Art! Christa Grenawalt, Jonathan Carver Moore Gallery
the start-of-the-month post
I didn’t see as much art in February as I normally like to, due to being sick for far longer than seems reasonable, but what I did see was exciting. Partly because it was great stuff to look at, and partly because I went to two places I’d never been before. I go on and on about my love of this town, I know. But one of the many things I love about San Francisco is how you can live here for a couple of decades and there will still be just as many new things to discover as there ever were. Of these two new-to-me spots, one has been around for nearly 60 years, and one is brand new within just the last couple of years. Both pleased me so much to discover and visit. Not to mention the cool art I got to witness while I was there. Here’s the scoop:
Christa Grenawalt
I worked with artist Christa Grenawalt as a freelance editor to help her put together a show catalog for her exhibition “Waterline” at Canessa Gallery, so I was excited to go to the opening and see how the show (and the book) turned out. Canessa Gallery, it emerges, is an SF hidden gem, on the border of North Beach and the Financial District, with roots in the Beat and hippy days, and architectural bona fides that go back much further, to its days as a late-19th century printing press. Grenawalt’s work is concerned with environmental crisis and change, and she frequently paints outdoors, allowing rainwater and the elements to impact her compositions. In this show she was also considering where the natural waterline of the Bay used to be (more or less where the gallery is today), and where it may be again in the future (not far from the same spot). So her work, while beautiful, is also quietly devastating. The show is done now, alas, so I can’t send you there, but here are some of my favorite images:
Jonathan Carver Moore Gallery
I’ve been wanting to visit Jonathan Carver Moore — San Francisco’s first and only openly Black gay male owned gallery, which focuses on working with BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women artists, and which happens to be not to far from my home — for a while now. And their recent expansion of their opening hours to three days a week (Thursday - Saturday) made that easier to do. The current group show, Of the Earth, is inspired by the writing of the revolutionary psychiatrist Frantz Fanon, featuring several artists whose work deals with themes of colonialism, immigration, identity, religion, heritage, liberation, and place. My favorite discovery was probably the intricately detailed, gorgeously colorful work of Asad Faulwell, but everything in the show was truly fantastic (and the space is also beautiful—simple and austere, with great natural light). This show is only up through March 8th, so if you want to see it, be speedy! Here are some of my favorite pieces:
xo
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