Cliff Notes
Each week, our regional Cliff Notes columnists Mariah Green, Vanessa Perez Winder, Jas Keimig, and Sam Wrigglesworth pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast.
Flying Paper: Documentary Film in Gaza
Cone Shape Top, Oakland, California
December 15, 2023 only, limited space and RSVP needed
Masks required. Not wheelchair-accessible.
Last month I was pleased to hear Cone Shape Top, a truly wonderful art/book/gift store/community space, announce that they would be pausing their regular programming for the rest of the year to offer the space for groups or individuals “working to amplify awareness towards the current occupations/genocides taking place in Palestine, Sudan, Congo, and beyond.” This upcoming film screening is the third solidarity event to come out of the call so far.
Flying Paper (2013), co-produced with filmmakers in Gaza, follows a fictional story of Palestinian youth in the Gaza Strip through the cultural significance of kite-making and flying; a form of affective resistance. Although there is limited seating inside, as I write this, the RSVP is still open, and it is likely that there may be a waitlist opened up in case there’s more demand.
I am expecting there to be more events in the future, but I do hope that more art spaces in the Bay also heed Cone Shape Top’s example to halt “business as usual,” refuse silence, and actively offer their space for learning, discussion, imagination, and healing.
Reflection: How do you embrace pauses, slowdowns, and strikes in the spirit of solidarity?
Julian Adon Alexander: Pocket Dimensions
Swim Gallery, San Francisco, California
November 11, 2023 to January 7, 2024
There is something so alluring and interesting to me about black and white drawing; I am always getting lost in the values, contrasts, and shadows. Graphite has a way of giving so much detail and resonance to people, places, and objects in a way that can feel soft and deeply intimate.
I think this is why I am so drawn to the works in Julian Adon Alexander’s solo show Pocket Dimensions. The NY-based artist presents a series of graphite works on toned paper about, in the artist’s own words, “where we go when the outside world is too much to handle.” In his signature style, the artist renders images of interiority and comfort; candid images of significant people, familiar objects, and backgrounds, while refraining from strict realism to offer us a bit of dream and fantasy too.
Often we ask artists and cultural workers of color to constantly mine from their personal lives, so I appreciate Adon Alexander’s willingness to be vulnerable in this kind of opaque way.
Reflection: How do you preserve your interiority?
PACK
Good Mother Studio, Oakland, California
December 9 to December 31, 2023
There was a moment a few months ago when I thought Good Mother Studio was going to close after its owners opened up Good Mother Gallery in Los Angeles last year, but luckily, it turned out that they just moved to a way bigger space.
For nearly a decade, Good Mother has always had its finger on the pulse of what’s happening with young and emerging artists and makers of color in Oakland and has often been one of the first places many of these artists exhibit their work. I’m enthusiastic to see what evolutionary changes are on the horizon for this space.
In PACK, Good Mother Studio invites a select and diverse group of fifty artists (many of them local and others based across the U.S.), to showcase their work one last time in 2023. Honestly, I love a big group show. While it can be overwhelming, I love looking through the long list of names to find my favorite folks, discovering several new artists, and seeing friends and strangers’ work in dialogue with one another.
This show has a ton of *~gems~* throughout, including work by Hector Guzman-Munoz, Paola de la Calle, Gabe Kasor, Thomas Lewis, Jamil Nasim, Maya Fuji, and many more.
Reflection: How do you decide where to look first?
Artist Shoutout: Dignidad Rebelde
An artist collaboration between the celebrated Bay area based graphic artists Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza, Dignidad Rebelde has been hosting and participating in several different community-based screenprinting workshops in the Bay in solidarity with Palestine and other anti-colonial global movements. Last weekend, they led an event at Galeria de la Raza’s Studio 16, where community members learned/participated in screen printing hundreds of posters and t-shirts for folks on the streets protesting for Palestinian liberation.
Both Cervantes and Barraza have an incredibly solid and well established practice around teaching graphic/poster art, history, and critical theory as tools for organizing and mobilization, so if this is an interest of yours or you want to learn more, I would recommend keeping up with what they’re currently doing.