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review as pictures (and critique): Preview Party @ Minnesota street project

3/18/2016

2 Comments

 
Minnesota Street Project
1275 Minnesota Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

On March 17th, Glossary attended the preview party of Minnesota Street Project (MSP).
Spirits were high last night; people are hopeful about the potential that the project brings. Notwithstanding, there is much to critique as well. 
Picture
Tosha Stimage, detail of her installation/teaser from one of several CCA MFA artists on view at MSP.
Firstly, people need to be prepared for the influx of visual information. In SF, 49 Geary and various art nights have offered such critical mass, but because this platform is all in one two-story building the experience is different than neighborhood art walks/nights.

As always, it is good to see shows on off days, when it’s quiet and viewers have more room to think about the work and have meaningful conversations with the galleries. When Daniel Patterson’s café opens in the fall, this will provide a nice respite to take a break in between galleries.

Meanwhile, you can always hop across the street to Philz Coffee or many of the nearby restaurants in a few blocks walking distance. Speaking of which; there is ample parking toward the waterfront within a four block radius, and even more on weekends when the industrial businesses are not in operation. Plus, MSP is only two blocks from the Muni K/T 23rd Street exit.

I used to own a space, and we faced several access challenges at each location: one was a walk up with an elevator that didn’t work on my floor; one was in a spooky dirty flooded alley and one was behind a jewelry store. So I get it; people sometimes need reassurance to venture somewhere—even to art shows that we assume attract adventuresome and tolerant audiences—we are still plagued with stereotypes and fear. But as Andrew McClintock said last night, “There are no rules in the art world.”

Let’s embrace that more, shall we? MSP is a good start. I have written a couple of extensive articles on this space, and in general am very excited for what it brings to the Bay Area. Last year I interviewed MSP Co-founder Deborah Rappaport for artltd. And more recently interviewed Et al. gallery directors Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour for artslant. So, in general I am a huge supporter of this project.

The second major critique is with “critical mass” and the potential for “critical mess.” What I mean by that is the egalitarian “something for everyone” still leaves a big window of potential failure. This is where subjectivity comes in; within the larger whole will be shows that one person likes and another person pans. This is OK!

It’s important to begin looking at the individual galleries’ merits going forward, and continue to follow their programming; the bonus is the chance that suddenly the gallery you thought you didn’t like is showing something that catches your eye. Here are a few teasers that caught my eye:
Picture
Lava Thomas, in These American Lives: A Group Exhibition at Rena Bransten
Picture
Mary Mocas (L), Lauren A. Ross (R) installation as part of the CCA MFA exhibitions.
Picture
Mie Hørlyck Mogensen and May Wilson at Bass and Reiner
Picture
ambient sound work by Xrays
Picture
Foreground, Lorenzo Cardim; Paulina Berczynski, back right - Benjamin Cirgin, California College of the Arts MFA group exhibition

2 Comments
Michael Schoolnik
3/20/2016 11:50:31 am

I've given the opening night experience a lot of thought. I'm amazed by the rush of visitor traffic there, based on accounts of Saturday night. I'm thinking that there are many who never walked into 49 Geary or ArtMarket and who stood in front of an Enrico Chagoya for the first time. The PR effort for MSP was exemplary.

I speak for myself and found the MSP experience to be a mashup of 49 Geary and an art fair. The work was very commercial. I agree with some who said the solo shows stood out from the greatest hits shows.

The next 6 months are going to be very telling. Are the lowbrow galleries going to fill in any new voids? Possibly. They have the patronage, the low prices and party-like openings.

After opening night, I felt the urge to rush to Wattis or Kadist or BAMPFA, and any apartment gallery I could find.

There was an MSP "curatorial edit" that many don't know about. Aaron Kissman's work was ordered taken down from the bathroom of MSP's project space. I've heard from those involved that the work was deemed too sensational to be viewed so close to the opening of MSP. Ah, San Francisco, you provincial city you. Nothing changes.

Ours is a fragile city and there is a glut of artists and a dearth of collectors.

Art education is what is needed to grow a collector base.

Understanding how to take a work home and take care of it, like a puppy from the pound is something that will require a lot of patience and attention.

We'll know in 6 months if this place is going to morph into a decorator design center or not.

In the meantime, you'll find me at every lecture and talk I can find the time for, educating myself and soaking up the fantastic visiting lecture programs from SFAI, CCA, Kadist, Wattis and others.

Because it's simply stories and you can jump in at either end of the pool and great art can be had at any price you can afford.

Reply
leora lutz/glossary magazine link
3/21/2016 12:55:08 pm

Hi Michael,
Thank you so much for your insightful and candid comment. I am surprised to hear about the editing of artwork that took place. That does not bode well for me, but I also understand that MSP has to have some boundaries. More so than the work being provocative, I can see that there would be a security issue with putting projects in the common areas that are private, such as the restroom. I certainly wouldn't want an attendant in the bathroom to make sure the art doesn't get vandalized, and at the same time I do enjoy and support art in other places besides the white cube.

You mention "low brow" galleries, but I am not sure what you mean by this in the context of your comment. The term is often-times applied to a particular genre of gallery and aesthetic (graffiti/street/pop surrealism), which is not present at MSP, and I think is what you meant. It is a good point. I suppose there is a level of curating the space as a whole that is valid, but my overall view of the gallery curating is that I want to see more mix of conceptual and avant-garde voices there. I guess a bit more ugliness, rawness. It was a very Nice mix, but plays into not offering enough visual and intellectual challenge.

I agree, that the solo shows were a much stronger way to open a space. It generally does not interest me to be introduced to a space through a group show. I would rather see an amazing focused one or 2 person show and be very excited for the next one, and to follow what the gallery is doing, rather than try and pick out a piece by an artist in a group show and hopefully I will remember to check out their solo show if and when they have one. CCA MFA is an exception to this, as those shows are a Who To Watch, and the group platform is important in those contexts.

I think the Open space, that will house a variety of coming and going galleries is going to be very exciting.


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