First Friday Roundup
Posted by ben on 04 Apr 2007 at 12:20 pm | Tagged as: upcoming events
Before I get into the actual events coming this Friday, let me just say that Blue Star really needs to rethink their web site. I gave Artpace a hard time about their site going down a little while back, but when it comes down to it, they have an organized, useful, up-to-date site. The first thing you see when visiting Blue Star’s site is a bunch of images for shows that closed three weeks ago. And the shows that are opening tomorrow? No information on the front page, nothing more than titles and dates on the Exhibitions page (and not even for all the shows!), and some brief descriptions on the Events page. Add to that the fact that they inexplicably changed the domain name a little while back, breaking everyone’s bookmarks, and the Blue Star Complex site still hasn’t updated the link. Now that I’ve got that little rant out of the way…
I’m actually excited about First Friday this time around (and remember, for those of you who have trouble with crowds, on the Thursday before First Friday most galleries in the Blue Star complex have soft openings which are much mellower). Blue Star itself will be exhibiting a drawing show curated by Barbara MacAdam, deputy editor of ARTnews; a video series curated by Eric Michaud (who recently did a performance / installation at Unit B); and an interactive drawing exhibit by Katie Pell (who was a recent resident at Artpace). Barbara MacAdam writes about the Monumental Drawings show:
“While the theme of this show, monumental drawings, is a loose one, it is intended to focus on the questions of if, how much, and when size matters in artists’conceptions of their work and in viewers’ perceptions. The eight artists in the exhibition—Mike Bidlo, Annabel Daou, Nancy Haynes, Ryan McGinness, Creighton Michael, David Rabinowitch, David Remfry, Daniel Zeller—have all worked in different scales, the monumental only on occasion, and their styles, working methods, materials, and subject matter (where applicable) vary widely.”
And more details on Eric Michaud’s video series:
The singer sucks, but the band… finding the good in an otherwise dismal world is a screening that puts forth a strong showing of video art ranging from the 70’s to the present. Curated by Eric Michaud, the program showcases different types of video. There is no theme or conceptual categorization; this show wants only to be defined as a celebration of the video medium.
Potter-Belmar Labs will be taking over Three Walls for their first San Antonio gallery show since the Salon Mijangos performance back in August. This show is called The Three Aethers at the Center of the Sphere, and if that doesn’t pique your interest, maybe you’re reading the wrong blog.
Other shows in the area include Ian O’Brien at Cactus Bra, and Eric Taylor and Hildegarde Slaughter at Joan Grona. Down the street, Gary Sweeney unveils new work at Unit B (and be sure to check out Paperworks at Unit B if you missed the opening!).
All in all, it’s shaping up to be a good weekend for art in San Antonio. I’m gonna see how quickly I can work through it all and race up to Austin to catch the William Parker show.