Cindy

The Jungle on Clarion Alley

 Posted by on November 3, 2012
Nov 032012
 

Clarion Alley
The Mission

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This gorgeous woman is by BODE.  This mural is in Clarion Alley in the Mission District.

Clarion Alley runs just south of 17th Street from Mission to Valencia.

CAMP, or the Clarion Alley Mural Project originated in 1982, inspired by San Francisco’s Balmy Avenue just down the street. None of the artists that formed CAMP had participated in the Balmy Alley project, nor did any of them have any background in mural projects. There is no theme to the alley or what artists are allowed to paint.  Once an artist is given space, and as long as it is maintained it pretty much belongs to the artist.  There is a committee that notifies the artist if the mural has been tagged or defaced.

The Clarion Alley area has an ethnically diverse set of residents and owners, but it is also the site of serious drug dealing and substance abuse, and is frequently used as an outdoor toilet. Although Clarion opens onto Valencia Street directly across from a new district police station, that has had no impact on the alley’s illicit users.

It was hoped that if the alley became the site of artwork which brought visitors, then its “inhabitants” would be inclined to go elsewhere to defecate and shoot up, there is some indication that this is happening, but not fully.

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Mark Bode is the son of legendary Vaughn Bode, and is a prolific and highly successful artist in his own right.


 

 

Thank You Tenderloin

 Posted by on November 2, 2012
Nov 022012
 

Market and Turk Streets
The Tenderloin
Turk Street Side of the Building

This mural, titled “Thank You Tenderloin” is a collaboration between Ricardo Richey also known as the Apexer, Neonski and Chez.

Raina “Scar” Feger – a member of Living Miracle Productions

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A major name in the Bay Area graffiti scene, Neonski became a member of the legendary BA (Burning America) Crew in the early 90s and in 1994, became the North American distributor of Barcelona-based Montana (MTN) Colors, a graffiti-writer owned, private company, and the first spray paint brand made by-and-for writers. MTN Colors has become a staple for artists of all types involved in graffiti. Now C.E.O/President, Neonski’s painting takes a backseat to the business, but whenever the opportunity arises, the artist enjoys going back to his roots. Cultural symbols of his rich Armenian heritage can be seen in some of his pieces.

APEX (b. 1978, San Francisco, CA), also known as Ricardo Richey, is a street artist who creates colorful abstract patterns through the use of spray paint. Part of the Gestalt Collective that engages in collaborative murals in San Francisco, Apex curated mural projects on Bluxome Alley, other districts of San Francisco, and the SFMOMA display windows in association with St. Johns Community Center (San Francisco, 2002). His work has been shown extensively both in the Bay Area and abroad.

Chez is a member of the Fresh Paint crew, producing high quality images in various mediums and surfaces. His portfolio of work includes all aspects of aerosol lettering, tattoo art, airbrushing and photorealistic paintings in oils, acrylics and spray paint.

A Swiss Gentleman paints in the Haight

 Posted by on November 1, 2012
Nov 012012
 

665 Haight Street

This piece is by Romanowski.   Born and raised in Basel, Switzerland he is a DJ and painter.

According to All Music Romanowski considers sneaking into his mother’s liquor cabinet and record collection his introduction to the DJ lifestyle. Booze and Beatles albums gave way to old school rap and early electronica, a combination he spun together at the age of 14 in his native Zurich, Switzerland. He moved to San Francisco in 1992 and soon hooked up with the Behind the Post Office collective, a group of DJs and rappers revolving around the Behind the Post Office record store. Sharing the stage with Meat Beat Manifesto and Thievery Corporation, along with DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, at the legendary first Brainfreeze performance was a highlight of Romanowski’s early career. His debut, Steady Rocking on Future Primitive Sound, displayed the DJ’s love of Jamaica’s rocksteady music filtered through playful electronics. Besides his musical output, Romanowski is an artist associated with the Curators collective and has had his work shown in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Seattle’s edgier galleries.

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Meggs in The Tenderloin

 Posted by on October 31, 2012
Oct 312012
 

Myrtle Alley
The Tenderloin

 

This piece is by Meggs. Growing up in the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne, David ‘Meggs’ Hooke, immersed himself in the worlds of drawing, cartoons, sci-fi films and skateboarding. In 2000, Meggs graduated from University with a Bachelor of Design and soon after became recognized for stencils and poster art on the streets of Melbourne. In 2004, Meggs became a founding member of the renowned Everfresh Studio a respected and unique collective of street artists known for large amounts of collaborative street work and aerosol murals.

Ghost Sign, Or Is It?

 Posted by on October 30, 2012
Oct 302012
 

SOMA
7th and Brannan

Another great mural by the gang at 1AM

I spoke with Dan at 1:AM and this is what he had to say about this mural:

For “Knowledge is Golden” the inspiration was specific to the area which the mural was done. San Francisco is seeing its second gold rush with information and knowledge being the currency of today. SOMA, being slated to be developed as the new downtown of San Francisco with technology leading the transformation, is why we chose this location for our message.

Gold miners have been replaced by tech innovators. Pickaxes and shovels have been replaced with laptops and desktops. Though the times have changed, the human thirst for chasing opportunity remains prevalent in these times. And with this influx of new people, San Francisco culture as we know it will never be the same.

The mural is done by Roman Cesario, Jurne, Robert Gonzalez, and Daniel Pan

The Apexer in The Haight

 Posted by on October 29, 2012
Oct 292012
 

Haight and Masonic

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This spot recently held a mural by Lango. This colorful and powerful new mural is by Ricardo Richey, also known as Apex.

Ricardo is a street artist who creates colorful abstract patterns through the use of spray paint.  Part of the gestalt collective that engages in collaborative murals in San Francisco his work can be found all over town.

This video shows the making of the piece.

Lango Updates Jessie Alley

 Posted by on October 28, 2012
Oct 282012
 

Jessie and 6th
SOMA

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This piece in Jessie alley off of 6th street is by Lango.  It replaced his eagle that you can see here.

Peter Voulkos Hall of Justice

 Posted by on October 27, 2012
Oct 272012
 

7th and Bryant
SOMA

Peter Voulkos – (nicknamed)Hall of Justice – 1971
24 X 26 X 11 Feet – Bronze

Peter Voulkos   (1924–2002), was an American artist of Greek descent. He is known for his Abstract Expressionist ceramic sculptures, which crossed the traditional divide between ceramic crafts and fine art.

Born in Bozeman, Montana, he first studied painting and ceramics at Montana State University (then Montana State College), then earned an MFA degree from the California College of the Arts. He began his career producing functional dinnerware in Bozeman, Montana. In 1953, Voulkos was invited to teach a summer session ceramics course at Black Mountain College in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1954, after founding the art ceramics department at the Otis College of Art and Design, called the Los Angeles County Art Institute, his work rapidly became abstract and sculptural. He moved to the University of California, Berkeley, where he also founded the art ceramics department, and where he taught from 1959 until 1985.

This was the first piece restored by the organization called ArtCare.

It underwent a specialized cleaning, repatination, and application of a protective coating—all made possible with private funds (estimated at $35,000) issued by the newly formed ArtCare. The program aims to enlist private donors to complement the existing city government–provided annual budget of $300,000. Currently 15 public artworks in parks, plazas, and other public spaces are slated for repair.

According to the San Francisco Art Commission, there are approximately 3,500 objects in the collection of public art project in need of restoration, estimated in excess of $86 million dollars. The City of San Francisco allocates approximately $15,750 annually toward the care of the entire collection.

 

 

A beautiful fairy on the side of Harrington’s Pub

 Posted by on October 26, 2012
Oct 262012
 

Harry Harrington’s Pub
The Tenderloin
460 Larkin Street

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This mural on Harry Harrington’s pub is a collaboration Max Ehrman who goes by the name EON75, and English artists Faunagraphic and Rocket01.

Faunagraphic currently lives and works in Sheffield, South Yorkshire England, She grew up in Yorkshire, surrounded by rolling countryside in a small town called Todmorden; it is clear where her inspiration came from. Her beautiful and delicate paintings feature birds organic shapes, animals, nature and character with an element of fantasy.

 Rocket01 grew up in the countryside on the edge of Sheffield, where there was no murals or graffiti back in the 1980’s.  Rocket01 began his graffiti timeline by painting tracksides and abandoned buildings around the area. He completed a degree in Fine Art in 2003 and has since been painting with his partner Faunagraphic.
 Max Ehrman or EON (extermination of normality) 75 grew up in Florida, he received a masters in architecture from the Dessau Institute in Germany.
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Artifact from a Coal Mine

 Posted by on October 25, 2012
Oct 252012
 

SOMA
Third and Townsend

Mark Stevens -2007

“Artifact From a Coal Mine,” although the individual pieces have working names of: the ghost, gingerbread man, fire, whale tail and circle

Weighing well over 10,000 pounds, these pieces were affixed as public art to the outside of a contemporary brick and concrete condominium building at 177 Townsend at Third Street. Three of the pieces are four stories tall.

According to a 10.28.07 SF Gate article by Julian Guthrie:
“They evoke a lost world and the uncertainty of climate change,” said artist Mark Stevens.” The pieces – shaped as flames, a ghost, a gingerbread man, a whale skeleton, and a series of small circles inside a larger one – are characters in an allegory. It’s about fueling our future by consuming our present. The ghost represents us. Fire is the fuel that powers. The rings inside the big circle represent the various ages of man, starting with the Stone Age. This is all of human achievement. I should have thought this through better. I think that we, meaning humanity, put ourselves in a situation where we think something will save us. The little character that looks like a gingerbread man represents our faith in redemption.”

Stevens, who grew up in Rochester, N.Y., dropped out of high school at age 16 to work as an artist. He bought his first welding gun the same year. His favorite childhood pastime was scrounging in junkyards at night to find scraps of metal and other discarded detritus.

His mother told him he could remain at home rent-free as long as he had a show or paying project lined up. He taught himself through trial and error, and by studying artists he admired – notably renowned sculptors Mark di Suvero and Richard Serra.

“I just always liked the feeling of cutting steel,” he said, rubbing his callused, gray-hued palms together. “Cutting steel gives you a real sense of power. It’s like you’re claiming space. It sounds greedy and selfish. But that’s how I see it: You build something, you claim space.”

The steel originated at a company in Alaska, and arrived at his Seattle studio in 20-by-6-foot sheets. It is grade 304L, he said, which is the same kind of metal used in silverware.

“It won’t rust,”

 

Creazione by Dimitri Hadzi

 Posted by on October 24, 2012
Oct 242012
 

Dimitri Hadzi’s Creazione, a bronze sculpture with a spirited sense of movement was inspired by the music of Mozart.

Dimitri Hadzi (1921-2006) was born in New York City. As a child he was sent to a Greek after-school program, where he received instruction in Greek language, mythology, history, and theater. His artistic ability won him a drawing prize and his strength in math and science gained him admission to Brooklyn Technical High School. Upon graduating he worked as a chemist by day while continuing to study chemistry by night. On July 4, 1942, he enlisted in the Army Air Force and served in the South Pacific, where an officer encouraged his efforts at drawing. After the war, he returned to New York, decided to turn away from chemistry, and became a student of painting and sculpture at Cooper Union. At the age of 29, a Fulbright Scholarship took him to Athens where he studied the history of Greco-Roman sculpture while learning the technical demands of carving in stone. The GI Bill subsequently allowed him to continue his studies in Rome, where he set up his first studio. At his death, Mr. Hadzi was emeritus professor of visual and environmental studies at Harvard, where he had taught sculpture and printmaking for many years.

George Rickey and his Kinetic Sculptures

 Posted by on October 23, 2012
Oct 232012
 

Sydney Walton Park

Two Open Rectangles
Eccentric Variation IV
Triangle Section
by George Rickey 1977

 George Rickey has several kinetic sculptures around San Francisco.

Rickey (1907-2002) was one of two major 20th-century artists to make movement a central interest in sculpture. Alexander Calder, whose mobiles Mr. Rickey encountered in the 1930’s, was the other. After starting out as a painter, Mr. Rickey began to produce sculptures with moving parts in the early 50’s, but it was not until a decade later that he achieved the kind of simplicity and scale that would make him an important figure in contemporary art. At that point, he began to produce tall stainless-steel sculptures with long, spearlike arms attached to central posts. Rotating on precision bearings devised by the artist, the arms were balanced so that slight breezes would cause them to sweep like giant scissor blades, tracing graceful arcs or circles against the sky. (From his NY Times Obituary)

Sirron Norris Paints Calumet

 Posted by on October 22, 2012
Oct 222012
 

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As you can see, this piece by Sirron Norris is huge.

This is what Sirron had to say about the piece before it began.  (The scaffolding came down on August 31st).

This mural will be funded by Calumet and will be a collaboration with Precita Eyes (www.precitaeyes.org)and the 3.9 art collective (www.threepointninecollective.com).

My hope with this project, is to reach out to other artists and arts organizations in my community through collaboration. I also want to inspire my interns and give them one of the biggest challenges in their artistic life. On a personal note: this will be one for the books and will push my talent and experience to it’s fullest. I know the team I have at the gallery and the invaluable experience Precita eyes has, will help accomplish this massive undertaking. Keep posted for updates as we move closer to starting.

MURAL UPDATE: SF master muralists Jet Martinez & Apex will join us on the Calumet mural project!

Sirron Norris was born in Cleveland, Ohio.  After graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Sirron traveled extensively through out the United States, eventually settling down in San Francisco in 1997.  Initially, Sirron worked as a production artist in the video game industry while he perfected his skill set as a fine artist.  In 1999, Sirron quickly gained notoriety from his first showing at The Luggage Store, a well-known leader in the “mission school “ art movement.   Shortly thereafter, Sirron received his first artist in residence from the De Young Museum.   That year, Sirron’s career propelled into the limelight and today is known as one of San Francisco’s most notable artists.

Here is a great video of Sirron and this particular piece.

 

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A great way to hide unsightly utilities

 Posted by on October 21, 2012
Oct 212012
 

San Francisco State University
Lakeside

Flaura by Kevin La

This student work is an enclosure for a utility box.The steel constructed sculpture offers a design that fits naturally in the surrounding environment.

It is located between Humanities and University Housing buildings.

Cities around the world are starting to use utility boxes such as these for public art projects, it would be nice to see more in the city of San Francisco.

 

A Facelift for Junipero Serra Park

 Posted by on October 20, 2012
Oct 202012
 

300 Stonecrest Drive
Lakeside

There are two ceramic tile murals by San Francisco artist Bean Finneran, installed in 2007 at Junipero Serra Playground in San Francisco. The pieces are part of the SFAC Civic art collection and cost $23,000.

Employing just two shapes, squares and darts, Bean Finneran varied the color relationships to create two distinct artworks for the new clubhouse. The optical effect of each is strikingly different. On the south wall, facing the playing fields, the 7-foot by 9-foot pattern appears to be vertical stripes, while the north wall’s 7-foot by 8-foot mural becomes a series of oscillating squares. Viewers may discover, upon further investigation, that each pattern contains the other.

Finneran found inspiration in Islamic tile patterns and American quilts but drew on her love of strong color to give the patterns a cheerful, modernist flair. According to the artist, the clubhouse architecture and placement strongly influenced her designs. The south mural, overlooking the playing fields, is best viewed from a distance, and responds to the strong verticality of its site. A more animated statement greets visitors on the north, which faces the playground’s main entrance.

Laurey (Bean) Finneran began her career as co-founder of the theatre group Soon 3 and later became a successful jewelry maker. She is currently an active ceramic artist who exhibits frequently both nationally and internationally. This was her first public art commission.

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Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue

 Posted by on October 19, 2012
Oct 192012
 

1344 Ocean at Grenada
Ingleside/Sunnyside

There are three of these mosaic Sun Spheres on Ocean Avenue between Miramar and Grenada. Done by Laura True, they were installed in 2008.  The Spheres range in size from 3′ to 5′ in diameter and were commissioned by the SFAC at a cost of $47,500.

Fire, Air, Earth and Water

 Posted by on October 18, 2012
Oct 182012
 

Helen Willis Park
Broadway and Larkin

These columns, titled Fire, Air, Earth and Water were done in 2004 by San Francisco resident, Amy Blackstone.  Amy has several pieces around the Bay Area.

Excerpt from a March 6, 2004 SF Chronicle piece about Amy Blackstone:  “I love gardens. To me, especially in an urban setting, a garden is kind of magical and the gateway is kind of a trumpet announcement.”  Gates are one of Blackstone’s specialties.

 

These pieces are made with steel, fiberglass and patina.  The pipes were donated by Naylor Pipe Company.  They were commissioned by the SFAC for the Rec and Park Department in the 2006-07 budget for $36,000.

Andrew Furuseth at the Sailors Union of the Pacific Building

 Posted by on October 17, 2012
Oct 172012
 

Sailors Union Building
450 Harrison

 

Andrew Furuseth (1854 – 1938) of Norway was a merchant seaman and an American labor leader. Furuseth was active in the formation of two influential maritime unions: the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific and the International Seamen’s Union, and served as the executive of both for decades.

Furuseth was largely responsible for the passage of four reforms that changed the lives of American mariners. Two of them, the Maguire Act of 1895 and the White Act of 1898, ended corporal punishment and abolished imprisonment for deserting a vessel.

Furuseth was credited as the key figure behind drafting and enacting the Seamen’s Act of 1915, hailed by many as “The Magna Carta of the Sea” and the Jones Act of 1920 which governs the workers’ compensation rights of sailors and the use of foreign vessels in domestic trade. In his later years, he was known as “the Old Viking.”

This statue was done by Hal Bayard Runyon in 1940 and dedicated on Labor Day, 1941. It was a gift of the Sailors Union of the Pacific and is now part of the San Francisco Civic Art Collection.

Hal Bayard Runyon was born in San Francisco, CA on Jan. 31, 1907. Runyon was active in Hollywood during the early 1930s as a portraitist for the movie colony. He later was an architect for the U.S. Navy and then worked for Bechtel as a designer of nuclear power plants in Afganistan and Saudi Arabia. While in this capacity, he sculpted and painted as a hobby. After retiring from Bechtel, he devoted his remaining years to painting.  He lived in San Francisco for many years before his death in Sonoma, CA on July 11, 1993.

 

 

Harry Lundeberg and San Francisco’s Seafaring History

 Posted by on October 16, 2012
Oct 162012
 

Sailors Union Building
450 Harrison Street

 

Harry Lundeberg was born on March 25, 1901 in Norway, Lundeberg shipped out at the age of fourteen. Many years later, testifying before a Congressional committee in 1955 he described his past with simple precision. “As for my background, I am a sailor. I went to sea for 21 years. I sailed in many different rigs. I have sailed in steamers, passenger ships, sailing ships and any type of rig you can mention. I have sailed under several different nationality flags. I am an American citizen. I am married. I have a family. I have been a member of organized labor for 40 years.”

In 1934, Lundeberg was sailing as third mate aboard the SS James W. Griffiths. In the course of the 1934 West Coast Longshore Strike, Lundeberg walked off his ship in Oakland in support of the strike. At its height, at least 8,000 west coast sailors joined the strike. On July 30, 1934, as the strike came close to conclusion, Lundeberg was elected Sailor’s Union of the Pacific patrolman for the Seattle area.

Harry Lundeberg – 1901–1957 – He was indeed a man who crowded into a short life no glittering promise, but unselfish service and general achievement for the course he called his own.

The sculptor on this piece is listed as E. Hunt, it is owned by the San Francisco Arts Commission.

Few and Far Paint Clinton Park

 Posted by on October 15, 2012
Oct 152012
 

 

As you turn onto Clinton Park from Valencia the first piece you are greeted with is the beauty by Amanda Lynn.  Few and Far  have covered the walls of Clinton Park to the delight of all that wonder down this very short alley.

 

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And a little further down Valencia at Duboce, you will find another by Mags and Amanda Lynn

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Celebrating the UN Charter through Art

 Posted by on October 14, 2012
Oct 142012
 

Hinckley Walk at Golden Gateway Commons

Fountain by Jaques Overhoff

Jacques Overhoff has several pieces around San Francisco.  Overhoff was born in 1933 in the Netherlands and studied at the Graphics School of Design and the University of Oregon.  He moved to San Francisco in the 1950′s.

Henry Moore at 1 Maritime Plaza

 Posted by on October 13, 2012
Oct 132012
 

1 Maritime Plaza

Standing Figure Knife Edged by Henry Moore – 9161

This is an enlarged bone with the addition of a small head. Moore had always been fascinated by bones.

“Since my student days I have liked the shape of bones, and have drawn them, studied them in the Natural History Museum, found them on sea-shores and saved them out of the stewpot. There are many structural, and sculptural principles to be learnt from bones, e.g. that in spite of their lightness they have great strength. Some bones, such as the breast bones of birds, have the lightweight fineness of a knife-blade. Finding such a bone led to me using this knife-edge thinness in 1961 in a sculpture Seated Woman (thin neck). In this figure the thin neck and head, by contrast with the width and bulk of the body, give more monumentality to the work. Later in 1961 I used this knife-edged thinness throughout a whole figure, and produced this Standing Figure.”

Henry Moore quoted in Phillip James, Henry Moore on Sculpture; a collection of the sculptor’s writings and spoken words, Macdonald. London 1966, p.278

 

Henry Moore (1898 – 1986) is perhaps the most influential public sculptor of this century. Drawing on his studies of Classical, pre-Columbian and African art, Moore created original and truly modern sculptural forms. Abstractions of organic shapes were his primary motif. His seated, standing, and reclining figures comprise an enduring vocabulary reflecting the universality of the human condition.

“The observation of nature is part of an artist’s life, it enlarges his form [and] knowledge, keeps him fresh and from working only by formula, and feeds inspiration.” ~ Henry Moore

“In my opinion, everything, every shape, every bit of natural form, animals, people, pebbles, shells, anything you like are all things that can help you to make a sculpture.” ~ Henry Moore as quoted in Five British Sculptors (Work and Talk) by Warren Forma, 1964.

 

San Francisco is fortunate enough to have four Henry Moores, the other accessible one sits in front of Davies Symphony Hall. This piece is owned by the Golden Gateway Center Collection of Fine Art.

Icosaspirale

 Posted by on October 12, 2012
Oct 122012
 

 

1 Maritime Plaza

Icosaspirale by Charles Perry – 1967 – 8 feet – Brass

 This sculpture is constructed of bronze rods brazed together into triangular sections. Those sections were assembled into an Icosahedron shape. Note that each triangle that makes up the Icosahedron is itself a spiral. Hense the name “Icosaspirale

Charles O. Perry (1929-2011) was born in Montana. After graduating from Yale, Perry practiced architecture in San Francisco, California with the firm of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, from 1958- 1963. During his architectural career he had developed many sculptural models and was offered a one-man sculpture show in San Francisco. At the same time, he won the Rome Prize, a prestigious award granted by the American Academy in Rome for two years study in Italy. Prior to leaving for Rome in 1964, he had secured two major sculpture commissions. “The basic difference in the discipline of architecture and sculpture is that one can’t force a solution in sculpture, whereas in architecture, one can arrive at an apparent ‘rational’ solution through continual work.” For Perry, the appropriateness of the form is the criteria for the final goal.

 As an industrial designer, Charles Perry invented and patented three unique prize winning chairs. He designed other objects of art such as a collection of jewelry and silver for Tiffany, chess sets, and puzzles.

This piece was commissioned by the Golden Gateway Building Company and dedicated to the City of San Francisco, it is part of the Golden Gateway Center Collection of Fine Art.

Peacock Fountain at 1 Maritime Plaza

 Posted by on October 11, 2012
Oct 112012
 

1 Maritime Plaza
Embarcadero

This Peacock fountain was designed by architect Robert Woodward.

Robert Raymond (Bob) Woodward (1923 – 2010) was an Australian architect who gained widespread recognition for his innovative fountain designs. Woodward was educated at Granville Technical Granville and Sydney Technical College.Upon completion of his military service he enrolled in the architecture course at the University of Sydney. After graduating he worked locally for a year and then travelled to Finland to work for architects Alvar Aaltol and Viljo Revell. Upon his return he went into partnership, forming Woodward, Taranto and Wallace, specialising in commercial and industrial architecture.

In 1959, he won a competition to design a fountain in Kings Cross in Sydney to commemorate the war service of the 2/9th Division of the Australian Imperial Forces. The El Alamein Memorial Fountain, as it became known, was completed in 1961. Combining his architectural and earlier metalwork training he developed the “dandelion” inspired fountain which became one of the world’s most copied designs. Due to the success of this fountain, Woodward was approached for further commissions for fountain designs, significantly altering his career path.

 

 

 

University of Wisdom in the Financial District

 Posted by on October 10, 2012
Oct 102012
 

310 Battery Street
Financial District
Embarcadero

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This piece sits on the other side of the Old Federal Reserve Building from Dionysus and Hermes, also by Armand Arman.

The French-born American artist Arman told an interviewer in 1968. “I have never been — how do you say it? A dilettante.” Arman’s vast artistic output ranges from drawings and prints to monumental public sculpture. His work—strongly influenced by Dada, and in turn a strong influence on Pop Art—is in the collections of such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Tate Gallery in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Titled University of Wisdom this piece, done in 1989,  is part of the Embarcadero Center Art Collection. The collection was created by Embarcadero Center developer David Rockefeller and Embarcadero Center architect John C. Portman, Jr., who shared the vision of integrating fine architecture with fine art.

 

 

Albert Paley at 199 New Montgomery

 Posted by on October 9, 2012
Oct 092012
 

 199 New Montgomery
SOMA

 

This sculpture, titled Volute, is complemented by two wall sconces, they are all by Albert Paley.

Albert Paley, an active artist for over 40 years at his studio in Rochester, New York, is the first metal sculptor to receive the coveted Institute Honors awarded by the American Institute of Architects.  Paley received both his BFA and MFA from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Rochester in 1989, the State University of New York at Brockport in 1996,  St. Lawrence University, in Canton, New York in 1997, and the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden in 2012.

This sculpture is a result of the Percent For Arts Programs in San Francisco.

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Light Cannons at the Ferry Building

 Posted by on October 8, 2012
Oct 082012
 

 Ferry Building Plaza
Foot of Market at the Embarcadero

 

These two light towers, called Light Cannons, are approximately 65 ft in height. They are located in front of the Ferry Building and serve as the focal point of the Mid-Embarcadero Improvement Project. The towers are a combination of stainless steel, structural steel and cast-in-place concrete.

These two ”light cannons” are capable of projecting a pair of column-like shafts of light into the night air. The designer is ROMA Design Group of San Francisco.

 

 

Mark Twain and his Jumping Frogs

 Posted by on October 7, 2012
Oct 072012
 

Foot of the Transamerica Pyramid
600 Montgomery
Financial District

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Frog Pond by Richard Clopton
Bronze 1996

Redwood Park

Transplanted from the Santa Cruz Mountains 60 miles to the south, magnificent redwoods dominate this park designed by Tom Galli. The fountain designed by Anthony Guzzardo is decorated with the jumping frog sculptures, in a fond remembrance of Mark Twain, who for a time lived and wrote on this site.

Richard Clopton (1945- ) has his studio in Richmond, California. Training in the life sciences and the technical and aesthetic demands of a career in dentistry combined with an interest in the natural world have produced a feeling for naturalistic form and detail evident in his work. He completed his first bronze sculpture in 1991. His work includes both animal and human figurative subjects.

The park is only open during the week from 7:00 am to 5:30 p.m..  It is owned by the Transamerica Pyramid owners.

Skyward and Confluence on Post Street

 Posted by on October 6, 2012
Oct 062012
 

Academy of Art College
Post and Mason Streets
Union Square

Skyward by Peter Schifrin 2004- Bronze

Confluence by Peter Schifrin 2004-Bronze

Peter Schifrin holds a BA from San Jose State University in Sculpture and an MFA in sculpture from Boston university. He is the Sculpture director for the Academyof Art University in San Francisco.

These pieces were placed at the Post and Mason campus of the Academy of Art on its 75th Anniversary.

The Academy of Art campus was originally the First Congregational Church of San Francisco.

Cast Glass at the Mission Street Garage

 Posted by on October 5, 2012
Oct 052012
 

4th and Mission
5th and Mission

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These sandblasted, fused and cast glass pieces are by Narcissus Quagliata.  Narcissus Quagliata is an Italian and U.S. Citizen.  He was born in Rome in 1942 where he studied painting with Giorgio De Chirico. At the age of 19 he moved to the U.S. and studied at the SF Art Institute, receiving both a Bachelors and n Masters in Painting and Graphics. He began working in glass soon after graduation.

This piece is titled Oracle.  There are 40 panels, 8 per floor measuring 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 X 28″.  They were commissioned in 1993 by the San Francisco Arts Commission for the Downtown Parking Association and the Department of Parking.

 

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