Creep Machine Magazine – Contemporary Art & Culture

Category: reviews

of shows, art & collectibles

  • Review: “Menagerie” group show @ Modern Eden Gallery

    This past Saturday, no matter how cold it was here in San Francisco, we headed over to the Modern Eden Gallery for the reception of Menagerie, a group show dedicated to animals. Each artist donated a portion of their sales, from 20-100% to the San Francisco SPCA. The show featured works by Akira Beard, Peter Adamyan, Bradley Platz, Lacey Bryant, Renee Castro, Aunia Kahn, Lee Harvey Roswell, Corey Benhatzel, Leilani Bustamante, Robert Bowen, Grant Gilliland, and many more.

    I loved the idea that all the work in the show were dedicated to animals; as well as being an art fan I am a fan of those that care about animals as well. There was not only a good amount of work in the show, but a wide variety of styles. Akira Beard submitted a watercolor or ink work that I believe was on yupo paper (below). It was not only textural and energetic, but shows the artists ability to capture a subject such as two dogs on a white background and make it look amazing. The show will be up until March3rd, so if you are in the area make sure to stop by. Otherwise check out the art on the Modern Eden homepage.


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  • Review: Charmaine Olivia “Ritual” @ Shooting Gallery SF

    On January 14th, the Shooting Gallery opened the first solo show in San Francisco by local artist Charmaine Olivia. Entitled Ritual, this show features new paintings inspired by the themes of mythology. Each one of the large oil paintings feature a female deity created by Charmaine, and the entire gallery has been transformed into a temple. The installations features magical items, and smaller works of art in dedication to the central figures. The show closed on February 4th, and I finally made my way to the gallery and caught it on the last day. I was told that the reception was pretty amazing, and free prints were even given out to the first group of fans. I wish I could have seen the show the reception night, but I am happy I at least was able to see this show before it was taken down. Along with this review/photos, I also made another video walkthrough, the longest one yet at almost 10 minutes. Click the read more for the full review and video.

    Prior to this show I had only seen a painting by Charmaine in person one time, at Spoke Art Gallery, however I missed the show she participated in there alongside Tatiana Suarez, Handiedan, and Craww. I was interested in how Charmaine would use the entire space over at Shooting Gallery for this new show, and was blown away at how she not only used the space in order to create a new world for this show, but completely owned the space. There was so much to be seen, so many details and tiny elements that all culminated together to allow the viewer to understand and feel the mythological beings the artist created. Since there was so much to see, I not only took more photos than I usually do, but also made a longer video than normal. I hope the video gives an idea of what seeing this show in person was like.

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  • Review: Obey Your Master Art Tribute to Metallica

    This past weekend a group show dedicated to the music of Metallica opened at the Exhibit A Gallery. While I was not able to attend the show, friend of the Creep Machine Brennan was able to make it to the show, take some photos, and write a short review for us. Take it away.

    So a few weeks ago I received an email about an invite only show coming up at Exhibit A Gallery here in Los Angeles. It was for a show entitled Obey Your Master and was going to be a group show with artists paying tribute to one of the greatest metal bands of all time, Metallica. The list of participating artists was a who’s who of the current art scene. You had everyone from Travis Louie to Shawn Barber and Sylvia Ji to Shepard Fairey all with pieces re-interpreting some Metallica songs into art. I was obviously very stoked to be able to attend this show, and it did not disappoint at all.
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  • Review: “Absolute Happiness” by Serge Gay Jr @ Spoke Art

    On December 3rd at Spoke Art in San Francisco, the latest solo show from Serge Gay Jr entitled Absolute Happiness opened. The same night this show opened I was at the reception of Dan Harding and Joanne Augustine’s I See You See Show (reviewed), so of course I had to check out the show a few days later. I was surprised to see that even though the reception was past by a few days, the gallery had a good amount of people inside, one of which was the artist himself. I not only grabbed some photos, but was also able to talk to Serge a bit about his working process and inspirations.

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  • Review: “I See You See” x Dan Harding and Joanne Augustine @ Articulated Gallery

    One of the shows I was really looking forward to seeing as the end of the year drew closer, was a new solo exhibition by Dan Harding — and the best part was that this show was going to be in San Francisco. The shows theme changed and in an exciting turn, also featured the work of Joanne Augustine, with the idea that the two artists would work off each other. Entitled “I See You See” this show features photography by Joanne of various nature scenes, Dan then took these images as inspiration for new paintings. The reception was December 3rd at the Articulated Gallery, and the show will be up until the end of the month. If your in the area please stop by. Not only can you check out the Loved To Death store, but head up to the gallery and see photography and paintings by two very talented artists. I made sure I was at the reception and took some photos and have a review as well.

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  • Review: “Primal Renderings” by Sandra Yagi @ Modern Eden

    On November 12th at the Modern Eden Gallery in San Francisco, a solo exhibition by Sandra Yagi opened entitled Primal Renderings. The show featured oil paintings from a few series of works the artist has been working on. Mythology and Religion, Anatomical Paintings, and Skeletal inspired works. One of the main elements of this show that really interested me was the anatomical works, I have always been a fan of anatomy in art, and it’s always impressive to see an accurately rendered musculatory or skeletal system.

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  • Review: “Spirit Board” Group Show @ Articulated Gallery

    On November 5th the Articulated Gallery in San Francisco opened the Spirit Board group show, curated by JL Schnabel. The show features a wide variety of artists all taking inspiration from the Ouija Board. Back in 20o8 Copro Gallery hosted Chet Zar’s “Taking Board” show and like many shows in Southern California, I wasn’t able to see the show in person. However, I do feel that the Ouija Board itself merits a few shows dedicated to it, so I was very happy to hear that Articulated would be hosting this show. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make the reception night; I heard that many artists were in attendance and it was quite a night. I did stop by he next day so I could see the show, and took some photos and made another video walkthrough.

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  • Reviews: “Semiprecious” by Sam Wolfe Connelly @ Spoke Art

    Reviews: “Semiprecious” by Sam Wolfe Connelly @ Spoke Art

    On October 8th, Spoke Art in San Francisco opened the first solo show of New York artist Sam Wolfe Connelly. Having recently graduated with a degree in illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design, it’s amazing that Sam already has a solo show, and a very strong one at that. He has previously shown work with Gallery Nucleus and Bold Hype, but this was his opportunity to show a series of works that will not only show his considerable talent, but the consistency, and cohesiveness. I stopped by the reception night, took a look at the works, snapped some photos, and was able to talk to Sam for a bit about his working process.

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