Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Social-practice artist and "crochet jam" creator Ramekon O'Arwisters told KALW’s Jen Chien about three fantastic arts events happening around the Bay this week.
- The Third Muslim: Opening Reception — SOMarts on 1/25
- Recology Artist-In-Residence Exhibit — Recology SF Transfer Station on 1/26 & 1/27
- Post-Nature Opening and Artist's Talk — Catharine Clark Gallery on 1/27
SOMArts Cultural Center presents The Third Muslim: Queer and Trans Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience co-curated by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Yas Ahmed. This group exhibition centers 14 artists whose identities as queer, trans, gender non-conforming and Muslim have consistently pushed them to the margins of the margins. The Third Muslim insists on the transformative potential of self-representation, revealing the multiplicity of Muslim and queer identities and experiences. The show opens with a free public reception on 1/25 from 6–9 p.m. The opening reception on 1/25 will feature shared works with a reading by Serena W. Lin and performance by Sarah O’Neal, two Bay Area based queer Muslim writers, as well as remarks from the curators. In addition, artists from the San Francisco Poster Syndicate will be onsite to create live screen prints for reception attendees to take home.
"They have to navigate a complexity of experiences ... the more filters, the more skills you have to have, the further away you are from the dominant culture. and that's very powerful. This show excites me because I want to be part of a broader engagement in the human experience."
The Artist in Residence Program at Recology San Francisco gives artists four months with studio space on-site at the Recology Transfer Station and access to materials recovered from the dump. This year's residents — Rodney Ewing, Beth Krebs, and Ciaran Freeman — have created mixed-media works ranging from paintings, sculptural installations, and using old photos, blueprints, lumber, and plastic packaging. They will be exhibiting their work on 1/26, from 5-8 p.m., and Saturday, 1/27, from 1-3 p.m. Additional viewing hours will be held on Tuesday, 1/30, from 5-7 p.m., with a gallery walk-through with the artists at 6 p.m.
"We don't really quite know what the artist will be creating. So every time you go and see a show there, it is always exciting. There's so much possibilities."
Kara Maria produces paintings and work on paper that reflect on political themes such as feminism, war, and the environment. She borrows from the broad vocabulary of contemporary painting — blending geometric shapes, vivid hues, and abstract marks, with representational elements. Post-Nature pushes the limits of sensational imagery in painting and mixed media; her subject matter has included small renderings of various cuts of meat, interventions in acrylic paint on vintage handkerchiefs and pornographic playing cards, and large scale, pop-inspired paintings.
"I think that becoming aware of how things are interconnected helps us to be able to be more grounded and more fulfilled and learn more about our responsibilities and purpose in life when we see how things are connected."