You can hear the art calling...

There is no better way to start off your month then taking in some awesome local art.  Well for those in Oakland, here are a few spots getting down with the Art Murmur.

RSP Collective: Heroes and Villians



When: TODAY  6pm - 9 pm

RPS is touching on one of our favorite subject matters, the classic struggle of good versus evil!  Hero stereotypes beware, these artists offer a new take on chivalry, life & death, caricature and beauty.  Participating artists:  Arnell Ando, Teppi Ando, Graham Annable, David Ball, Ben Catmull, Mary Cook, Alika Cooper, Matt Hart, Matt Hewitt, Obi Kaufman, An Nguyen, Jonah Olson, Deth P. Sun, Mark Todd and Derek Wood.

21 Grand:  [Print] RUN



When:  TODAY 6pm

21 Grand presents the artist reception for the exhibit [Print] RUN which features prints by Patricia Wakida and paintings by Jason Byers.  Here are a few things 21 grand had to share about the artists...(after the jump)

Patricia Wakida concentrates on linoleum block print techniques. Her images capitalize on the bold lines and stark contrasts that block prints lend themselves to, and refer to the confident illustration style of both early socialist and New Deal propaganda posters. Her work is often utilized for similar purposes: her posters for local music events cultivate the d.i.y. aesthetic associated with the obviously handmade. Her work also explores the relation that printmaking has to various media forms related to the book arts. She will also show a large scale print recently executed with the help of a steam roller.

Jason Byers is an exceptional painter, and, as a long-standing art venue, 21 Grand has had its share. His execution is clean and generous simultaneously. In his recent work he transposes disparate elements, both academically pictorial and abstract symbols over painterly "trees" and against tumultuous skyscapes. While the background images are reminiscent of Turner, the foregrounded images are not: a bestiary of zoo animals jut their heads from the edges of each picture plane (one per canvas). As well as introducing a dry deadpan humor, these animals' sharp detailed portrayal create a spatial uncertainty in relation to their loose atmospheric backdrops. Along the bottom of many canvases are color bars that directly refer to the palette of each painting, but also to the color key often seen at the edge of uncut print matter (think of the edge of color sections of daily or weekly newspapers). Some have large five-point stars placed strategically but ambiguously within the picture plane, hovering above the skyscape to reiterate, yet destroy, its "sky-ness".