Art Beat: August gallery + exhibit openings

Art exhibits on display in August around San Diego include Sun Shadows, Ladyfingers, Six-Word Story and Kerry Hallam.

8.2-31: Sun Shadows

Artist June Rubin embraces her experimental side in her latest exhibition, Sun Shadows, with pieces like Organic that feature bright orange grapes with black ribbons of paint to mark the shadows.

June Rubin Art Studio, 2690 Historic Decatur Rd., Barracks 19, No. 214, Liberty Station, 858.229.4571, junerubin.com

8.3-10.6: Radiant Architecture: The Visionary Work of Eugene Ray

Known for his former home and studio in La Jolla called the Silver Ship, architect and professor Eugene Ray saw architecture as a way toward building community and sustainable and environmentally friendly possibilities. On this 50th anniversary of his teaching environmental design at San Diego State University (1969-1996), this exhibition features his original hand-drafted architectural plans and renderings, collages and other items.

SDSU Downtown Gallery, 725 West Broadway, downtown, 619.501.6370, art.sdsu.edu

8.10-9.8: Ladyfingers

San Diego artists Jessica Justus and Megan Darrough create works that are focused on how people see themselves through social media and how women can dismantle the male gaze.

Thumbprint Gallery, 920 Kline St., La Jolla, 858.354.6294, thumbprintgallerysd.com

8.11: Art in the Village

For the 21st year, the Carlsbad Village Association brings local artists together for a one-day, outdoor art show, where art-lovers can enjoy music, a variety of art (including jewelry, furniture, paintings, clothing and more) and the beautiful Carlsbad Village atmosphere.

Carlsbad Village, 760.453.7076, carlsbad-village.com/events/art-in-the-village

8.11-9.27: Growing Wild

With representations of flora, flowers, foliage and any other form of plant life, members of the Oceanside Museum of Art’s Artist Alliance present their best works to this juried exhibition, surrounded by the very life they’ve immortalized in each piece.

San Diego Botanic Garden, 230 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, 760.436.3036, sdbgarden.org, oma-online.org

8.17-9.14: True Blue

Artist Brenda York uses bright, rich color and a narrative approach to painting, with characters she describes as “quirky people … with a sense of sophistication,” deconstructed faces and symbols and words to add a bit of texture. Oh, and plenty of blue.

Ashton Gallery, 4434 30th St., North Park, 619.894.9009, ashtonartgallery.com

8.24-12.1: Black Life: Images of Resistance and Resilience in Southern California

Using their cameras to document the highly publicized political activism of the civil rights movement, as well as the everyday life of African-Americans, photographers Harry Adams, Charles Williams and Guy Crowder produced images spanning 50 years and featuring both public figures and private citizens in their Southern California communities.

San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.232.7931, sdmart.org

8.25-10.13: Optimus Volts: We are the Dreamers of Dreams / A Solo Show

Join artist Optimus Volts as he presents new sculptures inspired on the vivid, detailed worlds he created with his toys as a child.

Sparks Gallery, 530 Sixth Ave., Gaslamp, 619.696.1416, sparksgallery.com

8.25-11.2: Six-Word Story

Based on the story of Ernest Hemingway winning a bet about how he could write a six-word story (“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”), this exhibition features a selection of original photographs, each paired with a six-word story.

Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, 760.435.3720, oma-online.org

8.31-2.16.2020: American Still Life Moderns

Although still life is a classic genre that dates back hundreds of years, there’s still room for experimentation within the art form. From the San Diego Museum of Art’s permanent collection come examples of modern American still-life paintings from a 30-year period with a diversity of style and skill.

San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.232.7931, sdmart.org

8.31-2.23.2020: Abstract Revolution

Get a closer look at works on paper by some of the female artists who helped found and contribute to the American art form of abstract expressionism, through the work of Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Deborah Remington, Mary Heilmann and others.

San Diego Museum of Art, 1450 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.232.7931, sdmart.org

Through 8.28: Electric Picnic: Roman de Salvo’s Modernist Installation

As part of his residency at the Timken Museum of Art, artist Roman de Salvo has created his Electric Picnic sculpture based on the Rococo-era Blindman’s Bluff (1775-80) by Jean Honore Fragonard. De Salvo is known for taking ordinary materials and objects and folding them into his work in ways that are “inventive” and “intriguing.”

Timken Museum of Art, 1500 El Prado, Balboa Park, 619.239.5548, timkenmuseum.org

Through 8.30: Kerry Hallam

Impressionist artist Kerry Hallam draws on inspiration from 19th-century French post-impressionists to create seascapes and villages in the artist’s original paintings on canvas, nautical charts and hand-signed serigraphs.

Martin Lawrence Galleries, 1111 Prospect St., La Jolla, 858.551.1121, martinlawrence.com