Press

Finders Keepers

Gallery Exhibition

A new exhibition of sculptural, found object work
at San Francisco’s Creativity Explored

January 10 – February 27, 2008
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 10 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm

SAN FRANCISCO… The artists of Creativity Explored turn trash into treasure in a new exhibition of sculptural works made from cast off wood, metal, wire, and other found objects entitled “Finders Keepers” at the Creativity Explored Gallery January 10 through February 27. The show opens with a reception featuring live music on Thursday, January 10 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. All artwork may be purchased at the Creativity Explored Gallery, open Monday through Friday, 10:00 am to 3:00 pm and Saturday from 1:00 to 6:00 pm.

From a bag of socks to the old bathroom door, studio artists found new uses for a huge variety of odds and ends donated to Creativity Explored or collected on street corners by the exhibition’s curator Paul Moshammer. Over the course of an eight-week workshop, Moshammer, himself a found object artist, introduced studio artists to the joys of junk. “Working with found objects is like a game,” he says. “It’s really an interesting puzzle of putting pieces together until something clicks.”

Moshammer says that for some artists like Hector Lopez, the big thrill was using power tools. “I showed Hector how to use the electric drill,” he says. “And suddenly he was making these amazing assemblages of hinges and screws and metal gadgets. I think he really grew as an artist and learned a lot about a new tool for art making.”

Artist Kelly Clark agrees. “Sculpture is something new for me,” she says. “It’s fun to build things. It could be a new direction.” For the show, Clark created a sculptural work of fiber art by weaving strips of donated socks through the slats of a wooden dish drying rack. Charlie Barthelet also went with fiber, wrapping a rusting piece of fencing in colorful yarn.

Other abstract pieces like these include John Patrick McKenzie’s meditation on romance, rendered as stream of conscious poetry scrawled in a great swooping semi circle on half a tabletop. Suet Fun also created a text-based piece using a Sharpie pen to cover a large, glass chemistry tube with Chinese characters.

Some of the more whimsical contributions include David Fallom’s coffee cup sculpture and Walter Kresnik’s mini car factory complete with polluting smoke stack. Abel Pineda contributes an old birdcage filled with hand drawn wooden birds, and Theresa Perez pays homage to Hollywood with a wooden pirate ship whose sail is a series of stitched together images of a swashbuckling Johnny Depp.

Calendar Listing

Finders Keepers

GROUP EXHIBITION AND OPENING: The artists of Creativity Explored turn trash into treasure in a new exhibition of sculptural, found object works. From a bag of socks to the old bathroom door, studio artists found new uses for a huge variety of odds and ends donated to Creativity Explored or collected on street corners by the exhibition’s curator Paul Moshammer. Artist John Patrick McKenzie contributes a meditation on romance, rendered as stream of conscious poetry scrawled in a great swooping semi circle on half a tabletop. Suet Fun also displays a text-based piece — a large, glass chemistry tube covered with Chinese characters. Charlie Barthelet explores fiber art by wrapping a rusting piece of fencing in colorful yarn, while Abel Pineda contributes an old birdcage filled with hand drawn wooden birds.

What

Finders Keepers - a group exhibition of sculptural, found object works by artists with developmental disabilities at San Francisco’s Creativity Explored

When

• Opening Reception – Thursday, January 10, 2008 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm
• Exhibit Dates and Times – January 10 – February 27, 2008, 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 December 13, 2007