UPCOMING ExhibitionS

Exhibit 1: A Lasting Impression: Nine Bay Area Figurative Ceramic Sculptors

Exhibit 2: Injuries: Improvised Paintings by Luke Riley

A Lasting Impression Nine Bay Area Figurative Ceramic Sculptors July 5 - July 30, 2007 Reception: Thursday, July 5, 2007 from 6pm to 9pm Fresh and provocative ceramic sculptures by Bay Area artists are on exhibit at Esteban Sabar Gallery from July 6th to July 30th, 2007 in the exhibit "A Lasting Impression : Nine Bay Area Figurative Ceramic Sculptors.” "Ceramic Figures” highlights a group of young artists taking a fresh approach to ceramics and figurative art, reflecting shared philosophies and aesthetics. Collectives and exhibitions of contemporary figurative sculpture are rare in the Bay Area, making this exhibit a milestone show of sculptors influenced by the previous Bay Area movements such as the figurative expressionism and modern ceramics of the 1950's. Contemporary influences encompass Hip Hop, MTV, Nintendo, Japanese Animation, the "Mission School" and other contemporary painters and artists. The combination of the past art history contexts, contemporary views on life, and the interactions and engagements with each other, makes “A Lasting Impression” a provocative and refreshing show. Artists exhibited include: Andrea Ali Ben Belknap Ross Kennedy Percy Feils Jordan Mello Crystal Morey Tomoko Nakazato Peter Saint Lawrence Derek Weisberg Links regarding the Bay Area Figurative Movement of the 1950's

Assuming I, ceramic mixed media, by Derek Weisberg

Girlstump, ceramic and mixed media by Crystal Morey	Untitled, ceramic and mixed media by Peter Saint Lawrence

Injuries: Improvised Paintings by Luke Riley

July 5 - July 30, 2007
Reception: Thursday, July 5, 2007 from 6pm to 9pm

Untitled, torched plastic bags, synthetic hair, by Luke Riley

“Injury painter” Luke Riley torches synthetic materials to evoke destruction and life in an exhibit at Esteban Sabar Gallery from July 6th to July 30th, 2007, entitled "Injuries: Improvised Paintings by Luke Riley.”

An artist’s reception takes place on Thursday, July 5th, from 6pm to 9pm.

Burning synthetic materials such as plastic bags and synthetic hair from wigs, artist Luke Riley taps into latent fascinations with physical wreckage and injury while evoking organic textures. Riley’s injurious, improvisational abstractions passively rely upon the transformative material to deliver eloquent compositions of shape and color.

By melting and burning these artistically uninitiated media with a torch, Riley’s work ironically suggests the organic. Riley scrapes and picks at the transformed torched surfaces of plastics to imply objects excavated from an ancient city or evidence in a fire investigation.

At the same time the fire distressed materials suggest net like organic tissues through Riley’s application of glue, waxes and gloss finishes to evoke internal fluids, sap, and bile, making his works in plastic meditations on the organic.

Detail of an Injury Painting by Luke Riley

The resultant creations provide a seductive glimpse into wreckage of the physical, tapping into the same secret fascination that many of us have in viewing car accidents.

“I find that a canvas has life when the media has built itself to a point where the record of emotional intent is layered and thick,” says Riley. “I want to give my pieces organic life.”

This exhibit continues through July 30th, 2007.

Artists on exhibition at the Esteban Sabar Gallery include Julie Alvarado, Sue Averell, Bethany Ayres, Rocky Baird, Nancy Ballard, Trish Booth, Mario Chiodo, Guy Colwell, Scott Courtenay-Smith, Patricia Gillespie, Liz Amini-Holmes, Mark Holmes, Scott Hove, Albert Hwang, Wendell Jones, Feng Jin, Ben Johnston, Zack Jones, John Kinstler, Douglas Light, Donna Mendes, Marty McCorkle, Marvin McMillian, Kenney Mencher, Carol Paquet, Tim Phelan, Erik Rogers & Dana Porteos, Fernando Reyes, Diego Rios, Bernadette Sale, Kevin Slagle, and Daniel Wooddell.

See examples of each artist's work.

Esteban Sabar Gallery

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