It’s been a while since I have reported on one of those evenings with multiple cultural events that enrich life here. One recent rainy evening involved a visual art opening and a salon with a variety of performances.
I started at 17th Street Studios in the Mission for MAS Attack: LAxSF, a one-night show that featured 30 artists from Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively.
One of the particularly intriguing pieces in the show was Miri Chais’ Rabbit Hole, with its organic circular forms but technology-inspired details and changing blue patterns of light. The mixture is intentional, and the title is inspired by Alice in Wonderland.
Utopian Heads by L.A. artist Mark Dutcher caught my attention for its evoking of painting styles and concepts of the early twentieth century experiments. The title of the piece seems to fit with that as well.
It seemed that the artists from L.A. dominated my attention at the show. As with the above pieces and the one below by Steven Wilkoff, they seemed to unapologetically modern.
But these piece from Oakland-based artist Scott Greenwalt did provide a contemporary take on abstraction.
It was then off to Glen Park, just a short trip south from the Mission along the miniature freeway known as San Jose Avenue. (But that’s a story for another time.) My destination was the Surrey Street Salon for a fun evening of performance with a circus theme. So of course there were clowns with vaudeville-style musical numbers.
There was also serious musical talent on display. I was quite impressed with Tin Sandwich, an all harmonica band.
Their instruments ranged from tiny inch-long specimens to the large bass harmonica.
Their arrangements, while mostly traditional songs, were quite tight, and included some impressive solos. I would definitely want to see them again.
Surplus-1980 bandmate Moe! Staiano also performed, this time on solo percussion.
His avant-garde percussion playing is frenetic, moving quickly from on idea and one instrument to another, whether it is part of his traditional drumset or superballs against the window.
In all, it was a great evening of music and art, and the two events provided quite a contrast in style.
Looks like you found lots of enrichment at those two shows!
The art show looked quite interesting.
Thanks for reviewing both of these events! I’ll have to check out 17th Street Studios — sounds like some good stuff there. Glad you enjoyed our salon — performers were pretty amazing. JW
I really like the Rabbit Hole piece.
Is harmonica all that’s played with the Tin Sandwich, or do they play other instruments as well?