Dia de los Muertos, Coronado Historical Association and Museum, Talmadge and more

by Patricia Frischer

Luis Murguia

It is always thrilling each year, even if the weather does not let us know, when fall comes and the season of Halloween is upon us starting the whole holiday season. Living in southern California means Dia de los Muertos with all the wonderful customs and traditions are celebrated all over the county. The 6th Annual Dia de los Muertos  was the best ever for the Encinitas Latino community. Held at the community center, it offered a very safe environment for the whole family and even though there were thousands of people attending everything was beautifully organized. Naimeh Tahna and the Encinitas Friends of the Arts and the huge committee which puts on this event are to be congratulation. From vintage low rider alters, to a new banner, wonderful raffle prizes, face painting, flower and sugar skull making, and an entire line up of performers, this was 4 hours of non-stop fun.   There is an alter at the Encinitas Library as well as this themed sculpture exhibition by Luis Murguia which sets the tone. Happy Dia de los Muertos and a Spooky Halloween to one and all. 

Luis Murguia

A squirmy little chap enjoys his reflection after struggling to stay still. 

Fun is not just for the young but for the young at heart!

Yours truly scaring herself!

While at the library we also enjoyed the photography of the 24 Annual North County Photographic Society exhibition. There were winners in many of the numerous category and here is a selection of just three favorites.

Dan Mayberry: Making Smores

Sally Reis Vogt, Sheer Delight

Dick Harden: Sunlit Bowls

Traveling further afield, our first trip to Coronado Historical Association and Museum featured an informative display about The League of Women: Vietnam POW/MIA Allies and Advocates. This amazing group of local women  joined together in the late 1960's. They were military wives led by Sybil Stockdale on the west coast. Joining with the east coast, a National League of POW/MIA Families was formed. the women  during the Nixon administration. These women were courageous and organized by the six stages of being a POW wife written by Stockdale:   Shock, Confusion, Learning, Assessment, Planning, Action.  On view to March 2020. 

Detail: Chandelier made of  POW Bracelets 

If you missed The Talmadge show in Del Mar, you can catch it again at the NTC at Liberty Station on Nov 17th. Everyone needs gifts and giving something hand made and unique is always high on our list.

Jackson Gray

Chinanshu Sharma

 I am including these two  images from the Long Beach Aquarium because we enjoyed our little one night stay on the Queen Mary as quick get away and I just love aquarium.

NTC Liberty Station Art Installations and That's What She Said

by Patricia Frischer

Art Installation at NTC Liberty Station
On the occasion of the WOW (Without Walls) performing arts festival, we took a stroll around Liberty Station to view the three relatively new art installations on view outside in the grounds of the promenades.

Michelle Montjoy  A Dime To Call Home, the newest Installations and is located near the Women's Art Museum.   This cement ad soft clothing  art work uses sculptural forms reminiscent of sea bags and nautical rope, A Dime to Call Home is a conversation about the shifts of identity, location and routine that recruits encounter when they enter the military, as well as the connection they have to their family, home and previous life. Located near Barracks 16 

Learn about the creative process by taking part in a looming activity on  November 1, 5-9 pm 5:00 – 9:00 PM in the Barracks 14/15 plaza.

Jason X. Lane. Tessellation #1, located behind the Dick Laub NTC Command Center, is a meditative monolith made from hand-cast tessellated concrete set within the shade of two magnolia trees.

detail

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Miki Iwasaki, Facetime by Woodbury University San Diego, School of Architecture faculty member.  Located near building 202 and offers a spot to sit, face to face and share some quality time.  There are three structures of pierced rusted steel. 

FIG and the Expressive Arts Institute presented That's What She Said...Artists Speak Out at the Martha Pace Swift Gallery from Oct 4 to Jan 10, 2020. This gallery is located in building 202 near Solare Restaurant.

The Feminist Image Group or FIG (like the illustrations in an art book, of the leaf that covered Adam's private parts, or just the delicious fruit) continues to come together to show work that is tied together by a female point of view. Of note is the collection of work by Cindy Zimmerman who recently showed at Art San Diego in a show curated by Vallo Riberto. Kathleen Michelle sculputre made with Spencer Little is also a show stopper with it multiple glass tits and built in sign that reads "Hey my eyes are up here".  Stop by and take a look as all the artist speak out and speak their minds.

Cindy Zimmerman

Kirsten Aaboe

Jennifer Spencer

Pasha Turley

Linda Litteral

Kathleen Mitchell with Spenser Little

Amanda Saint Claire

Latin American Art Festival at Bread and Salt

by Patricia Frischer

Art Directors and Co-Founders: Aida Valencia (pictured above) Gabriela Avila

The Latin American Art Festival (Oct12/13,2019)  is billed as a multicultural showcase for art and culture in Northern Baja and Southern California but this year there were artists from much further afield. There is also cuisine beer and wine and a variety of music and performance entertainment as well as the large exhibition of art juried into the venue at Bread and Salt.

Featured contemporary artists and galleries include: Rafael San Juan and Yunayka Martin from Cuba, Mendel Samayoa from Latinaria Collective of Guatemala, La Marrulera Collective from Mexico City, Jose Santos from Oaxaca, San Diego Mesa College Selection (curated by Alessandra Moctezuma), and La Caja Gallery of Baja California which will feature artists Yunen Esparza and Jaime Ruiz Otis among others. Also showcasing their works will be LAAF 2018's "Best In Show" winners César Vásquez, and Maik Jiménez.

Cesar Vazquez

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Jose Santos

Enrique Avilez

Special Peruvian Display

Yunayka Martin

Art San Diego top selections including the SD Art Prize and From Folk to AI

By Patricia Frischer

four finalist for the SD Art Prize 2020:
Alanna Airitam, Kaori Fukuyama, Griselda Rosas, and Melissa Walter

From Folk to Artificial Intelligence curated by Vallo Riberto: Ernesto Bogarin, John Dillemuth, Shuichi Hashimoto, Kazmier Maslanka, Gustavo Mayoral, Neil Shigley, Ron Tatro and Cindy Zimmerman

SD Art Prize  at Art San Diego at Booth #122
Presented by San Diego Visual Arts Network
Curated by Vallo Riberto
Including four finalist for the SD Art Prize 2020:
Alanna Airitam, Kaori Fukuyama, Griselda Rosas, and Melissa Walter

From Folk to Artificial Intelligence curated by Vallo Riberto: Ernesto Bogarin, John Dillemuth, Shuichi Hashimoto, Kazmier Maslanka, Gustavo Mayoral, Neil Shigley, Ron Tatro and Cindy Zimmerman

Thursday, Oct 10 to Sun Oct 13, 2019
Art San Diego 2019 press release
San Diego Convention Center
Hall E 111 W Harbor Dr.
San Diego, CA 92101

This is your chance to get a preview of the four finalist for the SD Art Prize. The winner for 2020 will be announced in the spring at the annual SD Art Prize show at the Athenaeum  Music and Arts Library. 

 Melissa Walter

Alanna Airitam

Griselda Rosas

Kaori Fukuyama

Also in booth #122 is a curated exhibition by Vallo Riberto. Great thanks go to Vallo Riberto and his volunteers for manning the SD Art Prize booth this year!

 


 

I was asked to be a selector at this year's Art San Diego by the organizers. We have attended this art fair with a booth for the SD Art Prize sponsored by the San Diego Visual Arts Network every year since it began. This is the first year that the event has been held at the San Diego Convention Center.  There is no razzmatazz, outside projections or impressive entrances, but I found it refreshing that the booths were well spaces, the floor plain and clean and that the main focus, as it should be, was on the art in the booths. For the Impact night there was some lovely food passed and an open bar and very nice jazz combo. We had a chance to see many, many friends and colleagues.

Even through there was a large crowd on opening night, I was able to view all the work and I  have a few insights on what I saw:

• There was very little kinetic (moving) art in the entire show. But two works curated by Vallo Riberto in the Folk to Artificial Intelligence exhibition, one by Gustavo Mayoral (see above) and the other by Ernesto Bogarin were stand outs. 
• In a few instances, I would see one work that I liked very much. But included in the booth would be several others works by the same artist that I did not like. It was hard then to choose that one work, although in the case of Wally Gilbert (see below), I did choose an early work but found the later works much too commercial for my taste. 
• I saw a couple of booths from Japan that were a compelling selection of small works. But on closer inspection it was the look of a the large variety of tiny images that attracted me and not the individual works....none of which I could select.  

So to make my selection, I had a definite criteria. The work had to have a conceptual idea which was compelling and authentic. It had to have an aesthetic presence that was visually stimulating. Only 2 of the five I was asked to select were from San Diego as I decided I could not choose just one of the four women nominated for the SD Art Prize in 2020 as they are equally talented. These next five are my selection for Art San Diego this year.

Kaz Maslanka, 10,000 Dharmas return to the .....
This is a timely mathematical poem about how we are all one. One (person) divided into one (cockroach) equals one.
From Folk to Artificial Intelligence curated by Vallo Riberto 

David Alfaro Siquieros, untitled sketch for a mural in Mexico City shown by Art Link International. This study of workers protesting is a strong and meaningful work for our time but is also lyrical. The glowing canvas which is historically important is by a modern master. Many of the works in this booth gave me great pleasure. 

Shannon E. D'Antonio, Sister Queens, 2018 shown by KM Contemporary. How can you not love the pure joy of 2 dancing females under the moon especially in the year of women power with these two beautifully rendered rabbits. 

William Cordiner, untitled and undated but lived between 1930 - 2012
An artist who might never be recognized  touched my sensibilities with his subtle torn paper work. Shown in the Awesome Art Gallery booth with his student who never learned that less is more. 

Wally Gilbert, Columns, Berline 2004. showing at the CJ Gallery, Gilbert caught this accidental site specific arrangement of forms in his photograph which is enhanced by its large size and vibrant pure orange color. The theme of this work is Art and Science as Gibert came late to the art world as a former scientist. 

An extra shout out to the Oslo Sardine Bar as it ends is year long tour of the Redwood Art Fairs across America. Max Robert Daily was on fine form as he hosted another set of eager eaters. 

Although not a numbered booth, I loved this airstream set up in the back corner which was distributing real roles of film to the first 100 takers. You need to have your own "old  fashion" analog camera (still available at thrift and antiques stores or maybe your own attic) and after you have taken your shots, you return  the film which is developed, digitally stored and then juried into a show of printed images that will be available in book form. This project is called Free Film USA and the cross country trip has one theme: red, white and blue. From August to November, 18 cities will be visited before this conceptual trip will be complete.  

We decided to spend the night in downtown San Diego and one of the best works of the night was the one in our hotel room, The Nest on Fifth. We really enjoyed our staycation and the chance to avoid the Friday night traffic as we are attending the Latin Art Festival at Bread and Salt the next night.  

When I say "we" I mean my dedicated husband Darwin. Here he is behind the fun pillow from our Nest on Fifth.