Tonite! On the left coast, Darcy Padilla opening at Fifty Crows gallery in SF, exhibiting her long-term project Julie, a 16-year documentary of the life of an AIDS-afflicted woman. In Darcy's words:
"Julie has been on her own since her sexually abusive stepfather threw her through a glass window when she was 14 years old. She ran away from home, lived on the street, used drugs, contracted HIV, and had five children.
I first met Julie in February 1993 in the lobby of a SRO hotel in San Francisco's Tenderloin, she was 18 years old and had just given birth to her first child, Rachel. Julie and Jack Fyffe, the 19-year-old father, were both HIV positive. Rachel, they said, was their main reason for living."
from the project Julie© Darcy Padilla
Photographs by Darcy Padilla
opening Thursday, 20 May
4pm-7:30pm
Fifty Crows gallery
49 Geary St., suite 225, San Francisco
Next up, here in the neighborhood, opening Friday nite is the exhibition Another Way of Looking: Influences from Islam, curated by my friend Nama Khalil. The show features contemporary art influenced by Islam, including the works of Azra Aksamija, Salma Arastu, Andrew Ellis Johnson, Nama Khalil, Asma Shikoh, Susanne Slavick and Huda Totonji. The exhibition runs 21 May - 26 June 2010.
Black & White, 2006DVD loop (screen captures)
from the exhibition Another Way of Looking: Influences from Islam
© Andrew Ellis Johnson
Ka'aba Series, 2009silkscreen
from the exhibition Another Way of Looking: Influences from Islam
© Nama Khalil
opening Friday, 21 May
5-7pm
Cleveland State University Art Gallery
2307 Chester Ave, Cleveland
Also, if you missed it last week, take a minute to stop in Asterisk Gallery and check out new video work by Kasumi, up for only two more weeks. And, down in Akron, only 10 days left to check out the Andrew Borowiec show, Looking for the American Dream, at the Akron Art Museum (which you may be surprised to know has quite a budding photography collection and is very active in bringing photographer exhibitions and guest lectures to the area).
Last and certainly not least, if you're crazed like me about the upcoming World Cup (because your personal countdown indicates there's only 21 days, 22 hours and 27 minutes until the opening game kickoff between Mexico and South Africa), check out these Cup-inspired art posters, all comprising works on futbol by 17 internationally acclaimed artists with a special relation to Africa.
Its the perfect coming together of two beautiful things. Thanks, James, for the find.
