pencel

At Mark Wolfe Contemporary Art - Ajna Lichau and Jessica Pezalla.  These two artists are well paired, as I was really drawn into the meditative aspects of both of their work.  Pezalla's sculptures are reminiscent of undersea biological forms, while Lichau creates modern cameos and silhouettes in which the figures inside sometimes move and breathe.  Modern Victoriana.

At SFMOMA - Martin Munkacsi: Think While You Shoot!  This is one of those shows that's going to inspire me for weeks to come.  Munkacsi was the forerunner of Avedon and Cartier-Bresson and made his name shooting photographs for magazines, and until recently he had pretty much been forgotten.  He had an incredible ability to capture slices of life in his pictures, and also did some amazing celebrity and fashion work.  He was the master of the action shot, and was even the first photographer to bring movement into fashion photography when he shot a model running down a beach for Harper's Bazaar.  His compositions are all modernist angles, the work of someone with a knack for fresh perspective and for anticipating the moment he wants to capture on film.  If you're in the museum to see the Picasso show anyway, definitely head downstairs and check out this retrospective.
- press images

At Lisa Dent Gallery - Tim Sullivan.  This particular show is directly influenced by Warhol, including Sullivan's own silkscreens of one of Warhol's flower patterns, and side-by-side videos of Warhol eating a hamburger and Sullivan mimicking Warhol eating a hamburger.  I also enjoyed the cleverness of the photographs in which color had been deliberately painted out, leaving the eye to puzzle out why things didn't look quite right. 

from the Booksmith:
"From the revolutionary mind of television's legendary mad genius comes The Big Question - a story of money, sex, greed, revenge, and murder. Chuck Barris - former Gong Show host and self-proclaimed CIA hitman (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) - has crafted a wickedly funny novel that skewers reality TV. The premise is as gruesome as it is simple – win one hundred million dollars or die trying."

At his reading last night Barris said that he had written this novel because of the trend toward more cruelty on television, especially in the reality shows.  In his book the contestant who tries to answer the Big Question wins a vast sum of money if correct, but is executed on stage in front of everyone if they get it wrong.  He asked the audience who would watch the show if it were on today, and this being San Francisco only a few sheepish people raised their hands.

Even though I was using public transportation instead of my bike to get around the city last night (and as the bus crested Hayes Hill you bet I was glad I wasn't climbing it under my own power), I stopped by the Rickshaw Stop for their Bike-Away-from-Work Party to have a beer and to support the SF Bicycle Coalition.  The place was packed with cute cyclist types, with a DJ spinning tunes and bicycle footage playing on the giant screen above the stage.  I invested my money in some raffle tickets with the hope of winning a night of debauchery for me and my closest friends at Suppenkuche.  If I win, you'll be the first to know.

Tomorrow night: Bjork!  With Joanna Newsom!  And that guy from the Sugarcubes who did all the rapping!  Holy crap I'm excited.  I don't even care that it's at the Shoreline.

I'm DJing this weekend:
Matokie
Sunday morning
9am-noon PST, Sunday May 20
KALX Berkeley 90.7fm

A picture is worth a thousand misguided words:
Check out the latest installment of The Blue Herald's Rightwing Cartoon Watch.