South FIRST FRIDAYS

JOIN US for the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk
First Friday MARCH 3rd 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

Cinequest Virtual Reality program at Anno Domini

Expand your mind! Experience new worlds! Push boundaries! Be inspired! THAT’S Cinequest, baby!

It’s fitting that Cinequest, the longtime leader in showcasing the integration of Silicon Valley and global technologies with filmed media, would become the place to experience the latest and greatest in the emerging world of Virtual and Augmented Realities. You’ll find Cinequest’s focus on empowering artists and innovators and connecting their creations to the audiences that appreciate and love their work on display in the inaugural Cinequest VR Experience. Welcome to this exciting and multifaceted offering.

Come to Anno Domini during the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk and enjoy immersive VR experiences surrounded by fabulous visual art. Enjoy these inspiring immersive experiences:

“Blortasia”
By Shapespace VR
Blortasia is an abstract art world in the sky. Fly freely through a surreal maze of evolving sculptures. Take a break from reality and explore an animated psychedelic sculpture park.

“Tilt Brush”
By Google
Tilt Brush lets you paint in 3D space with virtual reality. Your room is your canvas. Your palette is your imagination. The possibilities are endless.

“Google Earth VR”
Explore the world from totally new perspectives. Stroll the streets of Tokyo, soar over Yosemite, or teleport across the globe.

Also on view in galleryONE: HEADS by Bohdan Burenko (Kiev, Ukraine), solo exhibition

For me, a human being is the focal point and the pièce de résistance of the arts, that is why I do portraits and “headshots.” The Face is the unique part of the human body. Destruction of a human face evokes strong emotions both in real life and in painting. I do not draw specific people so it’s impossible to identify a person in my works. I think that it is the absence of references to specific people that makes it possible for an observer to see an image properly, without any prejudice.

The current “Heads” series is inspired by human anatomy charts of 17th and 18th centuries. These graphic illustrations created before the advent of cameras made a strong impression on me. I was also inspired by the Victorian photography and the Early Renaissance portraits.

My painting is not about reproducing reality or existing forms, and not about developing new forms, it is about capturing forces. Forces which inexplicably act on observers, like magic. ~Bohdan Burenko
Art Ark Gallery – 1035 South Sixth St. map

Annual SVOS Preview Exhibition
We are pleased to show 2D and 3D work by over 25 Silicon Valley Open Studios artists.

Live music by Cado
Higher Fire Clayspace & Gallery – 499 So. Market St. map

Opening Reception & Workshop Kick-Off with Steven Hill

Join us Friday, Mar 3 at 7pm for an exciting evening with Steven Hill. Steven’s workshop kick-off & reception is open to the public! Steven presents a slide show retrospective, discussion, and mini-exhibit of his newest works.
KALEID gallery – 88 South Fourth St. map

Join us for the artists’ reception for two new feature exhibitions by KALEID Gallery resident artists Michael Borja, and Donny Foley. Live music during the reception by Freddie Vega, and Avery Palmer (7pm–11pm).

“The Tiger in the Room” new paintings by Mike Borja

Mike Borja takes a creative journey through different mediums of art; come see his new works and explore his visual creations. Beware, you may run into a tiger…

Mike Borja is a creative from San Jose, CA, a part of the Dream Daringly Execute Fearlessly art studio (aka DDEF) and a KALEID resident artist since 2010. The subject matter of Borja’s artwork spans from tigers to fishes, cartoons, electric sockets, mandalas, and dreams.

“Skunk-Truck & Lucy” new works by Donny Foley

This March KALEID Gallery presents: Skunk-Truck & Lucy. This whimsical show features Donny Foley’s latest series of large scale Word Paintings. Each painting depicts a single story, but together they create one giant story; the tale of Skunk-Truck & Lucy.

Word Paintings seamlessly combines two of Foley’s favorite forms of creative narrative: story telling and painting. The creation of each piece starts with a painted focal point. Then, the background is formed by hand lettering a story of which the entire painting is based upon. When viewed from a distance a Word Painting is meant to convey a cheery anecdote, but on closer inspection the viewer can see the complex nature of a seemingly simplistic image.
Parque de los Pobladores – S 1st St and William St. map

Rolling Counterpoint concludes its South Bay tenure with an appearance at the South FIRST FRIDAYS Art Walk in Downtown San Jose! Responding to the past fraught election cycle and the new administration, make your voice heard and consider how stories gathered from your community could inform creative problem-solving and help model new ways of engaging one other in productive dialogue. Participatory art making activities will include silk-screening and other print making projects. Visual artist/vocalist Marissa Katarina Bergmann will perform an improvised song based on language gathered from the ongoing conversations.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library – 150 E San Fernando St. map

Art work by Ralph Giron (11th grade)

San Jose High an International Baccalaureate art program

San Jose High an International Baccalaureate public high school is a gem in our community. It is the second oldest high school in California. The artwork that is displayed is from various levels of art from Beginning, advance and IB (international Baccalaureate) art programs. The work is in experiments of techniques in various mediums and emotions to local and political commentary. Art instructors: Yolanda Guerra and David Haslet
Social Policy – 200 South First St. map

“Forever and a Day” by Ryan Cosentino-Roush

Ryan Cosentino-Roush will be showcasing work from Deer Park, Long Island, New York, where his family and more importantly his grandfather resided. The first part of this series documents the summer time of 2014 that he spent living with his grandfather in order to spend quality time and also experience his mothers childhood home and neighborhood she grew up in.

The second part of this series is based on his 2 week return to Deer Park, Long Island, in winter 2015 for his grandfather’s sudden passing. The two part series combines suburban sprawl imagery of the neighborhood and family portraiture that convey the feeling of memory and nostalgia.
Vyne Bystro – 110 Paseo de San Antonio Walk map

Photography by Norma J Fries, and paintings by Francisco

Norma J. Fries photographs wild horses. Her goal is to show the emotion of their beauty, power, and grace.

Francisco depicts the way society is perceived with the use of sweets. By using simple imagery he satires the current system in this country.

CONTINUED EXHIBITS…

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

In the visual gallery: MACLA’s 6th Chicana/o Biennial.

Join us for our second artist talk with Julia Landois and Javier Martinez for our 6th Chicana/o Biennial, MACLA’s most visible and popular juried exhibition that “takes inventory of the critical edge and aesthetic interventions within contemporary Chicano art” and was co-curated by guest jurors Melanie Cervantes, artist and activist (Dignidad Rebelde), Eugene Rodriguez, artist and lecturer, and Joey Reyes, Curator of Engagement & Dialogue at MACLA. Artists exhibited in the biennial will be visiting us to discuss the meaning and influences behind their practice and artwork (7:30pm).

In the Castellano Playhouse Theater: First Friday Fiesta with Silvestre Martinez (performance 8-10pm)

Silvestre Martinez was born in Puerto Angel, Oaxaca, Mexico and grew up in a large family of musicians who played chilena, merequetengue and charanga music – Afro-Mexican music from the coast. Having traveled, taught, performed and studied throughout Indonesia, Europe, Asia, Mexico, Cuba and the United States, Silvestre Martinez has performed with the legendary musicians such as Louie Romero, Paquito D’ Rivera, Oscar Stagnaro, Karl Perazzo, Orestes Vilato, Coto Pincheira, Jorge Santana and more. This performance features Ken Cook on piano; Alex Aspinall on drums; Fred Randolph on bass; Sheldon brown on Sax; and Silvestre Martinez band leader, percussion.

In the DMCStudio:  First Friday Monthly Youth Showcase & Open Mic, 6-7pm

Come out to the DMC Studio’s First Friday Monthly Youth Showcase & Open Mic! Watch the public premiere of DMC Studio short films, insightful photography, original music, and poetry presented by the students of the program throughout the evening! All performances are free. Must be ages 13- 21 to perform in the Open Mic.
Works San Jose – 365 South Market St. map

Sita Bhaumik, Trump Piñata Wall

“Chafismo: An Introduction to New Forms of Art Post-Rasquachismo”

Curated by Angelica Muro and Hector Dionisio Mendoza, and featuring work by Sita Bhaumik, Felix d’Eon, Karla Diaz, Monique Islam, Prole Arts Collective (Nosfe and Rarotonga), Isaías D. Rodríguez, and Arnoldo Vargas, this exhibition re-examines social based-phantom culture by sampling and appropriating sources that are linked to both high and low culture through use of materials that convey social-economic and political class, race, gender, and sexuality. Chafismo highlights work that moves towards the current dialogue surrounding the complexity within ChicanX practices.
PhantomGalleries at The Pierce – 2 Pierce Ave. map

“Aesthetic Meditations” paintings and beach art by Brandon Anderton

I began creating as a sort of necessary mindful meditation in dealing with chronic pain, depression, and anxiety.

Through the creation process, i have caught glimpses into what i see as humans possible purposes here on this earth, this realm of physical existence.

Rather than we are currently, the self proclaimed triumphant rulers and shapers of nature, i find that we were meant to be the shepherds and tenders or a garden we inherited from a long sense forgotten source.

We can each show examples of this through creating through whatever process and medium we chose while benching the self critic as well as disregarding the reflections of others whose motivations may just be to tear down anything that threatens their own paradigm of self validation.

I prefer to create for the sake of creation and for creation’s sake. In this way, i’m free from the judgment of others or myself to validate my exchange of time or measuring it in any way.

In this way it enables us to create more, by receiving fulfillment from our own creations and as with any craft, with time and attention, it becomes more honed by which no standard can be measured.

Also on view: “Washed Away” a documentary short by KTF Films (also known for Batkid Begins) featuring Brandon Anderton and his work will screen throughout the evening from 7pm–11pm (on the hour) during the March 3rd art walk.
Phantom Galleries at Pho69 – 321 South First St. map

“Mine and Yours” by Lydia Rae Black

The things which we curate out of our lives are also a source of constant inspiration for my works. The discarding of objects is undoubtedly necessary, but I am drawn to the process by which we eliminate things from our lives when we once found them needful or beautiful. We indentify through the things that we own, and by them, define ourselves and our lives. I commemorate the things that were once wanted, and through that process, recall the people that we once were.
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.

Downstairs gallery: “Sticker Critters Occupy SoFA” by Darius B’Alexander
Darius B’Alexander is the Sticker Critters creator. He is known to strike a conversation with just about anyone he meet in any day or anywhere, then surprise them with on the spot just specially created Sticker Critter by the end of the conversation. His multitude, one-of-a-kind creations will be on display and available for adoption for a small minimal fee. Come by Caffe Frascati and adopt one, two, or as many as you want.

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.
Downtown Yoga Shala – 450 South First St. map

Visions of the West; Paintings on Silk by Danny Goldberg

Presenting a collection of visionary landscape paintings using traditional Japanese Sumi brushes with dyes on crepe-de-chine silk. Danny’s paintings are inspired by the natural world and invoke a sense of peace and an emotional connection to the elements. Danny works in a wide variety of media and styles and has been painting on silk for over 25 years; showing his work throughout the U.S. as well as internationally. Danny received a Bachelor in Fine Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. and studied printmaking and textile design at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Danny has taught art at many levels from elementary to college, offering courses in Textile Design, Life Drawing, Fashion Illustration, Color Theory and more. Danny shares his art with the world in hopes of sharing the magical and mystical beauty of nature.
Psycho Donuts – 288 South Second St. map

art work by Michael Foley

“EVOL/LOVE 2017”

Our second annual anti/pro Valentines Day show featurings many wonderful gems by: Christine Benjamin, Nic Caesar, Kori Thompson, Jared Kanopitski, Julie Meridian, Michael Foley, Don Bon, John Hageman, David Mejia and Valery Milovic.
Studio Climbing Gym – 396 South First St. map

Carbon Hand Print. A collection of charcoal drawings on paper by Jeffrey Hemming.

These works are a result of spending many hours outdoors in the western landscape hiking, skiing, and showshoeing. I use charcoal for both its speed and flexibility. Achromatic works focus the effort on value, composition, and texture. My most inspirational times are usually spent outdoors. For me, these drawings are serve as a record of places traveled and time well spent.