Art Seen

By Patricia B. Dwyer

10/24-1/10: The Complete Frida Kahlo: Her Paintings. Her Life. Her Story. The Exhibition
Barracks 3, NTC Arts & Culture District at Liberty Station, thecompletefrida.com

More than 100 replicas of Frida Kahlo’s paintings and personal items are on display at this touring exhibition, which also includes actual photos of the Mexican surrealist painter and cultural icon.

11/1-2/25: “By the Light “ by Noah Doely
San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park, sdmart.org

Noah Doely built fake caves and photographed them in a water-filled glass tank to create these dramatic black-and-white images of dark subaqueous realms. Although the actual medium of the caves is synthetic, the images in this series explore the relationship between nature (the cave) and belief (the light).

SDMA just received a $1.5 million donation from local arts patrons Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner. The funds will be used to support the museum’s 2014-2016 programming, including its participation in Balboa Park’s 100 year anniversary celebration of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.

11/1-12/1: Los Colores de la Muerte : A Day of the Dead Festival
California Center for the Arts, Escondido, artcenter.org

This month-long Dia de Los Muertos celebration showcases photos of Mexican tombs, paintings of Catrinas (those costumed skeleton figures), actual Catrinas and works representing cross-border collaborations with Tijuana art centers. Attend opening night for live music and dancing.

11/2-12/1: “Beer Feelings” by Alexander Barret
Gym Standard, North Park, gymstandard.com

Just in time for San Diego Beer Week (November 1-10, see First Draught for more on that), this series of illustrated “emotional beer cans” depicts the sentiments and circumstances that necessitate the guzzling down of a cold one. It’s destined to be silly and hilarious.

11/2-1/4: The Works of Gisela Colón
Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, quintgallery.com

The Light and Space art movement focuses on the viewer’s visual perception, often incorporating reflective, synthetic materials to create illusory effects. Puerto Rican artist Gisela Colón uses layers of acrylic to make wall-hanging sculptures that rely on natural light to appear as pulsating orbs of ghostly luminescence.

11/6-1/7: Put A Bird On It
Distinction Gallery, Escondido, distinctionart.com

Inspired by a popular skit from the Independent Film Channel series “Portlandia,” this exhibition is dedicated to art with birds in it.

11/9-12/8: Splice
Thumbprint Gallery, La Jolla, thumbprintgallerysd.com

A couple dozen local artists display hacked-up combinations of pop culture references in any medium(s) they choose.

11/16-12/14: “Road Movie” by Allison Wiese
Space 4 Art, East Village, sdspace4art.org

Video installations and sculptures depict artist Allison Wiese’s cross-country road trip and explore themes in cinematography and Americana myth.

11/16-11/24: Object Object!: A Selection of Smaller Works
Helmuth Projects, Bankers Hill, helmuth-projects.com

More than 70 artists created these physically and fiscally small art pieces - kept under 10 inches in any direction, and between $100 and $300 - to salute the preciousness and accessibility of smaller artworks.

11/16-12/7: “Double Exposure” New Works by Leo Docuyanan and Mike Sumoto
Canvas Gallery, Downtown

Photojournalists Leo Docuyanan and Michael “Mike Sumoto” Herana are showing their fine art photos that depict the cultures of the cities they frequent, primarily San Diego and San Francisco. The show is a “double exposure” in two senses: many of the photos are dually exposed (two overlapping images), and both photographers are presenting the same subject matter in their own styles.

11/16: “Divine Intervention” by Concetta Antico
Antico Fine Art, Mission Hills, concettaantico.com

Tetrachromats are people who have four cone cells in their eyeballs (versus the normal three) and can therefore see 100 times more colors than the average human. See local tetrachromat artist Concetta Antico’s latest body of work... and take her word for how colorful it really is.

11/19: I Eat People: Children’s Monster
Art Space 4 Art, East Village, sdspace4art.org

Embrace the creepy corners of children’s imaginations at this one-night exhibition, featuring more than 100 monster-inspired works by artists aged 3 to 13.

11/23-12/10: “Pop Art Inked”
Visual Shop, North Park, visualshopsd.com

For Visual Shop’s first exhibition at its new North Park location, SD-too.com, a San Diego tattoo artist directory website, organized this show of local tattoo artists’ non-fleshy Pop Art interpretations.