Visual Narratives: “Please Come In”

by Leena Prasad            

                                                                                                                

 

'hello stranger who is walk'n by and never really goes into galleries.' These words, stenciled out of paper and taped to the outer glass walls of a tiny gallery, beckoned to me.  I walked in and looked at the thirty-two paintings in the "A Strange 31 Years" show.  I looked again.  There was John Ritter smiling from a painting labeled '2003: john ritter murdered? (theory of everything),' there was a woman sitting on a sofa and looking straight at me through her 3D glasses, as if I was the 3D object of her curiosity.  There were a row of smiling stiff children, dressed in starched clothing, who reminded me of grade school photographs where we all looked straight at the camera and presented our awkward and innocent smiles…

 

Intrigued, I started a conversation with the man sitting at a desk in the gallery, behind a large computer screen. Brent, the co-owner of the gallery told me that he and his business partner, Forest, had founded the gallery only six months ago as a way for them to showcase the works for many of their San Francisco emerging artist friends and acquaintances. Now, the gallery is booked for shows up to six months in advance and they get more requests for art shows than they can handle. But getting people to come inside the gallery has still been a bit of a challenge.

 

"People are unaware of how much they like art," said Maria, the creator of "A Strange 31 Years" series. She was referring to the fact that art is inherent in clothing, in everyday decorations that people place inside their homes, and even in the design of common household appliances. Her sentiments resonate with mine in the philosophy that art is a democratic, living, breathing everyday experience and not something only for the art-educated elite.

 

Maria lives in The Mission and is a graduate of San Francisco Art Institute.  She created the paintings with the vision that art should be "engaging, not confusing for the viewer or therapeutic for the artist, but friendly, open, and about something that people can read and see."  This series encompasses 32 paintings, each representing one year of her life.  Some of the paintings are self-referential; others depict news events and iconic references.  The paintings comprise a mixture of drawing, etching, and cartoon sensibilities.  Their two-dimensional approach and a generous sprinkling of words, imbue them with an urban street sensibility.

 

Brent, 27, and his business partner, Forest, 28, fund the operations of the gallery with income from their jobs and hope to change the notion that art is expensive and inaccessible. Their goal is to encourage people to walk in, look around, and simply enjoy the paintings without feeling as if the price of entry is the purchase of an art-piece. Of course, they would love to sell the pieces too, which is why the paintings are priced to sell. For example, Maria's pieces are priced at $500 each.

 

Brent and Forest want to introduce all of San Francisco and The Bay Area to local emerging artists. To this end, they plan on brining people into their gallery via artists' podcasts, wine-tasting and other social events. They also plan to create something called "Little Tree Blush" which would be art based events curated by Little Tree Gallery at bars, restaurants, corporations, and other organizations.

 

So, don't be shy. Step into this friendly little gallery, say hi to Brent or Forest, whoever happens to be there.  Tell them that Leena sent you (or don't).  Enjoy the art, ask questions and if you really fall in love with something be assured that it will probably cost a fraction of your paycheck and not your entire lifesavings.

 

 

Maria Forde has a website at http://www.MariaForde.net. Her show was at the gallery until the end of November 2006.

 

I Believe In the Power Of the Absurd, featuring works by Casey Logan, is scheduled to open at The Little Tree Gallery (http://www.littletreegallery.com.), 3412 22^nd Street (at Guerrero), on December 2, 2006 and close on December 31, 2006.

 

 

 

For comments/complaints/kudos/article ideas/etc., please write to Leena Prasad at art@WeAreNotAmused.com.  Please let me know in your letter if it would be okay to publish it as part of this column.