michael Singer“2020″ group exhibition featuring artists: Jemal Diamond, Michael Singer, and Sara Tomasello
Past, present, FUTURE. Where have we been? Where are we going? LOOKING toward the horizon, into the great beyond. Three South Bay artists enVISION the future and explore the collective human journey as we soon approach the year 2020. Abstract Photographer MICHAEL SINGER takes us on a space-aged odyssey with his images of futuristic architecture. Painter SARA TOMASELLO exhibits colorful and lush vignettes depicting ageless archetypes and prophetic narratives. Abstract Illustrator JEMAL DIAMOND muses the future of fashion, the future of hacking, and the future as female.
Exhibition produced by Phantom Galleries guest curator Vivian Giourousis.
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Gallery Suha Suha – 45 E. Williams St. map (new venue!)
(top) “Doughnut Headphones” by Sung Jae Bang, (bottom) “Shopping Bird” Series by Haelee Choi2 0 0 7 – 2 0 1 7 by Sung Jae Bang, and Haelee Choi
Suha Suha is a creation by Sung Jae Bang and Haelee Choi, a Bay Area-based art initiative that seeks to fuse illustration with ceramic painting in original ways. Sung Jae’s art circumnavigates a simple, homespun domesticity, with works featuring appetizing casts of fruits and simple homemade dishes. Haelee’s palette spans the animal kingdom, personified through her bold, anime-inspired rectilinear style. Founded in 2007, Suha Suha continues to be an active part of the Bay Area art scene.
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Works San Jose – 365 South Market St. map
Image: Erika Gomez Henao, “Eat like you mean it”Opening reception: “The (Anti) Valentine Show”
The (Anti) Valentine Show returns with a vengeance! More local artists than ever have responded to Works’ call for art (un)inspired by romance. From anti-love, to anti-hypocricy, anti-commercialization, anti-objectivization, and more, The (Anti) Valentine Show promises to reflect the heart-felt to heart-wrenching angst of our time and place.
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Social Policy – 200 South First St. map
Opening reception: “Pipeline” group exhibition featuring: Anne Allan, Ulises Alvarado Llamas, Hannah Beadle, Sonita Cardoza, Elizabeth Chee, Aaron Cobb, Marie Dalporto, Sean Donovan, Nelly Espinoza, Jonathan Fernando, Keri Fudenberg, Michael Fullilove, Dana Geiger, Garrett Gerberding, Jared Hebert, Daniel Herrera, Amanda Hsu, Cheyenne Ismailciuc, Megan Jacobi, Courtney Jorgensen, Madeline Julyk, Michael Lo, Yutong Luo, Charlie Ly, Raymundo Mendoza Landa, Karolyn Moses, Nicole Newitt, Thao Nguyen, Yuki Okamura-Wong, Jonathan Paulo, Vanessa Plaza, Flora Rees-Arredondo, Brett Renfrew, Peggy Shu, Danny Simmonds, Andrew Soto, Sydney Sun, Madison Tessera, Jeremy Vicentina, April Wong, Yanting Yang, Kitt Ynchaust, Ashleigh Zanardi
Creating an animated film or television show requires an abundance of time, money, and skilled artists. In this industry, animators, illustrators, 3D modelers, and other craftsmen all work together to tell one visual narrative. The collaborative assembly line formed by this team is referred to as “the pipeline.” It is powerful, it is efficient, and it is organized…most of the time.
The body of work displayed in this gallery represents the sleepless nights, cups of coffee, and hours of practice that SJSU Animation / Illustration students go through to learn all the ins and outs of the pipeline. A cornerstone in their education is the tight-knit Shrunkenheadman club community, where artists push each other to grow and keep each other humble.
Each artist excels in a different part of the pipeline and every step of the pipeline is essential. Take a look at what they’re up to!
Special screening at 8pm
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SoFA Market – 387 So. First St. map
Phantom Galleries is proud to present “The Voyage” by Sara Tomasello
“The Voyage” is a series of paintings inspired by the Odyssey. They evoke the spirit of adventure and range of emotions that are experienced in different stages of a journey. The acrylic paintings are small glimpses into a world that crosses over into a land filled with fantastical surprises.
“The Voyage: is a temporary exhibit to accompany Tomasello’s interior on-site mural “Resonance” completed in January 2018.
Sara Tomasello is a graduate of San Jose State University where she earned a degree in Graphic Design with a concentration in Illustration. She has continued to live and paint in San Jose for many years. Working in acrylic, Sara’s style is figurative and incorporates bold expressive lines and vibrant colors. Through the artistic lens, she examines mythic themes and creates a surprising new narrative.
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Studio Climbing Gym – 396 South First St. map
“Snail Mail” by Alex Lotti
The collage of postcards entices a feeling for the outdoors, urging the viewer to reach out to friends via Snail Mail as opposed to the cultural norm of posting picture instantaneously on social media.
CONTINUED EXHIBITS…
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Phantom Galleries at Pho69 – 321 South First St. map
“Vertigo” by Zayra Yves
Vertigo is the emotional expression of art works created while working with a cervical spine issue that leads to spontaneous moments of vertigo, seeing halos and being off balance. In some cases I choose to paint while I was in a state of vertigo. The concept is to embrace the vertigo rather than fight it. The mediums used in this collection vary from enamel paint and mineral based golds to using various chemical components to break the paint apart. In this collection I was attempting to express the range of human spirit in the midst of adversity. It is an exploration of resilience and grit. Each canvas is a universe of its own with a story to tell.
Zayra Yves is a multi-dimensional experimental artist who is currently dwelling in the realm of abstract painting via hydrodynamics and flow painting. She did not have formal or childhood training in art or exposure to culture until twelve years of age when she developed a passion for creative writing and assemblage collage. The influences at that time came from a librarian, her cousin and an English teacher; however, it would be another two decades before she would return to creative expression or sharing her work publicly. She is still not formally trained, although she has been to a number of terrifically inspiring workshops and seminars throughout the passage of time.
Exhibition produced by Phantom Galleries guest curator Robert Ragazza.
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Caffé Frascati – 315 South First St. map
Upstairs Gallery: “Men in Bloom” by Alice D.Chen
“Men in Bloom” is an illustration series that features men of all colors adorned in their culture’s native flowers who represent “woke masculinity” in order to counter the spread of “toxic masculinity.” Local poets’ poems on the topic of “woke masculinity” will be on display in conjunction with the illustrations. Throughout history, flowers have been misogynistically used to symbolize outer feminine beauty or labeled as “girly,” as if femininity was a detraction from one’s identity. However, in reality, flowers and plants are the strongest survivors and teachers. They grow in defiance, abundance, and resistance against the odds of the harshest conditions in order to bloom and give back to life. They teach us that strength is not shown through aggression or violence, but through thriving past obstacles and growing symbiotic relationships. They are Givers, Healers, and Creators. Find and honor your inner flower and you will find the strength of the sacred feminine–connection, wholeness, and compassion. By emulating their example, we can transform and uproot the toxic patriarchal values that are destroying life internally, spiritually, socially, and politically. The sacred feminine and masculine coexist inside of us all, and the real beauty is in embracing their balance, so that there is no “other,” just unity.
Alice D. Chen is a freehand illustrator who primarily works with pen and ink and natural materials. Her work is inspired by her wonder and respect for nature as the ultimate healer and teacher, and her interests in ancestry, traveling, esoteric studies, philosophy, spirituality, symbology, and transcendentalism. Simultaneously whimsical and serious in tone, her art reflects not only her reverence for nature, but her desire to challenge and break social paradigms. A few themes she explores include the intertwined balance of the sacred masculine and feminine, nature’s resilience and wisdom, symbiosis and oneness, mysticism, honoring one’s roots, and embracing one’s true identity.
Downstairs Gallery: “Everyday Familiarity” by Tiffany Que-Smith
We walk around our environment with an intention of “getting things done” and often times, we may miss the details all around us. For this exhibit, I want to take a minute and pay attention to these details. For instance, let’s take water hydrants and flow regulators that offer a sense of safety and security. Do we just walk by them without valuing their design , purpose , and structural flaws/ When viewed from different angles, the object may appear alive and offer a different perspective. Maybe, if we look at our environment and the people in our lives at different angles, we may find beauty in their flaws and a profound appreciation of their history.
Tiffany has a genuine curiosity in people and their environment. She’s the friend who will stay up all night getting to know you, just out of pure interest and empathy. To her, it’s important to understand how environmental contexts influence people’s thoughts and actions. She’s interested in how people perceive their world and how that perception may persuade their everyday judgement and their outlook of life. She finds solace in sharing how she perceives life in her own environment and hopes to offer a different perspective while also bringing attention to details that are habitually left unnoticed .
Tiffany earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art/Studio Practice, a Minor in Biology and a Master’s in Occupational Therapy from San Jose State University. With background in creative arts and natural sciences, Tiffany is able to draw from various scientific influences and express them in different artistic mediums. Tiffany is half Chinese/ Irish and spent much of her childhood in Cebu City, Philippines prior to moving to the Bay Area at the age of 9. She currently works in the rehabilitation department at a local skilled nursing facility as an occupational therapist and loves every minute of it!
Currently, her preferred medium is oil on canvas. Her inspiration is a combination of abstract realism, impressionism, anthropomorphism and a tinge of chiaroscuro. Her recent artwork aims to reveal the details often overlooked and bring them to life .
First Fridays is Caffe Frascati Opera Night presented by First Street Singers, with the Bay Area’s finest opera singers performing your very favorite classical arias and duets live in the cafe! for the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk.