JOIN US for the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk
First Friday MAY 5th from 7–11pm RSVP
SoFA District (& beyond) downtown San Jose

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 Art Walk venues are FREE and open to the public.

NEW EXHIBITS…

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

  
  

  Artist’s reception in galleryONE:“I am losing control of the language.” by William Schaff (CA) solo exhibition
  Music by EOM Sessions

  William Schaff has been a working artist for over two decades. Known primarily for his mastery at album artwork, (Okkervil River, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Brown Bird, Songs: Ohia, etc) Schaff is also the founder of Warren Rhode Island’s “Fort Foreclosure.” The building, lovingly named without the least bit of irony, serves as Schaff’s home and studio as well as home and meeting place for other artists (most notably resident musicians MorganEve Swain, and the Late David Lamb, both of Brown Bird). William, recognizing the importance of art in this world, recently expanded his community to the West Coast where he started “The Outpost” in Oakland, California. There–financial earnings be damned!–William fills his days drawing works of art for private commissions, bands, and his own examinations of human interaction.

  
  

  Also on view in galleryTWO: “Stay in the Light” by Ken Davis (CA), solo exhibition

  Recognizing the oftentimes cryptic realities of the eternal battle between good and evil, Ken Davis creates a body of work meant to be shields from evils and negativity while acting as signals to attract like minded positive energies dead set on fixing the world around them. A sign painter by trade, Ken uses his skill set of single stroke brush calligraphy and line work to create a language of symbols meant to create an overall sacred piece. These paintings are heavily influenced from a sometimes disputed theory of the meanings behind Pennsylvania Dutch barn hex signs in which these colorful design intensive pieces of folk art are meant to ward off “hexes” or “bad luck”. Ken brings a modern dialogue to these in his work by referencing history, numerology, and symbolism relevant to his path and those groups he identifies with while mixing it with his own life experience in the worlds of punk rock, skateboarding, hip hop, and other creative subcultures. In the end, these works Ken creates are meant to ward off the ever creeping darkness in our modern times and attract individuals who are also intent on improving the world for all life.

•  Art Ark Gallery – 1035 South Sixth St. map

  
  Sculpture by Jackie Baxton

  Undercurrents: Emerging Artists of San Jose

  Please join us for the opening reception (6pm–9pm) of Undercurrents: Emerging Artists of San Jose. Ten graduating MFA candidates from San Jose State University will be exhibiting their work ranging in media from sculpture, installation, painting, photography and taxidermy.

  Work by Shivani Aurora, Jackie Baxton, Zach Bohny, Lynn Dau, Carmina Eliason, Andy Fay, Junyan Hou, Elizabeth Miles, Michal Niv, Lisa Teng.

  Special guest musician: Jon Rubin

  Undercurrents is co-curated by Sara Morris and Genevieve Hastings. A beautiful catalogue will be available!

• KALEID gallery – 88 South Fourth St. map

  Join us for the artists’ reception for two new feature exhibitions by KALEID Gallery resident artists Brandon Anderton, and Denis Korkh

  
  

  The Art of Being prints and paintings by Brandon Anderton
  An ensemble of mindful meditations expressed through art.

  
  

  Fruit and Mammals new paintings by Denis Korkh

  There is nothing that could unite Fruit And Mammals together except their squareness; 3 x 3 feet each, spaced 3 feet apart, and that I made them in sequence. And that I made them. Each painting is a stray thought (with layers and layers of more thoughts underneath) and the layers are no more related than the five paintings are between each other. I start by making the canvas as ugly as possible: the worst colours, awful–seriously awful– lines and shapes. I make the grossest compositions until I reach a point where, no exaggeration, it is hard to bear to look at them; I truly cringe inside. Each painting went through this between two and six times before I let it become finished. ~Denis Korkh

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

  
  

  DMCStudio at MACLA 500 So. 1st St.
  First Friday Monthly Youth Showcase & Open Mic, 6-7pm
  May 5th We will be hosting our Grand Slam Finals here at the DMC Studio. It is an opportunity for youth to represent the City of San Jose at Brave New Voices. * The 20th Annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival July 19-22nd, 2017 will convene the most outstanding and outspoken youth poets from around the world for days of workshops, slams, showcases, community service and civic participation events.

  
  “Women are Perfect” (2017). Jessica Sabogal

  Latino Art Now! Annual Art Auction + Exhibition
  Artist Talks 7:30pm
  Latino Art Now! Annual Art Auction + Exhibition, opening on April 7 and running through May 13. The auction includes work by established and emerging contemporary artists from the Bay Area and beyond. All artwork will be auctioned off on Saturday, May 13th.

  
  pictured: Sweet Spice Music Combo

  In the Castellano Playhouse Theater:
  First Friday Fiesta with the SJCO Everywhere! Quartet and Sweet Spice
  Performance with San Jose Chamber Orchestra: 7-7:30pm
  Performance with Sweet Spice: 8-10pm

  SJCO Everywhere! quartet. Many performances feature one or more commissions or world premieres by award winning composers with critically acclaimed guest artists as featured soloists. SJCO is the recipient of five ASCAP/League of American Orchestras Adventurous Programming Awards and has produced 5 CDs of new music. Enjoy their set comprising of Mexican composers from 7-7:30pm!

  Sweet Spice Music Combo comes from Santa Cruz ready to throw a fiesta with their Hot Latin Music sure to get you dancing! Move with Us on Fri, May 5, 8pm!

• PhantomGalleries at The Pierce – 2 Pierce Ave. map

  

  A Sidewalk View by Valentino Loyola

  An ongoing series of mixed medium works that aim to exhibit and share a visceral experience, which occurs within my emotive faculties, when passing a building that has since its architectural trend, become obscured standing next to modern developments. In some instances, these buildings are stand alone, semi-demolished, fragmented parts of lost infrastructure.

  Discovering everyday beauty in the most mundane objects, sections or remains of a place from a previous era, it is my hope that a sense of place will emerge.

  Sections of a wall, fixture or other feature of any given streetscape are chosen to render new forms, visually and lyrically to create an object of art.

  My emphasis on using up-cycled material as a primary approach to constructing and completing a project, piece or work of art, lends itself to the aged and worn elemental components that are reflective of the brick and mortar inspirations for my work.

• Works San Jose – 365 South Market St. map

  
  Artwork by Zack Lee

  Grindhouse: SJSU Animation/Illustration BFA 2017

  73 graduating students present a huge range of experimental work in visual development, story, animation, and modeling in the fields of filmmaking, gaming graphics, and character creation. From fierce aliens to the kids next door, Grindhouse will will feature hundreds of images and videos. The title “Grindhouse” recalls B-movie theaters of the past as well as free coffee while it lasts on exhibition days!

• Downtown Yoga Shala – 450 South First St. map

  
  

  The exhibit at the Downtown Yoga Shala this month represents part of a campus wide collaboration between Schallenberger School in Willow Glen and the Montalvo Arts Center in Saratoga. The school’s fourth grade students, under the guidance of artist, Michele Guieu, and with the assistance of their classroom teachers, Binh Le Hererra, Jessica Martin-Moss, and Katie Magnini, participated in a 10-session project integrating art in their studies of the human impact on the earth’s water from the watershed to the ocean. They used an array techniques: observation drawing, sketching ideas and mockups, collage, watercolor, and posters. These young artists are delighted to have an opportunity to share their work.

• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library – 150 E San Fernando St. map

  

  L.A.D.L by Luis Rivas
  Acoustic set by: Nathan Padilla

• LGBTQ Youth Space – 452 South First St. map

  

  Youth Space Drag Show
  This Drag Show is the 2nd show put on by YS participants. It is a culmination of a series of weekly workshops that focus on creating a drag persona from start to finish.

• Psycho Donuts – 288 South Second St. map

  
  artwork by Murphy Adams

  Spring Cleaning group exhibit featuring works by: Murphy Adams, Christine Benjamin, John Hageman, Nik Caesar, Michael Foley, Veronica Casson and Celeste Young Moss

• SoFA Market – 387 So. First St. map

  

  Middle Ground art by Kori Thompson
  Somewhere between day-to-day and fantasy.

• Social Policy – 200 South First St. map

  
  Origami crane bowl by Karen Tsugawa

  Power a group exhibition featuring: Tamara Chang, Stephanie Villegas, Angela Smith and about a dozen other various artists from San Jose State University’s Printmaking Cub.

  Power is a collection of over a dozen San Jose State up and coming young artists. Each student has interpreted power either physically or metaphorically through the various processes of classic to modern printmaking.

• Studio Climbing Gym – 396 South First St. map

  

  Abstracts by Ayesha Samdani

  My art is inspired by nature therefore I see my reflection in leaves, trees and branches that changes modes and colors with the seasons. I use a various limited color palette for each painting to depict different moods of nature. Through variations of lines, layers and color palette, I explore the sensitivity and delicacy of changing seasons. Some paintings reveal the beauty of spring and fall and some impression of summer and winter.

CONTINUED EXHIBITS…

• Caffé Frascati – 315 South First St. map

  

  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.

  

  “I Want To See You More” by Kyle Harter

  “I Want To See You More” is a collection of pen and ink drawings, prints, and mixed media paintings that span four years. This collection holds particular feelings of the artist’s personal lens through loose and expressive portraits of figures exposing vulnerable confessions, sentiments, and encouragements.

  While the prints can stand alone, there’s a nonlinear narrative that points to an inner world. “I Want To See You More” attempts to make this world tactile. The minimal aesthetic allows for the work to breathe and be viewed as passing moments.

  The textured paintings work in a similar vain as the prints. For most of these paintings, the artist used mix media to create the texture and line work.

  In viewing this collection together the artist hopes a collected inward experience will be revealed, paving the way for a deeper connection with it’s audience.

  

  Upstairs gallery: “Fortunates” by Marvin Garcia and Jamie Gaspar

  “Fortunates” is an ongoing interactive installation by two up and coming artists. This collaboration came to be through a shared interest in textiles and public art. The audience are invited to this participatory installation, to inspire others to write and share a recollection of memories, confessions, and omens or, simply an inspirational quote/s and poem/s to uplift someone’s state of being.

  These colorful fabric pockets are suspended from the ceiling or tree branches. Each sewn piece contain a written note or message by previous participant, waiting to be unveiled by future ones. Their whimsical display serves as an open platform for dialogue and invites the public to participate and contribute to this ongoing project (project goal is to amass a large amount of written messages for SubZERO 2017 installation.)

  About the artists/collaborators: Jamie Gaspar is a multidisciplinary designer and artists who focuses on the nature of patter and repetition. Marvin Garcia is a sculpture, printmaker and arts educator who focuses on the notion of “power in numbers,” as a means for social change.

• Phantom Galleries at Pho69 – 321 South First St. map

  
  

  “Monumental Coast” by James Dewrance

  For over 30 years West Coast artist James Dewrance has foraged compositions on the coastline of what has recently been designated a National Monument-The Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument.

  Working with the large format 4×5” film camera has enabled him to achieve a richly detailed yet sparse and elemental vision of the monumental aspects of the park, as well as the ephemera of the surf torn coast.

  All photographs are shot in films, printed and toned silver gelatin prints or archival pigment prints.

• Vyne Bystro – 110 Paseo de San Antonio Walk map

  
  Artist The Art Hub

  
  Artist The Art Hub

  
  Artist Francisco

  Group exhibit featuring The Art Hub and Francisco

  An artist collaboration from the Art Hub came together to depict a personal view of urban structure. Francisco depicts the way society is perceived with the use of sweets. By using simple imagery he satires the current system in this country.

OTHER PARTICIPATING VENUES…

• Higher Fire Clayspace & Gallery – 499 So. Market St. map

• San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles – 520 So. First Street map

• SAVE THE DATE: 10th Annual SubZERO Festival is happening First Friday June 2nd & Saturday June 3rd, 6pm–midinight.

  

  Focused on emerging and present subcultures thriving in our region; the SubZERO Festival is a DIY, artistically bent, hi/lo-techno mashup where street meets geek.

  Come downtown on June 2nd & 3rd to San Jose’s SoFA District from 6pm ’til midnight for an inspired evening of arts & culture. In addition to the South FIRST FRIDAYS monthly art walk you’ll find outdoor stages of entertainment plus artists, performers & musicians all celebrating the indie creative spirit!