After trekking through several blocks of the gritty Tenderloin District in San Francisco, stepping into the historic Phoenix Hotel for the third annual rendition of ArtPadSF — an art fair featuring emerging and contemporary art — was a somewhat surreal experience. On its website, ArtPadSF promises to offer its visitors “the best of the contemporary art market in an intimate and unique setting.” Sure enough, the setting is nothing if not unique. With its classic American motor-lodge vibe, luxurious palm trees and dazzling pool (combined with the weekend’s fabulous, sunny weather), the Phoenix felt more like the set of neo-noir thriller “L.A. Confidential” than a place to stage an art exhibit. In other words, before exploring the various artworks, the temptation to just order up a strawberry daiquiri, lounge poolside and people-watch had to be overcome.
As ArtPadSF invaded the Phoenix for the weekend, 40 rooms of the hotel were cleared out and turned into individual galleries, featuring art from the Bay Area and beyond. Although the rooms were of similar size and shape, each exhibit made use of the space in a distinct way. For instance, in one room occupied by a Los Angeles-based gallery, even the small accompanying bathroom area was utilized, as visitors were invited to step in and pull aside the shower curtain to view the artwork. In addition to these gallery spaces, ArtPadSF offered its visitors video screenings, panels, live performances and other special events. While some of the featured artists and galleries have been collaborating with ArtPadSF each year since its inception, for others, this weekend marked the first time being involved with the event. When asked about the selection of art for the program, Maria Jenson, director of ArtPadSF, explained that it consisted of a “mix of commercial art, art collectives and nonprofit art” and that the desire was “for each piece of art to be able to stand on its own.”
Weaving in and out of the different rooms, the mixture of artwork made it difficult to derive a unified theme. Take, for example, the space occupied by Krowswork, an Oakland-based video and photography gallery. Jason Hanasik’s haunting video explores the construction of masculine identity, following the coming-of-age of Sharrod, a young man who joins the navy in Virginia. The exhibit was displayed alongside Mark Baugh-Sasaki’s steel and granite sculptures, which examine and question the interaction between the natural landscape and the industrial world. Striking an entirely different note, Bay Area-based artist Zio Ziegler’s vast paintings covered the walls in abstract combinations of colors, lines and patterns. Other works included everything from life-sized installations questioning the poses we commonly assume in front of mirrors (such as that of a woman pressing close upon a mirror with an eyelash curler) and a series of images of a family dressed entirely in and surrounded by cardboard.
The eclectic mix of artistic styles, themes and media meshes remarkably well with the quirkiness of the Phoenix Hotel and its position in the middle of the Tenderloin. ArtPadSF is fun — it’s playful, it’s innovative, it’s contemporary and it’s slightly crazy. However, one thing this event feels lacking in is the “provocative” aspect described in the program guide. Despite ArtPadSF’s attempt to capitalize on its location, just by walking a few blocks around the surrounding Tenderloin neighborhood, one sees things a lot more provocative than anything displayed at this exhibit.
Contact Corinne Platten at [email protected].