KQED: Gallery Crawl

In March 2007, GALLERY CRAWL visited a couple of group shows in two of the city's non-commercial spaces including, "Present Tense" at the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco and "World Factory" at the San Francisco Art Institute.

If you doubt the vibrancy of the visual art scene in San Jose, just take a walk in the SoFA District. In this downtown San Jose hood there are several great art venues, which have been hosting concurrent art receptions on the first Friday evening of every month. In February 2007, GALLERY CRAWL checked out South First Fridays and stopped in at Anno Domini and MACLA.

GALLERY CRAWL profiles two outstanding solo shows at the 49 Geary building in downtown San Francisco: "Between the Two," Todd Hido's photographs at the Stephen Wirtz Gallery and "systems," Davide Coltro's multi-media work at Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art.

Tis the season to be shopping, so we thought it might be helpful to suggest a couple of places where you can pick up a few locally made gifts and get your art fix. In December 2006, GALLERY CRAWL visits Adobe Bookshop and Needles and Pens, two art galleries that double as stores in the boutique-filled Mission District.

GALLERY CRAWL visits two galleries in Oakland, covering Misako Inaoka's "Secret Nature" show at Blank Space and "Breathe" by David Meeker at Front Gallery.

GALLERY CRAWL visits Mission Street at Third, in the heart of San Francisco's Yerba Buena Arts District. We check out "Ghosts in the Machine," the inaugural exhibition for SF Camerawork's new space and "Deluge," Robin Ward's show at Lisa Dent Gallery.

Does the thought of purchasing art intimidate you? In most metropolitan areas, there is an amazing array of art to suit all tastes and budgets -- and the San Francisco Bay Area is no exception. Stephen Tourell from the Toomey Tourell Gallery hosts this special presentation of GALLERY CRAWL, giving budding collectors tips on how to access the local art scene. He visits with Claire P. Carlevaro from the Art Exchange Gallery to discuss the financial aspect of investing in art. Then at the Jack Fischer Gallery, he meets with Fischer, who explains "self-taught" and "outsider art." Finally, Tourell gives a private viewing of his gallery's back room and shares a few tricks of the trade.

Two adjoining galleries on Clementina Street in San Francisco: Michael McConnel's "not out of the woods yet" at Braunstein/Quay Gallery and Russell Crotty and Lordy Rodriguez at Hofelt Gallery.

Two galleries on San Francisco's Mission and Market streets: Carter at Jack Hanley gallery and the "Boy's Club" show at lincart.

Three galleries in downtown San Francisco: Modernism's show featuring Jacques Villegle and Sheldon Greenberg; "Three to the Third" at Varnish, featuring Brian Elliot, Kevin Evans and Liz Orleans; and Christopher Irion, "The Photobooth Across America" and Michael Garlington: Portraits from the Belly of the Whale at 111 Minna Street Gallery.

Two galleries on Potrero Hill in San Francisco: the "Photobooks Now" show at San Francisco Center for the Book and "Thomas Hirschhorn: Utopia, Utopia = One World, One War, One Army, One Dress" at CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art.

Two galleries on Polk Street in San Francisco: Thomas Hill at Velvet da Vinci and Stephen Kasner and David D'Andrea at SPACE Gallery.

Three galleries in Oakland: ALONG CAME A SPIDER, Martha Sue Harris and John Casey at 33 Grand; SKULL, Jake Hout, Summer Bell and Nate Moore at Rock Paper Scissors; USED CARS, Jake Watling at Mama Buzz. TECHNICAL NOTE: This episode has been compressed for video iPod compatibility, so it is smaller than previous episodes and best viewed at 640x480. It may look a tad dark or pixilated in full screen mode.

Three galleries in San Francisco's Union Square district: Alex Kanevsky at Dolby Chadwick Gallery; Maria Park at Toomey Tourell Gallery; "Histories" at Heather Marx Gallery. TECHNICAL NOTE: This episode has been compressed for video iPod compatibility, so it is smaller than previous episodes and best viewed at 640x480. It may look a tad dark or pixilated in full screen mode.

Three Palo Alto galleries: "Face Value" at Chelsea Art Gallery; "The Art of Small Painting" at Stellar-Somerset Gallery; "Two Views" at Modernbook Gallery. TECHNICAL NOTE: This episode has been compressed for video iPod compatibility, so it is smaller than previous episodes and best viewed at 320x240. It may look a tad dark or pixilated in full screen mode.