culture | South FIRST FRIDAYS

First Friday, November 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 Art Walk venues are FREE admission & great for all ages.

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE at PARTICIPATING VENUES…

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

Artist’s reception in galleryONE: “Where Death Goes to Die” by Mike Egan

Mike Egan (b. 1977, Pittsburgh, PA) returns to Anno Domini for his third solo show with a new body of work that expands his aesthetic by bringing abstract elements into his signature art brut style. The resulting effect of his gradient tonalities adds a vibrancy (perhaps a hopefullness?) to his otherwise stoic stance on the ultimate inevitability of death.

“2018 has me feeling like I’m at a bit of a cross roads in my career as an artist. I wanted to create a body of work for this show that was new and fresh but still screamed “Mike Egan did that!”. I’ve never been one that is experimental with color and I wanted to change that. The idea of drawing the viewer into a painting with color always appealed to me. With using new colors for me like purples and aquas and using the gradient colors I feel like these new paintings really pop. Another shift is the size of the work that I’m doing. I wanted the paintings to have a commanding presence in the gallery. Although I still have the themes of death and dying running through my work I’m hoping that people find joy and happiness with how fresh and bright everything is. The title “Where Death Goes To Die” is kind of me saying forget about the sadness and death aspects of my work and maybe focus on the new graphic qualities and colors that I’m using. I’m still alive, moving and growing as an artist!

“I am a Pittsburgh based artist who received my BFA at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2000. I focused on printmaking at the time which is where I learned about artists like Jose Guadalupe Posada and the German Expressionists like Kathe Kollwitz. After I finished school and returned home I did not have the necessary supplies to continue making my prints, so I turned to painting so I could keep making art. While I wanted to be an artist I felt having a day job that I found interesting was important. I had discovered that there was a mortuary school in Pittsburgh where I could get licensed as a funeral director/embalmer. I knew nothing about the business or what I was getting myself into. I went to school for a year and followed that up with an internship for another year. I learned how to do removals, embalm, do restorations, dress and casket people, do the cosmetics and assist on funerals. I continued to paint and made a lot of bad art. I eventually got a job as an embalmer out in Reading, PA in 2005. Between four locations we did 500 calls a year, so it was a busy time for me. The hard thing about being an embalmer is that you’re on call when someone dies, so I spent a lot of time alone in my apartment waiting for the phone to ring. This is where I learned to craft my paintings and style. I thought back to my printmaking days in 2000 and how I loved the bold line work I was doing. So I started to paint in that style and things started to click for me. In 2006, a friend of mine put together a gallery show in Pittsburgh and included my paintings. I sold three the opening night and thought I’m doing something right. I’ve been working with galleries all over the U.S., Canada and the UK ever since.” ~Mike Egan, 2018 A.D.

On view in galleryTWO: “In Borges’ Labyrinths” by Denis Korkh (San Jose, CA)

Denis Korkh (b. 1986, Ukraine) is a painter of philosophies. His imagery holds cryptic keys to personal truths that viewers may find fantastical, surreal or disturbing. In this way, he is a perfect translator of the brilliant short stories encapsulated in “Labyrinths” by Jorge Luis Borges.

Korkh’s “In Borges’ Labyrinths” paintings are a visual feast true to the magical-realism of Borges’ tales; so much so that Borges’ words are not replaced by these representations, they have moved from the imagined into a tangible reality by way of Korkh’s attention and expression of them.

Live soundscapes by Lucidbeaming during the reception.
Lucidbeaming (Joshua Curry) is a multimedia artist and musician living in San Jose, CA. His work combines found sounds and repurposed technology to create evocative soundscapes.
Art Ark Gallery – 1035 South Sixth St. map

Art work by Christine Grey.

Opening reception: “More the Merrier”

A salon style show and exhibition! Join us for fantastic live music, food and fantastic affordable art! Great place to buy Holiday gifts.

Artists: Lynn Aisawa, Cat Aviña, Teresa Beyer, Anika Bhatia, Shone Chacko, Dotti Cichon, Brady Damian, Dharmesh Desai, Jemal Diamond, Heather Deyling, Carolann Espino, Vera Fainshtein, Roberto Fierro, GalexSea Artworks, Sonia Garcia, Cody Garza, Christine Gray, Dana Harris Seeger, Caden Hastings-Dennis, HDR Photography, Amy Hibbs, Chris Imai, Jonathan Kermit, Janice Lambert, Julie Novakofski, Gianfranco Paolozzi, Elizabeth Patrician, Al Preciado, Zlata Rabinovich, Sahana Rajmohan, Nik Ratford, Gwen Reyes, Paul Romanowski, Bob Rose, Elle Skinner and Hema Sukumar

Live music: Acoustic finger-style guitarist Jon Rubin teams with violinist David Boyden for an “unusual, orginal” folk/blues/celtic/jazz sound.
Gallery Suha Suha – 45 E. Williams St. map

Opening Reception: “Tile Tetris” by Suha Suha

Suha Suha Tile Tetris Show
Starting November 2nd, Gallery Suha Suha of San Jose will showcase tile art by its resident artists Haelee Choi and Sung Jae Bang. As the title of the show implies, the pieces presented may be arranged in various ways according to one’s taste, inviting patrons to take part in the creative process.
KALEID gallery – 88 South Fourth St. map

KALEID Gallery is proud to present two main gallery feature exhibitions by resident artists Katie C. Gutierrez, and Gianfranco Paolozzi with opening reception music by Mark Camp.

Artist’s reception: “The Regeneration Show” by Katie C. Gutierrez

“It is okay to re-work your work.”

“The Regeneration Show” is about my way of growing as an artist through experimentation and risk and building upon lessons learned over time by reworking previously finished paintings. It has been liberating to let go of– and potentially destroy– pieces that seemed complete and precious at one time but later felt amateur, stagnant, and unremarkable to me. In their previous lives, most of them have hung in galleries, some have been part of large exhibitions, and a few were the result of testing a new technique or material and things just never went any farther than that (and I probably would have otherwise thrown away). Their evolution is the result of many years of learning what not to do while embracing what could actually be possible if I allow myself to experiment with different materials, meanings, marks, forms, and failures. It was important to me that hints of their former selves were still visible through the many translucent layers of wax not only because they would simply have more depth and be more visually interesting, but they would also remind me of my own personal and artistic progress.

Texture, depth, and color (or lack of) are very important aspects of my work, and my paintings and prints are typically created from a combination of encaustic paint and medium, paper, fabric, cold wax, ink, shellac, bronze powder, mica, watercolor, and acrylic. My experience has been a mix of learning how to do things properly while simultaneously experimenting in practices that would most likely result in epic failure – and as a huge fan of the “happy accident,” something I have learned not to worry about. I love the meditative and sensory experience of working with wax. It allows me to incorporate the “messy, yet graphic” feeling that I have always been attracted to in art that I like into the art that I make.

Artist’s reception: “The Roundels That Become Journals” new work by Gianfranco Paolozzi

I was looking in the recycle container full of paper from flexo printing presses.
That’s when I felt the passion again; round surfaces screaming to be used.
I looked at them; changing on the floor of my studio.
I had to use my marks; my moments on the surfaces as a sign of me being there.
That’s when the roundels were born.
These days I consider the Roundels “memory journals”….they evolve over time, just as our memories seem to.
The “finished” date of the Roundels are a date of abandonment rather than completion.

Gianfranco was born in a small Italian village in 1952, he was always an artist and musician. He remembers creating art and drawing pieces from as early as preschool, he got his prized accordion at the age of 9. As a young man in the 60s, he sold 2 oil on canvas paintings to pay for a vacation around Italy with friends and then he experimented with photographs. After his Italian military duty, he followed the love of his life to America in 1972, married her and had 3 children. The 80s was a full of shows around Silicon Valley. Also in the 80s was his first piece of the collagements series with photographs on plexiglass. The 90s brought solo shows. In the 2000s he really began to expand his presence in San Jose’s illustrious art and music scene. Presently he has officially switched the title of all pieces of art, past and present, to “Journal” because they are forever evolving until they are sold. He formed the Paolozzi Tango Trio that plays all over Silicon Valley with Gianfranco on the Accordion and the composer, Nancy on the Piano, and Griff on the Violin and Viola.
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

Welcoming all Rappers, MCs, Spoken Word Artists, Poets, Singers, Musicians, Comedians, Videographers, Photographers, Visual Artists, and all performers! It’s an open mic, it’s free live music, and it’s a showcase of downtown San Jose artists. Watch the public premiere of music, poetry, short films, and view their insightful photography on display throughout the evening!

Must be ages 13-19 to perform in the Open Mic. Sign up list opens at 5:30 pm; open Mic/Poetry Slam from 6–7pm. Each chosen performers will be allowed to perform 2-3 pieces OR a 5 minute set. This is an all ages/family-friendly event.

In the MACLA Gallery: “Classic Tracks: Migrating Rhythms” Solo Exhibition of New Work by Carlos Rolón
With the San Jose Museum of Art New Terrains: Mobility & Migration

With music as inspiration, Carlos Rolón presents new work that explores how music has served as a thread of cultural and community exchange. “Classic Tracks: Migrating Rhythms” is a celebration of migration and the music of cultures that make up the Bay Area. Presented alongside the regional mobility-themed exhibition New Terrains: Mobility & Migration by the San José Museum of Art (SJMA).

Special Short Film Screening: Dreamers by Mt. Pleasant High School New and Emerging Arts Students, 7:30-8pm

In the Castellano Playhouse: E: Banda Sin Nombre, 8:15-10:15pm

Banda Sin Nombre is a five-piece street band from San Francisco’s Mission District dedicated to performing folk music from around the world. Mixing rich vocal harmonies with acoustic instruments including guitar, fiddle, charango, cajon, and bass, the band’s inspirations range from Peruvian chicha to Catalan rumba and Appalachian old time to cumbia. Move with us!
PhantomGalleries at The Pierce – 2 Pierce Ave. map

Artist’s reception: “Symbiosis” by Monica Valdez

Symbiosis is a series of paintings inspired by botanical form resemblances combined with man-made structures that are experienced on a daily basis. In this body of work, I create a symbiotic relationship between these organic compounds and structures by harmoniously intertwining both. The viewer may experience a sense of tranquility and a moment of contemplation as a result of the varying gradients that intertwine opposites.

Monica Valdez is a San Jose based artist, who merges screen-printing and painting to create her own distinct style. Her work is inspired by waterfalls and plant life juxtaposed with man-made structures in which she creates a co-mingling between the two distinct forms. She is a San Jose State University graduate and has shown in several galleries in the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and Beacon, NY.
Phantom Galleries at Pho69 – 321 South First St. map

On view: “Out of the Darkness” by Wisper

The series of pieces that were created for this show are direct manifestations of a former dark and destructive lifestyle. Many of the creations come straight forth out of the darkness of the heart. However dark the pieces may be, they were created to evoke hope. That if a person can endure the darkest of situations, then so can others. When we choose to not let our circumstances and situations make our choices for us we can overcome the darkness. For even in the darkness the light shines. All of the pieces that are depicted in this series are a culmination of my life experiences done in a variety of mediums, from acrylics, oils, ink, and spray paint. Along with a variety of influences from the graffiti culture to comic art, to the prison culture all mixed together to create what the darkness tried to destroy. May you be inspired to face and overcome your own darkness as I did. More importantly may you be a source of light to yourself and for others. – Wisper, the artist.

This Phantom Galleries exhibition curated by Robert Ragazza.
Works San Jose – 365 South Market St. map

“then we surrendered Dorothy” by Kerry Conboy.

Benefit Art Auction 2018

In our 41st anniversary Benefit Auction, we present an amazing array of long-standing and emerging area artists. Silent bidding opens at our First Friday opening night reception. The exhibition of more than 100 artworks continues to the final Auction night on Saturday, December 8. See a huge range of local artists and build your collection by supporting your community art center in the South Bay’s most eclectic, affordable, and accessible art auction! Free admission throughout the exhibition and free snacks on opening night.
Caffé Frascati – 315 South First St. map

On view: Luchador Series & Dia de los Muertos Pieces by Francisco Ramirez

Growing up, I used to wrap towels around my neck, pretending that I was a luchador, fighting crime, fighting for justice. Recently, I came upon the image of the Luchador and it reminded me of my childhood and the notion that we all need that hero. I decided to paint the rivals, El Santo and Blue Demon, each heros in their own right.

Despite my Mexican heritage, I don’t actually like doing Dia de los Muertos pieces; I don’t want to be dishonoring a tradition, so I tend to stay away from those images, I like originality, and I try to bring a unique texture to whatever I do.

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.
SJSU Muse Night at Hammer Theatre – 101 Paseo de San Antonio map

SJSU Muse Night

Join us for “Mental Health Night,” where we’re going to be focused on mental health and the ways we can improve it. We usually have a lot going on- school, work, relationships, family, etc, Usually, we don’t have time to take care of ourselves, and that’s where our health may take a hit. We want this First Friday to be about you, and to be about mental health–how you can improve your self-care for yourself, generate self-love, and overall, create a more positive and meaningful life.
Social Policy – 200 South First St. map

“Flower Lady #3,” by Emily Scettrini, oil on canvas, 2017

Opening Reception: “Natural Admiration”

November at Social Policy is celebrating the power of the natural world and the influence it has over our lives. Many artists consider Mother Nature as their primary muse and attempt to create works that can do her justice.

Artists: Laura Donworth, Taylor Dubose, Emily Scettrini, Irene Brambilla, Karen Tsugawa, Siena Kuan, Jackie Baxton, Mathew Heimgartner, Rebecca Hoskins, Jason Pierce, Sami Knapp, Allison Garcia, Dustin Kinsley, Alan Nguyen, Brittni Paul, Riwan Khalil, Claudia Sanborn, Natalie Piazza, Katherine Mergens, Carmen Chow, Ash Armstarke, Marissa McPeak, Tessa Cheng, Jacelyn Orellana, Brittany Ruiz, Pablo Rivera, Ashlyn Lardinois, Mason Roberts, Ray Ortiz, Renae McCollum, Caline Nguyen, Gloria Huet, Silver Rain, Cara Cooper, Samantha Smith and Rosie Diaz
SoFA Market – 387 So. First St. map

Artist’s reception: “GalaxSea” artworks by Kelly Lanphier

Sea and Space inspired art to instill a sense of wonder and respect for the polar opposites of our known universe.
Studio Climbing Gym – 396 South First St. map

Artist’s reception: A”Turning Over a New Leaf” by photographer Mimi Boursier

All these pictures were taken in County, State or National Parks and showcase the different landscapes, beauty and adventure found within each one.