It has been a crazy week so my usual monthly First Thursday preview is a bit behind this month. However, there is a ton of great shows to see tonight and I want to make sure to highlight some of them so you can make sure to add them to your itinerary. First of all, the Artamo Gallery, CASA Magazine, The Health Gallery and Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery are accepting food donations for Art Helps, a benefit for the Unity Shoppe. This month’s request is for jars of peanut butter. If you bring in a jar of peanut butter you will get a sweet Art Helps button and will receive 10% off a purchase from that gallery. Make sure to pack a jar of peanut butter with you when you head out tonight. Even if you don’t purchase anything, it will help support less fortunate Santa Barbara families.

Click on the image above to see the full-size flyer

The two art shows that I want to highlight start with tonight both begin at 7pm so they would be great places to check out after you’ve made your regular rounds. First off, blog regular Jimmy Bell has a show opening up at Cali Green on West Ortega, just off of State Street. Bell uses a variety of techniques like splatter, scribble and folds to incorporate randomness and chance into his creative process, letting each piece unfold from the outcome of the initial result. Just within the last year you may have seen some of his work  at Red’s, Elsie’s, Blackbird, Fishnet or the Street Murals projec on Mason and Helena Streets. He must be one of the hardest working young artists in town, so make sure to show him your support by stopping by.

The second “Must See” of the night will happen at the Contemporary Arts Forum, also at 7 o’clock. As part of their Forum Lounge series Daniel Barrow will present “Every Time I See Your Picture I Cry”. Barrow comes to us from Winnipeg and was featured in the 2009 Time Based Art Festival in Portland, OR.  He uses obsolete technology like old-school overhead projectors to weave a tale through “manual” animation. It is sure to be an interesting lo-fi event.

Regardless of where you end up tonight, if you see anything that you absolutely loved, make sure to come back to the blog and post your comment to tell us all about it.

I’ve been enthralled with this project from the first time I saw  it a month ago. If you haven’t been to see these murals, they are located on the corner of Mason and Helena Streets, just one block off State Street and one block off the beach; across the street from the Fishnet Gallery. I’ve been digging around for info on these great murals that have covered up the barred windows and broken glass that had adorned this building. I have had more requests for information about this project that I’ve previously mentioned on this blog, so there is obviously a lot of interest, and understandably so.

The artists are all local and the murals are meant to be temporary. Eventually they will be auctioned off on Ebay to the highest bidder, with the money being used to sustain the project. There are already a long line of local artists who want to be included, and if you are someone who might want to get in that line, inquire at the Fishnet Gallery for more info. Images of the murals will be compiled into a coffee table book that will record the results.

I have been waiting for a list of all the artists involved in the first round of murals, but it has yet to end up in my inbox, so I headed down to take pictures of the murals to post here. I think I can make out all the signatures, but if you find a mistake or know an artist that I have left out, please let me know and I’ll make corrections or additions.

Make sure to check these out for yourself and stay tuned to this blog for information about the auction of the pieces which will take place in the near-ish future. This is a great project and it needs your support to keep it going. Help support our local artists and art community by bidding on these great creations.

Brennan Grace

Dani Swann

Dart

David Flores

El Chato

Jimmy Bell

U. Leon?

Lewis Turman

Vogel

For good or for bad, it is Fiesta in Santa Barbara. I usually celebrate the occasion by locking myself inside for the duration and try to avoid State Street at all costs. However, tonight there are very good reasons to make an exception tonight to head out for First Thursday. One of the things I’m most excited about tonight is the opportunity to go behind the scenes at the Granada. The venue will open up the lower sections and allow visitors to see the dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, etc. I’ve always enjoyed checking out the inner workings of places like this, though  I can’t say exactly why.

It is also Art Helps at  Artamo Gallery, CASA Magazine, The Health Gallery and Sullivan Goss – An American Gallery. These galleries will be accepting donations of cereal for The Unity Shoppe to help needy local families. With your donation you will receive a 10% discount on a future purchase and 10% of the proceeds of that purchase will also be donated to the Unity Shoppe.

If you haven’t seen the wonderful “California Calling” exhibit at the museum this would be a great time to stop in. The exhibit only consists of two small rooms, so you can see the exhibit with plenty of time left over for other places.

At the Contemporary Arts Forum there is “Echo of the Whole: Call For Entries ’08-’09: Adrienne Allebe, Stephanie Dotson, Tera Galanti, Servando Garcia”. I love call for entries shows and was unable to attend the opening for this show last week, so I’m excited to see the work of these four artists tonight. At 7 CAF will have “Selected Short Films by Aïda Ruilova, a video artist who draws inspiration from B-movie horror and vampire flicks of the ’70s. Ruilova’s videos combine classical cinematic devices with distinctively low-tech sensibilities, quick-cuts, and jarring soundtracks to create works that exist in the space between sound and image.”

There are two photography shows to get excited about as well. At the Brooks Institue’s Gallery 27 there is a exhibit of photos of famous photographers by Tim Mantoani. And at Samy’s Camera there is a show by Charlie Mitchell who has recreated famous old master paintings with a camera and clever Photoshop work. I haven’t been able to confirm that Samy’s will be staying open late for First Thursday, so this might make a good first stop on your itinerary.

Wherever you go tonight, make the Fishnet Gallery and Retail Theatre your last stop once all the State Street galleries have closed. Fishnet will be hosting the first monthly First Thursday after-hours event from 8 to Midnight. If you haven’t been to the Fishnet Gallery yet, it is located at 46 Helena St. just a block  from State Street and half a block from the beach. Tonight’s event will feature the work of amazing concept artists Mark Goerner, who will be demonstrating his process live.  I have seen Mark give a presentation on his work before, and it was, without exaggeration, one of the coolest things I have seen in a very long time. So I can’t recommend this highly enough. In typical Fishnet fashion the evening will also include DJs,  fire performers, hoop dancers and the wonderful mayhem usually associated with this crowd. I’ve also heard a rumor that there is some amazing street art murals across the street from Fishnet. I don’t think these are permanent, so make sure to check it out while you can.

I’ve attached all the info on the Fishnet event below. While you’re out and about tonight if you see anything that you think I should mention on the blog, please contact me to tell me all about it.

DON’T FORGET FISHNET ARTIST PROCESS SHOW Tomorrow Night after First Thursday Art Walk

MARK GOERNER at FISHNET

with projections by Republic of Tri, music by
DJ Mouse, Kit on Hoops, a special showing of the new Pyrospin film, and cuisine by the Hot Dog Man

Thursday, AUGUST 6th 8pm-Midnight
46 Helena Avenue, Santa Barbara

Mark Goerner's "Moon Crash 5"

Veteran of countless high profile projects in various industries, including work for such films as Minority Report, X-Men2, Superman, Battle Angel Alita, and Iron Man 2. Mark will demonstrate his process live at FISHNET. This will be a killer night. FISHNET is all about process, how artists conceive, prototype and produce their finished work. Thursday night FISHNET artist MARK GOERNER will be on hand to talk about his process, techniques and the philosophy he uses  to develop is professional and gallery work.

We’ll have a large selection of Mark’s work for sale at the event and he’ll be happy to sign prints following the demo.

On the 4th of July in Santa Barbara’s endangered Funk Zone a new and very unique gallery space  celebrated its opening day. The place is called Fishnet and can be found at 46 Helena St., just half a block from State and Cabrillo streets. This is one of my single favorite streets in all of Santa Barbara and is truly one of the best examples of what makes the Funk Zone a special place that should be preserved and nurtured.

The Fishnet store focuses on street and subculture artists, and I was very excited by the wide variety of work that is of high quality and would appeal to much of the art-loving public. The works on sale include paintings, photography, drawings, multimedia work, jewelry, ceramics, and custom clothes…and maybe some more things that I’m forgetting.

The store will be run on a volunteer basis by many of the artists who have work on display. This means that you might just wander into the store and catch an artist creating something beautiful right before your very eyes.

The celebration on the 4th  was definitely a happening place, with a large BBQ, DJs, a fashion show, and fire performers. It was its own mini street festival.

Fishnet is an interesting and, I believe, admirable experiment. Many of the artists showing work there have previously been mentioned in this blog. To learn more about the Fishnet Retail Theatre and Gallery check out their website here. Or better still, make a special trip down to Helena Street to check it out in person.

Below is a list of artists with work up currently. When possible I’ve included a link to their relevant website.

Isabella Kelly-Ramirez
Frank Critchlow
Beth Amine
Ethan Turpin
Jenessa Nye
Jett Green
Jason Roessler
Soriya Blalock
Molly Hahn
David Cooley
Wallace & Jill
Lisa Brown
Jimmy Bell
Nils Hammerbeck
James Van Arsdale
Kimberly Hahn
Mark Goerner
Brennan Grace
Karen Lucket
Pali X Szilvassy
Laura Wereb
Anaya Cullen
Ashley Brown
Clay Bodine
Laura Inks
Corinna Schmidt
Ashley Olive
Nikki Brown
Danial Ochoa