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Aliens: The Green Ones

Gallery Exhibition

Artists with developmental disabilities at San Francisco’s Creativity Explored get “far out” in this new exhibition of their work

April 14 through May 26, 2005
Opening Reception: Thursday, April 14 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm

SAN FRANCISCO… Space is the place at Creativity Explored this spring. From Star Trek-inspired sixties sci-fi to the final frontiers of the imagination, studio artists venture into the outer limits and reveal that darkness is full of surprises in the exhibition “Aliens: The Green Ones.” The exhibition opens with a reception on April 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. The gallery is open Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m. All artwork is available for purchase through the gallery.

In paintings, drawings and special “space” lights, artists such as Loren King, Andrew Li, Quintin Rodriguez, and Kelly Clark imagine dimensions where weird is normal. “I liked the idea of looking with a friendly eye at living creatures that are really different,” says Gilles Combet, an instructor at Creativity Explored and curator of the exhibition. “The main point was to have fun imagining how these life forms would look and move, but when you step back a bit and think about the artists who are participating and how they are perceived by the general population, it adds another interesting layer.”

Combet prepared the artists for this exploration of aliens by sharing examples from movies, cartoons and from a book entitled “Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials.” And while some found inspiration in these sources, others just put their imaginations into warp speed. “I get it all up here,” says 60-year-old Loren King whose piece “Aliens in Love” will be part of the show.

Artist Mignon Wilson figures that aliens like to dance and demonstrates with a bit of the robot. “They also like to do sports, go shopping, watch TV together and eat worms and bugs,” she says. Wilson is contributing several colorful alien landscapes to the exhibition.

Other studio artists were inspired to creatively explore different facets of space. Robert Margolis created a series of studies on planets. In these spare pastel drawings, balls of rich color float in velvety, dark skies. Space ships and rockets of all shapes and sizes appear in the show as well. From the windows of “Flash” Gordon Shepard’s large, silver spaceship cut-out, wide-eyed passengers stare out into the universe. And John Patrick McKenzie contributes several miniature pieces of space furniture covered in his distinctive writing in homage to the heroes of TV’s outer limits such as Captain Kirk. On the back of the little captain’s chair, McKenzie’s cosmic haiku reads:

Atmosphere
Bread Toast
Applesauce

Kirk couldn’t have said it better.

Calendar Listing

Aliens: The Green Ones

GROUP ART EXHIBITION AND OPENING: Space is the place at Creativity Explored this spring. From Star Trek-inspired sixties sci-fi to the final frontiers of the imagination, studio artists venture into the outer limits and reveal that darkness is full of surprises in the exhibition “Aliens: The Green Ones.”

In paintings, drawings and special “space” lights, artists such as Loren King, Andrew Li, Quintin Rodriguez, and Kelly Clark imagine dimensions where weird is normal. The exhibition is full of fanciful life forms, alien landscapes and spaceships galore. Robert Margolis’ series of planet drawings are spare and beautiful studies of color. John Patrick McKenzie contributes several miniature pieces of space furniture covered in his distinctive writing in homage to the heroes of TV’s outer limits such as Captain Kirk.

What

Aliens: The Green Ones – an exhibition of artwork by artists with developmental disabilities at San Francisco’s Creativity Explored

When

• Opening Reception: April 14, 2005 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm
• Exhibit Dates and Times – April 14 through May 26, 2005, Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, Saturday 1:00 to 6:00 pm

Where

Creativity Explored Gallery
3245 Sixteenth St. at Guerrero, San Francisco

Creativity Explored is a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art.

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# Posted on March 10, 2005