July 25, 2006

"Sampling Oakland" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

Curator Berin Golonu states the purpose of the show quite clearly:

"Some say Oakland today is what San Francisco was in the 70s: a place where younger artists can afford to spread out, hang out and create a thriving arts scene. It’s a community fueled by an independent vision, self-determination and grass-roots activity, but already in danger of being pushed aside by almost-inevitable gentrification. This exhibition aims to introduce the important work happening in Oakland to a broader audience at a larger, more mainstream art institution, while acknowledging the unique and vital scene happening across the Bay."

Comparisons between these two cities is almost always misguided and unfortunate. And while you might question the few artists out of the many hundreds operating in Oakland (see for example ProArts East Bay Open Studios) who were selected to represent a much more diverse set of artistic communities, it's nice to see an established San Frnacisco institution giving props and pointing people towards Oakland's smaller artist run galleries.

The show is too small a primer. To get a better sense of what's actually going on in Oakland, I recommend taking the BART one stop in (West Oakland) and checking out the "Community Virology" show at Lobot Gallery with 1500 artists on the walls at last count.

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Also, Sarah Lockheart and Darren Jenkins of 21 Grand will be curating a night of performances by Oakland-based artists on August 31, inculding Mary Armentrout, Jorge Boehringer, Phillip Greenlief, Jay Korber, Alexander Kort, Dawn McMahon, Kristin Miltner, The Noodles (Suki O'Kane & Michael Zelner), Albert Ortega, Kattt Sammon, Damon Smith, Moe! Staiano, Leyya Tawil, Michael Trigilio, Matt Volla, and Weasel Walter.