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Thursday, May 30, 2013

artMRKT

Opening Night Preview Reception of artMRKT @ Fort Mason
May 16th 6-10:30pm

CRASH landing into artMKRT


VIP
I crashed landed into Fort Mason for artMRKT because thats how the VIP arrive, by plane. Fort Mason was transformed this weekend into a mega-art gallery showcasing contemporary and modern works from 70 galleries around the globe. At the third annual artMRKT, art enthusiasts browsed through innovative works by Bay Area artists as well as historically significant pieces. Bringing together some of the world's most intriguing galleries to San Francisco and showcasing historically important work alongside relevant contemporary pieces and projects.
Artist: Taravat Talepasand
Blasphemy
Steven Zevitas Gallery

 Taravat Talepasand is a San Francisco-based Iranian-American artist, that uses references to art history to create a dynamic duality between the past and the present, modernity and tradition, echoing the identities of her figures. Her aesthetic is provocative, sexy and smart, making you stop and stare to try to figure out what she's trying to tell you. Taravat pushes the boundaries with this duality of cultural identifications between East vs West, painting a present which is linked to the past. 
Artist: David Mach
Purple Rinse
plastic ball pins on foam

"Matchheads" is a series of sculptures by British artist David Mach that's entirely made with matchsticks. These impressive works of art are the result of meticulous work with thousands of tiny colourful Japanese matches which have been used to portray famous faces and recreate legendary artworks. However, despite his hard work and the hours he put in to creating the sculptures, David Mach likes to open his exhibitions by setting them on fire (as this stunning effect was discovered when the collector who bought the sculpture accidentally set it on fire whilst cleaning it). It only takes a few seconds and sends the flames up to 6ft in the air, leaving a charred version of the original with different shades of ash and as David puts it, "It's not destroying the work, but creating new art".
Artist: John Waters
Control
fiberglass, silicone, urethane, acrylic, human and synthetic hair, fabric and wood.
John Waters is a serious artist with a wicked sense of humor, and also best known as a filmmaker of cult classics. He's created a career out of shocking people through his movies, and now visual artworks including giving Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Tom Cruise cleft palettes. Within San Francisco's Rena Bransten Gallery he created comical pieces including a sculpture of Ike Turner manipulating a puppet of a sassy Tina Turner that's suspended from strings in "Control". Oddly enough John's desecration actually works though, perhaps because he balances the vandalism of these objects found in the public domain with this own creations. 

Artist: David Robinson
Trestle
bronze, steel, cement

Vancouver sculptor David Robinson's striking pieces incorporate a variety of materials from traditional bronze & steel, to cement and hydrostone. While his work is primarily figurative, he often adds psychological and mythical twists to his subjects through the use of cables and strings, which both connect and dissociate his figures from their environment and further describe the inherent tension that exists between things. David's work plays with dichotomies such as gravity and flight, balance and instability, and the resistance of matter that's expressed through single poetic gestures. 
Artist: Yossi Govrin Sculpture
Nightwatch
Timothy Yarger Gallery
Israel-born sculpture Yossi Govrin relates the theme of his work directly to "human conductivity" and are made from hemp and cement, emphasizing the transient nature of humans and their environment, with the single mold reflecting our common origin. The added elements such as chandeliers, stones and rope reintroduce the sense of individuality and uniqueness and resonate across cultural and national boundaries. 

Artist: Tim Etchells
Jenkins Johnson Gallery
End of Story
Neon 
As Tim Etchells put it in his exhibit... "End of Story"  CRASHED IT #62

Monday, May 27, 2013

ArtPad SF

Opening Night VIP Preview of ArtPadSF @Phoenix Hotel
May 16th 6-10pm 














I crashed the opening night of ArtPadSF at the Phoenix hotel, a revamped 1960s motor lodge. That evening and for the next three following each room was taken over by a different gallery, creating an atmosphere that, like a hotel, is intimate and risqué. ArtPadSF is is provocative 21st century boutique art fair that focusing on emerging and contemporary art. I jumped right into the art, well the Drambuie Lounge first -but then I was all about the art. I have to admit that I don't often drink Drambuie, but it did start the evening off to be an extraordinary one.
Maria Jenson, Co-Founder (middle in photo) 
I bumped into Maria Jenson, the Co-Founder of ArtPadSF, and chatted with her for a bit about the beginning of it all because when she initially started creating this event a few years ago many people questioned it's potential being located in the Tenderloin. To locate such an event in the Tenderloin is critical to these neighborhoods in finding strength and benefiting the neighboring businesses with more traffic. This year alone drew 10,000 people showcasing 35 galleries and proving once again that perhaps it's the limitations that are precisely what makes this project unique. 

Artist: Cristobal Valecillos
Princess and The Super Hero
archival digital print on metallic  
Artist: Joshua Harker
Till Death Do Us Part
3D printed polyamide, red
Artst Cristobal Valecillos creates an art form that involves an innovative concept using raw cardboard and paper, born out of a desire to create art without generating waste. This led Cristobal to this idea to use everyday materials around us to craft something beautiful and give these elements a second chance to come alive -from pizza boxes to cereal boxes to shopping bags. Cristobal highlights another way of showing how we can express ourselves in extraordinary ways by using the most basic elements.


Joshua Harker is considered a pioneer & visionary in 3D printed art & sculpture, creating symbols like Till Death Do Us Part which depicts the bittersweet experience of love and loss as well as suggesting that love is what you make of it. The anchor & chain within it are intended to symbolize the security of steadfast loyalty in stormy seas & that which keeps you from becoming aimlessly adrift. The arrow is love's tool of capture & the weeping tear symbolizes the pain of loss. The suspended ring demonstrates the promise of commitment, while the skull is the symbol of the end of us all & the reminder of living in the present. 

Taking it all in 
Artist: Sirron Norris
Metathree
oil paint, spray paint & acrylic on canvas
I caught up with Sirron Norris to track down the background of this character that I've seen before -the blue bear. Sirron's main business is paintings that tell a story about the person who is commissioning the work by inserting the patrons personality and experience into this blue bear. However, this painting Metathree is different because it's his own current story. For Sirron, Metathree was a challenging piece because he spends so much time painting other people's lives that this served to be "fun, therapeutic and revelatory" for him.

Artist: Annie Vought
Vought Experimental
Hand Cut


Annie Vought delicately cuts away the white space from handwritten letters and scribbles, revealing a network of interconnected letters in Vought's exact-o-knife penmanship that has the the negative spaces surrounding each character carved away. The handwriting and the lines support the structure of the cut paper, keeping it strong and sculptural despite it's apparent fragility. In these paper cut-outs these handwritten records are fragments of individual histories; a letter is physical confirmation of who we are at the moment it was written, or all we have left of a person or a time.
“Feel the fear and do it anyway.” Is Annie's motto right now -and mine too.  Event CRASH #61 ArtPad! 

Monday, May 20, 2013

SF Small Business Week

Flavors of San Francisco @ The Metreon, CityView Room         

Monday, May 13th 5:30-7:30 PM       


Steve Adams -President of Small Business Commission 
Sold Out?
No way, Jose (but it was true) so I crashed this event to get piece of it too. I went to show my support for Mom & Pop shops because it's SF Small Business Week and this was their kick-off event. I joined Steve Adams, the President of the Small Business Commission to honor the small business community and their contributions to San Francisco's prosperity.

Flavors of SF is a great opportunity to connect with leaders from across the small business community while savoring and sampling the local food from more than 230 restaurants, catering companies and bars. These are a few businesses that I tasted that make San Francisco better place to live (probably better than wherever your living).

The Secret Recipe
1300 Fillmore and the incredible grits
1300 Fillmore St. was the most unexpected win of the evening. I don't even like grits and apparently the chef and creator of these, David Lawrence, didn't either before he had to please his wife and her love for grits. What were in these grits? I had to find out this secret recipe just for you and me, and now all of Facebook to see. It was amazing and had to be shared -BBQ chicken, white grits, pesto and goat cheese. With 'Soulful American' cuisine David combines classic French cooking techniques with hints of southern flavors using fresh California seasonal ingredients, drawing on the rich cultural history of SF's Fillmore District and making 1300 Fillmore a live jazz music destination.

The Sisters of Socola Chocolatier
Next, I met the sisters from Socola Chocolatier and just like their chocolates they were delicately daring and absolutely delightful. "Socola" is a Vietnamese word for chocolate and these handmade artisanal confections are comprised of high-quality local and organic ingredients with modern flavors such as Mango & Vietnamese coffee. The sisterly love of chocolate at Socola.

Chelsea Lopez, The Cake Artist at Kingdom Cake 
Last, but not least, I wanted to feature Chelsea -the Cake Artist from Kingdom Cake. She left her day job to pursue her dreams of creating edible art and in 2008 Kingdom Cake was born. Chelsea creates delicious pieces of art through cakes and cupcakes for all occasion. Whether you need sophisticated couture or whimsical and playful, she makes one-of-a-kind cakes for any special occasion. Not only was Chelsea the coolest small business owner there but even if she wasn't I'd still invite her to my next birthday party.


SF wouldn't be the same without all our small businesses.

CRASHED IT... To enjoying the many flavors of San Francisco!



Monday, May 13, 2013

California Academy of Sciences

Creature Carnival Nightlife @ California Academy of Sciences
May 2nd 6-10pm

The Green Guy
Butterfly
Every Thursday after the museum shuts down it re-opens in the evening to transform into an alcoholic science adventure for the 21+ crowd, and especially for couples. Their motto is "Let the wonder begin" so I followed the green guy in and crashed this event with a butterfly beside me. 

I kept the butterfly theme going and went straight (well not exactly straight) into the butterfly genome.
COUPLE #1 (they started trend): Two butterflies sharing an orange in the genome
COUPLE #2: Admiring in the fish tunnel
COUPLE CAUGHT #3: Burning Man pair  with butterfly balloon photobombing it 
COUPLE CAUGHT #4: Couple aboard for the ride
This 4-story rainforst is enclosed within a spectacular 90-foot diameter glass dome where dripping water sets the beat for a symphony of croaking frogs and chirping birds. It's the largest spherical rainforest exhibit in the world, and my favorite exhibit in the Cal Academy. With each level representing a distinct rainforest habitat containing its own special zoological garden, you can then descend in a glass elevator into the Amazonian flooded forest where an acrylic tunnel allows you to walk beneath the catfish and arapaima that swim overhead. To learn more about the findings in the Butterfly Genome http://video.calacademy.org/details/509
COUPLE CAUGHT #5: A couple of frogs on a date



This type of raw beauty makes it a perfect place to take a date, and here are eight couples I caught on camera that evening: 1) Two butterflies sharing an orange 2) Admiring in the fish tunnel 3) The Burning Man pair 4) Just aboard for the ride 5) Frog couple 6) Trying to drive away on a snail 7) Possibly a gay couple 8) Diverse underwater couple 9) The two that looked like they had the most fun.

Couple #6: Trying to drive away on a snail
As you can see this event through the eyes of a pair, the Velocity Circus took over the museum that night as the fun was inspired by the Academy's marvelous menagerie of creatures. With jugglers, gymnasts and animal themed Burning Man sculptures including Dusty Rhino, I ran into a peacock that made me a butterfly out of balloons.
 
COUPLE CAUGHT #7: Possibly a gay couple

COUPLE CAUGHT #8: The diverse underwater couple

COUPLE CAUGHT #9: Couple of fun people
The California Academy is full of fun surprises, as it's also starting to offer the adult version of "Penguins + Pajamas" which would essentially be a grownup sleepover in the Museum -this secures the California Academy of Science as the #1 place to take a date. Some rules that I found out for this event though is that cell phones are not allowed and you can not use the tanks as a writing surface nor bring a tent. They did say I could wear my slippers though (as long as they are soled). My strategy suggestion: Forget about trying to sell me another branded t-shirt, make a nightmask that has penguins in pajamas on it and I'd buy that.

CRASHED IT -to the couples of Cal Academy!

Monday, May 6, 2013

Wine Luxury

Wine Luxury Soiree

April 26th 6-10pm @ City Club

CRASHING the Soiree with my photographer
People often as me what event has been my favorite crash thus far and now I can confidently say the Wine Luxury Soiree. They dominated their first event by using this simple equation that I came up with: Fine Wine + C-List Celebrities + Sexy Fashion Models = Success.

No big deal
It was an evening of luxury unveiled as I danced away swinging the ladies around me. No one could believe I had those dance moves in me until Jonathan Cain from the band Journey jumped on stage and reassured the crowd by singing 'Don't Stop Believin' and the whole place echoed along with their phones out recording.

Daniel Feder, CEO of Wine Luxury
Jonathan Cain, from Journey
It all wouldn't be possible though without Daniel Feder. Daniel founded Wine Luxury (WLX) in March 2012, which is a multifaceted online platform and magazine dedicated to the celebration of a wine and culinary lifestyle. Their mission is to be the leading digital platform for the curation of all elements of this lifestyle, and to promote world-class wineries, dining establishments and related luxury experiences. They bring the foremost wine producers and restaurants together with consumers who share the same passions and appreciation for wine and food. Soiree was an ideal opportunity for people to explore Wine Luxury and also get a glimpse of the digital platform they're launching. To learn more they put together this video that provides a little color to this wine situation. http://youtu.be/DmX9lvdydLM (Great video but feel free to stop at 2:27 because the last part is unnecessary) 

The Jew Crew: Zamir Gotta, Adam Richman & J-Me Kornick
Adam Richman, from Man vs. Food had photobombed my picture so I took on the challenge that evening of woman vs wine. I caught up with him and Zamir Gotta, from the Travel Channel to form the Jew Crew. These two guys and I L'achimed for coming together to celebrate some delectable kosher wine (the Kosher part not confirmed).

Throughout this event beautiful garments were standing tall on fashion models showing off the designs of recycled materials, custom made, elegant garments. The sexiest person at the party though, voted by my photographer and I, was in fact not one of the fashion models but a writer from Wine Luxury.
Sexiest thing at party

CRASHED IT... To a successful celebration of the wine lifestyle!

Fun in the photobooth