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Once a
year the now 51-year-old Art Guild of Pacifica holds its annual
members show, always a treat for the eye and the heart. The depth
and breadth of the members' commitment to the arts is on full display,
and the shows just get better every year. This year's exhibition
opens on Friday, September 11, with a reception for the artists
from 7 to 9 p.m., graced by the musical talents of Vivace!
The Award
of Excellence winners from the AGP 50th Annual, selected
in 2008 by Jack Fischer of the Jack Fischer Gallery in San Francisco,
will exhibit in the East Gallery. The artworks that received these
awards are pictured above: (left to right) Wayne Jiang's mesmerizing
acrylic, Sherman's Wedding; Gale Frances' serene oil triptych,
Three Days at San Gregorio (detail); Elizabeth McClellan's
magical multilayered acrylic, Backyard Alchemy; and Achziger's
striking abstract, Twilight's Carnival, done in acrylic
and glitter. The shows run through October 17.
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Achziger
of San Francisco grew up in Pacifica, where he was introduced to
art by his neighbor, Betsy Day, a charter member of the Art Guild
of Pacifica. He uses non-traditional combinations of oils, acrylics,
and other mixed media to create abstract paintings that can capture
anything from the fluidity of the ocean to the crush and excitement
of a crowded carnival. Pacifica artist Gale Frances uses various
mediums in genres that range from seascape to political satire.
Her most recent work includes spoofs of public figures, both in
and out of the art world, and clichéd maxims tweaked to amuse or
confuse. Her images, including self-portraits, are often facetious
or ironic. Wayne Jiang, also now of Pacifica, was born in Guangzhou
China and came to the U.S. when he was 15. With a degree in illustration
from San Jose State University, he has worked as a graphic designer
and fine artist for the last decade, recently starting to paint
full-time. He likes to create paintings that reflect on stillness,
solitude, and mystery. Elizabeth McClellan of Pacifica practices
a gestural, immediate painting style inspired by the effects of
light on plants in the garden. She layers delicate colors and images
to create paintings that are visually entertaining and quietly impactful.
This will be a wonderful exhibition, with serenity, action, humor,
and reflection - something for everyone. |
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The award
winners in the 51st Annual will be selected by DeWitt Cheng,
a well-known San Francisco artist, curator, and art writer. Cheng
describes his challenge as an art writer in these words: "It
is the art writer's job to try to understand the artist; to explain
the work as readably and informatively as possible, and to make
a case with the general public for the creative enterprise, which
nowadays seems to be badly understood or completely misunderstood
by most people, owing to poor national art education and the increasingly
obscure and rarefied (not to say precious) nature of much contemporary
art." |
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