With all of the writing I’ve been doing the past few weeks, I figured I would treat myself to some unedited and unfiltered art reflection. Here goes…
Sadly, I was unable to check out ArtPadSF. Looking at some of the pictures online (via San Francisco Art Beat blog), it would have been a real treat to see the overall layout and exhibitors at the Phoenix Hotel. Seeing each room set up as a gallery space and in a part of San Francisco that is not, traditionally, associated with the arts. That, my friends, is change (great change). With GAFFTA and EVER GOLD gallery in the area, the Tenderloin is getting some much-needed foot traffic. Lessons learned: I am NOT missing ArtPad 2012!!
Now, for the fairs I attended (with my loved one)…
The San Francisco Fine Art Fair (SFFAF) showcased some talented artists and great galleries but much more traditional and commercial in comparison to both ArtPad and artMRKT. Aside from the galleries, non-profit art organizations were located towards the back of the pavilion promoting their events and exhibitions to interested individuals. Some of these groups included SF Camerawork, San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), Oakland ArtMurmur, and San Francisco Women Artists (SFWA). Although SFFAF had a decent turnout, it would have been great to see the SFAI’s MFA exhibition next door (in 2010, both events were held concurrently). Seeing how art evolves by having vanguard artists in one building and emerging artists in another shows how some of the same ideas and concepts are interpreted by a new generation .
As for artMRKT, I was extremely happy to see many of my favorite galleries representing their stable of artists (I don’t really like referring to a collection of artists as a stable but I know it’s a part of the vernacular). Some of my favorite galleries and art institutes at artMRKT included:
- Charlie James Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
- Catherine Clark Gallery (San Francisco, CA)
- Eleanor Harwood Gallery (San Francisco, CA)
- Jack Fischer Gallery (San Francisco, CA)
- Kala Art Institute (Berkeley, CA)
- Gallery Paule Anglim (San Francisco, CA)
- San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (San Jose, CA)
- Traywick Contemporary (Berkeley, CA)
- Babcock Galleries (New York, NY)
- Barry Friedman (New York, NY)
- Black & White Project Space (Brooklyn, NY)
- Scott Richards Gallery (San Francisco, CA)
- Nancy Hoffman Gallery (New York, NY)
- Luis De Jesus Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)
- Ferrin Gallery (Pittsfield, MA)
- Tilton Gallery (New York, NY)
- 101/exhibit (Miami, FL)
- Asian Contemporary Arts Consortium (San Francisco, CA)
- Yes, artMRKT was great and as you can see, this particular fair had me going around in circles ensuring I didn’t miss a thing. It was impressive and well executed. Also, it was great to learn that there will be a couple of artMRKT productions later on this year, one in the Hamptons and a Texas Contemporary! If the SF artMRKT is any indication of the what Max Fishko and Jeffrey Wainhause (managing partners of artMRKT), are capable of for an inaugural show, I’m certain the Hamptons and Texas Contemporary will be just as impressive and well put together.
- The solo seats in the VIP lounge were a little too reminiscent of bucket seats in an 87′ Camaro IROC Z. I was quickly reminded of how I need to work on my core stability due to the difficulty of getting up and out of the chair.
- If you’re going to charge art patrons $7 for a basic sandwich (and I mean BASIC), please put some goat cheese and/or pesto and throw it on a panini machine. Make it worth the $7 (pretty please).
Dorothy R. Santos 
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