Sights and sounds in San Francisco are like nowhere else in the world. The second most-dense metropolis in the United States, multicultural influence is evident at every turn. Six San Francisco artists in City Subject 2010 take us on a tour of what has inspired them to perceive and render the city around them in paint, charcoal, and photography.
Our second installment of City Subject, City Subject 2010 welcomes back artists Sarah Newton and Peter Kupfer, and welcomes artists Heather Capen, Jerry Goldberg, Michelle Gutierrez, and Mark Flanagan. Each artist brings his or her unique perspective to studying the city around us.
In City Subject 2010, Sarah Newton shows three charcoals of views one sees while transitting the city on foot at night. Sarah's charcoals appear almost photographic until closer inspection. Light and shadow are superbly rendered depicting the night on San Francisco streets.
Photographer Peter Kupfer observes people in the city in silver gelatin prints. Humanity in its moments of elation, dejection, love, and celebration are captured by Peter and beautifully developed in traditional photographic process.
Heather Capen paints in oils on canvas. Chunky texture and impressionist influence can be seen in her work, with a finish quality that requires a close look at every stroke. Foregrounds feature studies of the urban subject, beautifully lit by the San Francisco sky.
Photographer Michelle Gutierrez shoots moments in time, capturing people interacting within the city setting in everyday interactions, as well as during San Francisco's unique cultural events. From outdoor movie night in Dolores Park to a parade on Market Street, Michelle catches people together, then snaps their picture.
Painter Jerry Goldberg paints in oil, acrylic, and watercolor. A resident of the Mission District, Jerry captures street life from the perspective of one who explores the bustling streets of the city, then creates a stylized nostalgic image from memory. Observations blend with fantasy impressions to reveal a city sometimes never seen.
Photographer Mark Flanagan transits the city on foot and skateboard. Mark shoots graffiti, on newspaper boxes, in empty warehouses, and other unusual, out-of-the-way, and sometimes off-limits places. In color and black & white, Mark's photography documents moments within the fluid world of graffiti art and tagging found throughout the ever-changing urban landscape.