February 11 to March 10, 2012

Opening Reception:
Saturday, February 11, 2012
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Love isn’t always clean, cookie cutter, chocolates and flowers, and all that mushy pink fluffy stuff; love is also dark and tormentuous, silly, odd, embarrassing and sad.  On this Valentine’s Day, Back to the Picture would like to give you an escape from all the mass-produced pink fluff and present to you a collection of artists each with their own unique interpretation of love and the things love does to us.

Join us in welcoming artists Jesse Aguirre, Hethur Babka, John Fair, Diane Flick, Brandon Fung, Morgan Fung, Jenny Jenks, Anastasia Kuba, Daniel Lorenze, Chloe’ Rose, Todd Rutherford, Ryan Sivertsen, Heather Wilder, and Terry Wolfinger at the Opening Reception to StrangeLove…and, bring someone you love!

StrangeLove is curated by Crystal Dent.

Open call to Bay Area Artists currently producing art and living with HIV/AIDS to submit work for upcoming show in our SOMA gallery, with a portion of the proceeds to benefit the AIDS Emergency Fund.

The Exhibition is to be held in April at Back To The Picture’s SOMA Gallery located at 83 10th St.

SUBMISSIONS TO INCLUDE:
…
***(3)Digital Images of current &available work up to 300kb

***Curriculum Vitae

***Artist’s statement, written in the 1st person

SPECIFICATIONS:

**Any created traditional 2-dimensional media (excludes photography & digital reproductions)

**All pieces to be exhibition ready

**Per Artist —- (Exterior Dimensions)
Up to 3 pieces no larger than 16 x 20
Up to 2 pieces no larger than 18 x 24
1 piece no larger than 24 x 36

SEND ABOVE TO: derek@backtothepicture.com

SUBMISSIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY FEBRUARY 5, 2012

ARTISTS TO BE SELECTED NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 11, 2012

This will be a group exhibition with an opening reception in early April.

About Back to the Picture:

Founded in 2005 by Servio Gomez, Back To The Picture/SOMA has become part of the rejuvenation of San Francisco’s South of Market District, after moving to its new location at 83 10th St. from Howard St. in the Fall of 2011.

Back To The Picture/SOMA features works by local San Francisco and Bay Area artists, and offers Fine Custom Framing for art of every taste.

Back To The Picture’s Flagship location at 934 Valencia St., in San Francisco’s Mission District has been in operation since 1985 and has been providing high-quality custom picture framing services to consumers, art collectors, interior designers and commercial clients, as well as dedicating gallery space to local & Latin American artists exhibiting in group shows.

Thriving Resillience:  Life Through Positive Eyes is curated by Derek Hargrove.

Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery:

Abandoned Art Sale in the Left-hand Gallery.  What is Abandoned Art, you ask?  It’s artwork that was dropped off for framing, then never picked up.  It was left behind.  Abandoned.  Forgotten.  Forsaken!

The statute of limitations has passed.  It’s been five years or more since these works were left behind.  We’ve made every attempt to contact the original owners.  Come see what people have left behind, then make us an offer, and give these pieces a good home!

Latin American Art & Ceramics in the Right-hand Gallery.  Featuring Clay Sculpture by Concepción Aguilar and family of Oaxaca, México, Majolica Ceramics from Guanajuato, México, and a selection of ollas from Nicaragua, Oaxaca, and Mata Ortíz.  Additionally, original paintings and prints by Latin American and Chicano artists, Open and limited edition artwork celebrating the Latin American culture.  All of it is colorful, lively work sure to brighten up any space.

Prosperity Mirrors 1/2 Off Clearance Sale.  Take 50% Off the Regular Price. Take one home today!

Visit Back to the Picture/Mission’s Facebook Page.

Visit our eBay store.

Back to the Picture/SoMa Gallery:

Selections from our Private Collection are on exhibit now.  Included are many fine color lithographs, signed and numbered by the artists:  Leonor Fini’s Ileria, A pair of lithographs from Dalí’s portfolio Les Songes Drôlatiques de Pantagruel, Untitled Austrian pastoral oil on canvas by Norbert, 1915, and more.  Drop in when you’re South of Market at 10th and Mission Streets, and take advantage of our Grand Opening Sale:  30% Off Custom Framing and decorator art and mirrors…valid through March 31, 2012, only at our SoMa location.

Visit Back to the Picture/SoMa’s Facebook Page.

Visit our e-Bay Store.

November 5 to November 27, 2011

Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 12
7:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Music by Miguel Govea & Family

• Adalberto Pérez Meillón of Ensenada, Baja California, México, Paintings, Prints, and Mirrors
• Mata Ortíz Ceramics, by the artisans of Mata Ortíz, Chihuahua, México
• Oaxacan Wood Carvings, by the artisans of the Oaxaca region, Oaxaca, México

Nahual (nah -WAHL) - A spirit being or animal entity closely associated with humans

Among Mesoamerican communities, it is assumed that humans have an animal counterpart to whom their life force is linked; a protective spirit.  Nahual is also associated with the pre-Hispanic shamanistic practice of shape shifting.

Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery extends heartfelt thanks to curator María V. Pinedo, artist Adalberto Pérez Meillón, and Steve Thompson and Louis Rodriguez of DeSilva Imports, Los Angeles, for their phenomenal exhibition, Animales y Nahuales:  Spirit Guides and Companions.  This year’s incarnation of our annual exhibit of Mata Ortíz ceramics and the work of Adalberto Pérez Meillón was themed around the animal kingdom, and was joined by fine wood-carved animals from the Oaxaca region of México, presented by DeSilva Imports.

Special thanks to Miguel Govea and Family, who played Mexican Folk Songs at our Opening Reception and had people dancing, and Jesús Sosa of Oaxaca, who demonstrated the wood carving techniques to several classes of children who visited the exhibit on school field trips.  Jesús, the children loved you!

Special thanks to our dear friend, artist Adalberto Pérez Meillón, who demonstrated his fine brush painting techniques during the first week of the exhibition.  Adalberto, thank you for exhibiting with us!

But especially, we thank the various artists of Mata Ortíz, Chihuahua, México, for their dedication to the ceramic medium, and the carvers of the Oaxaca region, Oaxaca, México, for continuing the tradition of the nahual and animal carvings.  Thanks to the San Francisco SPCA for their hard work and dedication to protecting the animals among us, and to the stewards of Rancho El Uno, Chihuahua, for maintaining the natural habitat of the Chihuahua prairies.

And of course, to all the guests who came to view the exhibit, and those who purchased pieces to add to their collections.  ¡Muchisimas Gracias, y muy felices fiestas a todos!

Meet Visiting artists from México:

Adalberto Pérez Meillón of Ensenada, Nov. 5 - 12, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Observe the artist as he creates his incredible fine line work, a brush technique learned from the Mata Ortíz potters.

Jésus Sosa Calvo of Oaxaca, Nov. 8 - 20, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm

Enjoy the experience of watching Jesus carve and paint his whimsical cats, dogs, skeletons, and angels.

Bay Area Wildlife and Animal Care Day:  Saturday, November 26, 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm

A portion of the proceeds of Animales and Nahuales benefited the San Francisco SPCA and Rancho El Uno, a nature reserve in Chihuahua, México

Animales y Nahuales was curated by María V. Pinedo of Galería Agave Rojo, San Francisco, in collaboration with Galería Pérez Meillón of Ensenada, Baja California, and DeSilva Imports of Los Angeles, California.

Grand Reopening Sale Event

Save 40% Off Custom Framing & Decorator Mirrors, now through November 23!

Save 30% Off Custom Framing & Decorator Mirrors, from Black Friday through Christmas Eve!

Save 20% Off Custom Framing & Decorator Mirrors, December 26 through January 31, 2012!

We’ll see you on 10th Street!

Offer valid only at Back to the Picture/SoMa, 83 10th St., SFCA, 94103.

Call (415) 558-9901 for more information.

Parking is metered Monday through Saturday from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm in front of our store; 9:00 am to 6:00 pm across 10th Street.

Small Packages: A Selection of Small Works by Local Artists

November 11, 2011 through December 2, 2011

Opening Reception & BttP SoMa Grand Opening Party:
Friday, 11/11/11, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Participating Artists:

Jesse Aguirre
Dan Arcos
David Avery
Christine Cariati
Sevilla Granger
dk haas
Jennifer Holmes
Alice Kelmon
Doug Poloway
Andy Stattmiller

With today’s focus on downsizing, effiency, and simplification, Back to the Picture\SoMa Gallery re-opens at our new 10th Street location with an exhibition of small works. A group show including artwork of many media, Small Packages illustrates that good things do indeed come in small packages.

We welcome back artists Dan Arcos, David Avery, Christine Cariati, Sevilla Granger, dk haas, and Alice Kelmon, and welcome artists Jesse Aguirre, Jennifer Holmes, Doug Poloway, Mark Powers, and Andy Stattmiller for the first time.

Please join us in the Grand Opening of our new space, and welcome the eleven artists of Small Packages, as they share their artistic vision with us!

Back to the Picture/SoMa Gallery
83 10th St. @ Mission St., San Francisco, CA
(415) 558-9901

Small Packages is curated by Randy Figures.

The 10th Annual Day of the Dead Art Exhibition, 2011

October 25 through November 2

Artists’ Reception & Celebration of El Día de los Muertos:
Wednesday, November 2, 2011

934 Valencia Street @ 20th Street, in San Francisco’s Mission District

Skull, Marsha Shaw, 2011, All Rights Reserved

• Blessings for our departed loved ones, by Antonio Chavez
• Sand Painting by Grupo Culturál Pitao Cocijo de Oaxaca
• Poesía por los bohemios del barrio:  Alfonso Texidor, Walter “Huracán” Gómez, y amigos.

In memory of Maria Marcelos, John Ross, Alejandro Robles, Eric Quezada, LeRoy Looper, and to all our dear ones who have passed away.

Join us in celebrating Día de los Muertos at Back to the Picture, and enjoy artwork inspired by this traditional festive holiday.

Participating Artists:

Alejandra Aguinaga
Adrian Arias
David Avery
Alexandra Blum
Eric Bushee
Raul Fernandez Berriozabal
Martha Castrillo
Antonio Chavez
Jose Islas Colin
Layla Durrani
Juan R. Fuentes
Gato
Art Hazelwood
Antonio Huerta
Ana Hurka Robles
Fernando Martí
Emmanuel Montoya
Gloria Morales
Rich Nyhagen
Veronica Orozco
Connie Ortega Oliver
Romeo G. Osorio
Patrick Piazza
Elizabeth Reiff
Arnoldo X. Rodriguez
David Sanchez
Marsha Shaw
Alice Sladek
Carolina Stankiewich
Kurt Stoeckel
Jill Storthz
Mayo Tobita
Luis Vazquez
Jungshih Wang

Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery
934 Valencia St. @ 20th St., San Francisco, CA  94110
(415) 826-2321

The 10th Annual Day of the Dead Art Exhibition, 2011 is curated by Calixto Robles.

Armonía, Calixto Robles - courtesy of the artist, All Rights Reserved

Join us in welcoming Calixto Robles in his solo exhibition Símbolos de Páz.  Recognizing that visualizing peace is the first step toward achieving it, Calixto displays new paintings and prints intended to put Symbols of Peace in the minds of the viewer.  Símbolos de Páz includes paintings, overlayed silkscreen imagery and paint on canvas, traditional prints in varying techniques, as well as a selection of ceramics.

These works were created with the intention of bringing joy and a luminous hope to the people who see them. -Calixto Robles, 2011

Calixto is on ArtSlant’s San Francisco watchlist.  Learn more about him here.

Visit Calixto Robles’s website here.

Gallery hours:  Monday through Saturday, 10-6; Sunday, 12-5

Símbolos de Páz is curated by Randy Figures.

Reception & Silent Auction:  Saturday, August 27, 7:00 to 10:00 pm

Exhibition runs from Wednesday, August 24 through the Silent Auction

El Tecolote has been informing the bilingual Mission Community on newsprint for 41 Years. Their newspapers are always free, providing our diverse community with news that affects them for over four decades.

El Tecolote Newspaper to Celebrate 41 Years of Publishing

Come celebrate the 41^st Anniversary of El Tecolote newspaper at a reception and silent art auction to be held on Saturday, August 27, from 7 to 10 p.m., at Back to the Picture Gallery, 934 Valencia Street. There will be food, music, refreshments, and an opportunity to meet the Tecolote staff. The exhibit opens August 24.

Gallery hours are 10-6 p.m. Admission is free.

El Tecolote is the biweekly, bilingual newspaper based in the Mission District.

For information call (415) 648-1045.

Special thanks to Juan Gonzalez and Acción Latina for organizing this exhibition.  Proceeds support free speech in the bilingual community.

Ronald Breeze - Multimedia Photography

Sevilla Granger - Ink on Silk

Irene Stauffer - Photography and Encaustic Mixed Media Mosaics

Opening Reception:  Saturday, July 23, 2011
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Trees surround us, growing wild wherever their seeds take root, or planted intentionally in urban settings to provide shade and respite.  Humans have short lives in comparison to our arboreal counterparts, yet we often take our oxygen-producing trees for granted.

Join us in welcoming three artists who take note of and inspiration from the trees around them.  Ronald Breeze, Sevilla Granger, and Irene Stauffer render the arboreal subject in photography, ink on silk, and encaustic mixed media, and invite you to share their enthusiasm for the most important life forms in our ecosystem, the trees around us.

Hug a tree, it just may hug you back!

Ronald Breeze

As a young man, I majored in Art and practiced drawing and painting using a variety of mediums.  I used a camera to record scenes I wanted to draw or paint at a later time.

Most of my young adult life was spent working for a corporation and supporting my family and the camera was my one creative outlet that I had time for, so I practiced photography as an avocation.  Eventually, the avocation became a vocation as I began to apply many of the techniques I had learned from other photographers as well as develop and apply my own.

I have never specialized in one type of photography as I see images everywhere, from the hustle and bustle of city life, to the stillness of nature.  I’m at home photographing a lone tree in the solitude of a forest or a lone individual on a crowded street.  Around the corner or around the world, in color or black and white, I see no limits in how images can be captured and represented.

My fine art prints are Giclée using pigment base archival inks printed on either Hahnemuhle Photo Rag or Museum Etching papers made from recycled materials.  All of my prints are titled, dated, and signed.  I do not sign mats as they are not the original work.

My work has won numerous contests and has been represented in Life Publications, Images That Inspire by Wily Press, 2008, Land Rover Owners Magazine and Leica Fotografie International, to name a few.

Portfolios of my work can be viewed here:  http://www.behance.net/RonaldBreeze.

“It’s heartening that trees are more and more appreciated for their integral part they play on Earth, but it’s high time we also appreciated their noble nature as the Ronald Breeze Grandeur of Trees photographic collection does.

These stunning black and white images capture their stark beauty and even artistic expressions of these living things.  The Ronald Breeze Grandeur of Trees portfolio forces you to look beyond the necessity of trees.  It compels you to think about them as natural works of art that are not just necessarily for sustaining life, but also for nourishing our souls.  Enjoy this gallery and next time you step outside, make sure you appreciate your surroundings.”  -From TrendHunter ECO

Sevilla Granger

Painting trees is my creative connection to ancient wisdom, my expression of grounded exuberance, my meditation.  While the work is not religious, I am inspired and challenged by the spirituality of nature and the nature of spirituality.  The exclusive use of trees for this exploration provides an archetypal structure, and frees my imagination to focus on the challenge of translating this ancient wisdom into graphic form.

While I have always had a profound respect and love of trees, using them as a spiritual theme in painting came into focus on Paletine Hill in Rome.  Even though I have been painting my whole life, it’s only been in the last 7 years that I’ve been studying the process of transforming canvas and paint into a meditative experience.  In those 7 years, that magical process has become surprisingly more difficult.  The deeper I go into them, the more I see there is to represent, and ironically the greater the need for simplicity.

Painting these trees fills me with a satisfaction of integrity and presence, and has proven a formidable challenge for channeling the inner vibrant peace I see in them into the eyes and hearts of my audience.  To do this, I paint for the inside out.  Though I work quite deliberately, the work is best when I’m able to remove myself and let the paintingevolve through and guide my hands.  My unconsciously aware heart is pulling the strings, pushing the paint.

Holding my right hand is Amadeo Modigliani, guiding the insightful, figurative side of my work.  Holding my left is Franz Kline, upheaving the literal and inspiring the spontaneous drama.  Above me is the eternal wisdom of the Hamadryads, informing my vision.  Below me is Zen, providing the ephemeral strength and weightless gravity.  The result is a grouded exuberance that both calms and inpires my audience.

Irene Stauffer

I am a photographer, designer, and artist.  I work with ancient photographic techniques, modern technology, and with traditional art mediums, often combining the ancient with the new and vice versa.  My love of simple things in life is reflected in my art, which is minimalist and timeless.

I grew up in Finland, graduated from the University of Helsinki from the School of Pharmacy.  While in Helsinki I got married, gave birth to our three children, and worked as a pharmacist.

A couple of decades ago when my husband’s job took us to the USA, I took the opportunity to fulfill my lifelong dream to immerse myself first in studies of art and later working on art.

Our recent stay in Seattle and in San Francisco took me to the nature, gave the wings to the ‘Tree Sketches’ project.  I started doing simple charcoal sketches of the trees close by in parks and at water front.  Later I came back to photograph the very same trees, and the project of simple drawings to a turn to mixed media project.  I photographed the trees, branches and weeds like I would draw or paint, leaving only the strongest lines.  Later I continued working on my digital drawing board, and printed these images with the artwork with layers of encaustic medium (beeswax and damar resin) on wooden art boards.  Encaustic adds an organic handmade surface interest, and it protects the fragile paper allowing the minimalist presentation.

Leaf and Limb is curated by Sevilla Granger.  See her website at www.villasevilla.com.

Getting to Back to the Picture:

Street parking is metered Monday through Saturday until 6:00 pm, free on Sundays.  Easy parking can be found at the Mission Bartlett Garage, on 21st Street between Mission and Valencia Streets, a short one-block walk from Back to the Picture.

BART to 24th Street/Mission Station, walk one light west to Valencia, cross and turn right.  Walk north four blocks to 934 Valencia Street, between 21st and 20th Streets.

Muni Metro:  J-Church to Dolores Park at 20th, walk three blocks east on 20th Street to Valencia Street, turn right and walk 1/2 block south to 934 Valencia Street.

Muni Buses:  14, 14L, and 49 to Mission Street at 20th, walk one light west on 20th Street to Valencia Street, cross and turn left.  Walk 1/2 block south to 934 Valencia Street.

We’ll see you there!

]]> http://www.backtothepicture.com/2011/07/17/leaf-and-limb-716-81911/feed/ http://www.backtothepicture.com/2011/06/01/2020-twenty-artists-twenty-visions-611-7911/ http://www.backtothepicture.com/2011/06/01/2020-twenty-artists-twenty-visions-611-7911/#comments Wed, 01 Jun 2011 15:42:28 +0000 rfigures http://www.backtothepicture.com/?p=132 “The creation of art is not the fulfillment of a need, but the creation of a need.  The world never needed Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony until he created it.  Now we could not live without it.” -Louis I. Kahn

Opening Reception:
Saturday, June 11, from 7-9 pm

Back to the Picture Latin American Gallery
934 Valencia Street @ 20th Street, San Francisco, CA  94110
(415) 826-2321

Back to the Picture Gallery and curator Crystal Dent are proud to celebrate our fourth annual 20/20 art show.  This show brings together 20 different artists from the Bay Area and beyond, each with their own unique vision and style, turning the gallery into an ambitious celebration of art and all the forms it can be created in.  So please come join us, have some drinks, eat some food, and immerse yourself in art.  This year’s featured artists are:

Hethur Babka
Matthew Buford
Nicole Burd
Krescent Carrasco
Eric Dallimore
Max Ehrman
Brandon Fung
Tuvshuu Ganbold
Italo Ganni
Chris Guarino
Jared Gutekunst
Melissa Knowlton
Daniel Lorenze
Bre Schulte
Ryan Sivertsen
Jasper Steven Thomas
Kateri Tyre
Xiau-Fong Wee
Tanya Wheeler
Terry Wolfinger

We look forward to seeing you!