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Archive for February, 2024

Jack Howe Stops by Shooting Gallery- Sneak Peek

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Jack Howe stopped by the gallery the other day to give us a look at a new piece for his March show Bed Time Stories: From the Crib to the Crypt. Howe chooses each object to include in his assemblage pieces with great care, trying different combinations until finding the exact ones that fit into the overall narrative each piece is meant to convey. The rusted aesthetic is particularly appealing in this example Howe brought in. Stay tuned for preview shots as we get nearer to the March 17th opening!

RSVP Here

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Artist Mary Iverson, “Calamity” at Shooting Gallery (San Francisco Art Enthusiast)

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During the opening of her most recent show, Calamity, Mary Iverson had a chance to sit down with SF Art Enthusiast and answer a few questions about her work. Iverson discusses her love for the shipping industry and environmental preservation and how the blending of the two has steered the way towards her current collage work. She also talks about what it is like to be seen as both a traditional painter in Seattle as well as part of the pop surrealist art movement in San Francisco and getting back to her roots of drawing. Iverson has an upcoming show in Germany this fall and there are some talks of a wallpaper installation as well.

Check out the full interview here! Be sure to catch Calamity: New Work by Mary Iverson before the show closes on March 3rd, 2024.

Jack Howe’s Assemblage Art (Art Business)

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Using pieces of old mattresses, mangled dolls, and other objects, Jack Howe’s art work reads like a story of a past life. Howe’s work is designed around the notion that “chances are you are conceived, born, and will hopefully die on a bed,” and each piece reveals more and more of that narrative. Ranging from the grimmer side of things to the more lighthearted his pieces are sure to stir up some sentiment in the viewer.

Bedtime Stories: From the Crib to the Crypt opens up Saturday March 17th,  2024 and will be running through April 7th, 2024. You can RSVP to the event here!

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Opening Photos: Mary Iverson

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Last Saturday was the opening reception for Calamity: New Works by Mary Iverson. The show was amazing and Iverson’s beautifully detailed paintings are not to be missed. If you were not able to come to the opening be sure to stop by before the show closes on March 3rd!

Meanwhile, take a peek at some photos from opening night…

Check out this set on Flickr for a lot more pictures!

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Bedtime Stories: From the Crib to the Crypt

Shooting Gallery Presents:

Bedtime Stories: From the Crib to the Crypt

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Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Bedtime Stories, artist Jack Howe’s new solo show, presented to the viewer as a series of collected stories whose plots are revealed through broken pieces left behind. Bedtime Stories will feature eight large works, ranging between three and seven feet, along with smaller accompanying works. The opening reception is Saturday, March 17th, 2024 from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through April 7th, 2024.

With the reflection “chances are we are conceived, born, and will hopefully die on a bed,” acting as a frame for this exhibition, Bedtime Stories expands on a series of mattress pieces the artist created in the 90′s that was based on the loss of a young child, crafted “as if her life story continued on after her death…a created life-history as it were…her loves, ambitions, desires, joys, all enshrined on her body and embroidered into the mattress.” While Howe sold them all he kept two to show. And after showing one last year, Howe decided it was time to make a few new mattress pieces he’d had in mind, “to explore the existential themes that inevitably emerge amongst the rusty coils.”

With a foot in the past and an eye on the future, these narrative pieces relate to current relevant issues as well as to roads traveled…people’s well-lived and well-weathered lives. The works reflect an appreciation of time and decay, with entropy represented by layered detritus of a world past, inhabited by people passed. Each layer encoded with bits and pieces, evidence, clues about a life- the lives of a parent, a friend, a lover, perhaps a child. While some are dark and reflect serious themes, others are humorous, perhaps appearing to be grotesque still-lives of a life run amok.

From the artist:

“I select objects that elicited a response in me and I hope–whether they inspire nostalgia, or fear, vulnerability or strength, love or loss– that the pieces resonate with the observer.

Though I have a narrative in mind as I construct each piece, I resist offering written explanations as there is no true narrative. Rather, the life experiences of each observer brings unique perspectives and interpretations to the work which are often more compelling than my own.

As an artist and an inveterate collector of junk I’m happy to do a large-work solo show in San Francisco, so close to my home, so that I might share my most cherished junk through my big bang bedtime stories show. I hope you enjoy it.”

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Jack Howe is a self-taught artist. His formal education ended in high school, where rather than exemplary work, he did “expellatory deeds.” Beginning as an avid antique collector, Jack became an artist in 1989, after a 7.1 earthquake crashed through his home in Santa Cruz, leaving his entire collection worthless in seconds. Since they had not lost their sentimental value he decided to turn the “debris” into art…to take something old and make something altogether new. Howe’s first show was “The Gluers” at Bedford Regional Arts Center in Walnut Creek, CA in 1993 with George Herms, Wallace Berman, and Satty. Soon after he started showing at The Wier Gallery in Berkeley, with R. Crumb, Stanley Mouse, and Jerry Garcia; as well as at Billy Shire’s “La Luz de Jesus Gallery, on Melrose Avenue Los Angeles, where many of Howe’s works graced the walls for years. Howe has shown at galleries throughout California, in New York, Seattle, Detroit, Scottsdale, Miami, Austin, Europe, Japan and Hong Kong. His work has appeared in major and indie films, and is held in corporate and private collections around the world.

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The Shooting Gallery opened its doors in 2024 to the historic Tenderloin district of San Francisco; known for its lively street culture. Growing up in Southern California gave owner and curator, Justin Giarla, a love for everything lowbrow: pop art, street art, outsider art, punk rock album art, comic book art, surf/skate art and hot rod culture. Giarla recognizes how important it is to provide lowbrow artists with a platform for their work, which is exactly what Shooting Gallery has done for nearly a decade.

Studio Visit with Mary Iverson

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We recently got a behind the scenes look at Mary Iverson’s studio as well as a few photos of some works that are going to be in her show this Saturday. Calamity: New Works by Mary Iverson opens up on February 11th at 7pm. Be sure to RSVP here!

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Shooting Gallery Exclusive Interview: Mary Iverson

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Seattle-based painter Mary Iverson will be exhibiting her new solo show ‘Calamity’ at Shooting Gallery from February 11th to March 3rd, 2024. That means the opening is this Saturday so make sure to clear your schedule and join us from 7-11pm! RSVP here and take a look below to discover the inspiring details of Iverson’s work.

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