ARTS ON FIRE X

The weather was cool and misty but that didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm for this year’s tenth annual Arts on Fire reception.

Cars were lined up along Linda Mar Boulevard and the field behind the Sanchez Art Galleries became a parking lot to handle the throng of people who came out to see the performers (Asia and her Arabesque belly dancers, the Del Fuego Dance Troupe with their poi fore (fire) dance, and Vivance doing their Brazillian-inspired jazz). And, of course, there was lots of art. Yes, the Arts on Fire reception has become quite a cultural event for the area.

Art of exceptional quality and diversity adorns the gallery space of Sanchez’s Main and West Wing galleries. The show was open to all California artists and several of our own guild members were among those chosen to appear in this year’s show. Alice Kelmon’s colorful “Landscape 8” and Laura Williams’ painterly “Kenwood Vista” show different approaches to landscape art. Victoria Vargas’ fiber piece called “Suspending Belief” is wonderfully inventive. Annette Poitau’s “Blanc” is a unique and subtle oil. Elizabeth Tocher’s “At the Door” is an engaging abstract. And, lastly, John Andreas has an etherial photograph entitled “Foggy Day” that shows people emerging from a misty beach.

Winning works include, Haakon Faste’s “Untitled/Wings” which hangs in the center of the Main Gallery. A motion detector activates a motor as you enter the gallery and the wings begin to flap overhead. Ellen Starr Modenbacher’s “Joy,” one of two oils she has in the show, also won. Both oils are like bizarre snapshots of suburban life. Both Faste and Modenbacher were this year’s 2007 Exhibition Award winners which means more of their work will be on display at the Sanchez next year.

Juror’s Awards went to Mary Gould for her mixed media work “Charlotte’s Mask,” Thomas McKeag for his acrylic on mylar film entitled “Yellow Ribbon,” Teresa Camozzi’s duratrans transparency entitled “Temporary Altars” and Steven Elliott for his mixed media piece entitled “Swimming In.”

This year’s show was juried by Larry Rinder who has held teaching positions at UC Berkeley, Deep Springs College and Columbia University. He’s also been curator at the Berkeley’s University Art Museum, director of exhibitions at the California College of Arts and Crafts, and founding director of the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts. Beginning in 2000 he served in New York as Curator of Contemporary Art at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He’s now back in the Bay Area and serves as Dean of Graduate Studies at CCA but continues as adjunct curator at the Whitney Museum and has been recently appointed as one of the San Francisco Arts Commissioners.

Forty eight artists were selected from over 360 who submitted. A few pieces which stood out for this reviewer include: Margaret Lindsey’s vertical acrylic painting “What if Light was Food for the Dark?” and “Lynne Prather’s “Strewn” which seems to float and curl like yellow smoke. Linda Fillhardt’s “Eight Tumbleweeds” is a beautiful pattern of earth tones. Yvette Deas’ “Happy Days” appears to be mere portraits of actors from the well-known TV show but closer inspection reveals less than happy days from America’s past emerging from the image.

Julia Nelson-Gal’s “Pink Flowers Revised” is a wonderful arrangement of old photos, found images and thread. Richard Bennett’s oil “Chinois” is a rich, insiteful portrait. Beth Ross’ “Shift (left-right)” is a mirrored inkjet print that at first glance looks abstract and on closer inspection clearly isn’t. And so many more terrific works of art are on view.