Traditional wet photo media from a trio of artists at our favorite RayKo Gallery’s upcoming exhibition. Kirk Crippens, Maggie Preston and David Wolf are the featured artists.
So few centers around the country have achieved RayKo Photo’s tenacity and command of exhibits that advance public appreciation of photography, provide facilities and technical assistance/training and also foster opportunities for regional and national artists. Breadth of subject matter, from photojournalism to alternative processes to conceptual installations and abstract works make RayKo Gallery a sustained, viable brick and mortar place to see and experiment with a wide variety of photographic media. RayKo is not just an exhibition space that hangs very affordable works, but also provides workshops, rentals, darkroom, wet processing supplies, books, alternative art cameras and consulting.
Knowing how hard it is to maintain a credible, worthwhile and financially above water arts instruction venue, out hats are off to their efforts. Check out the impressive list of current and past RayKo instructors.
The current show of the 2012 RayKo artists in residence.
Kirk Crippens‘ work is black and white, the product of hundreds of meetings with local residents of Lishui, Peoples’ Republic – all in spite of a very minimal Mandarin vocabulary. Gallery Director Ann Jastrab is intrigued at how, with so little communication possible, people took Crippens into their homes and confidence to make telling portraits. His exhibit is Ten Thousand Scrolls.
Maggie Preston has a vision of the photogram, with unique chemical-made and folded imagery, combinations of digital and hand-made negatives and wet-darkroom printing. In Contact, her hybrid approach equal, in her commentary, a metaphor for photo art in flux. Restlessness is a distinct and palpable feeling, in which she details her artistic upbringing across the lines between analog and digital.
David Wolf works in sepia and color darkrooms. The After Life of Things combines imagery of cast-off, unwanted items and discontinued, out of date photographic papers, which advantges serendipitous effects of shifting colors and random marks of age. His earlier work Transform/Transcend utilizes movement in the enlarger? camera? combined with half-sepia toning that evokes history, mystery, destruction of culture.
RayKo Artists in Residence Exhibition
Nove 16- December 14
Opening reception Friday Nov. 16, 6-8PM
Rayko hours are
tues-thurs: 10-10PM
fri-sun: 10-8PM
mon: closed
428 3rd St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
415-495-3773