:: Mark Ryden : Gay 90’s Olde Tyme Art Show ::
I’ve been a fan of Mark Ryden since the late 90’s, and finally I got to see in person an opening night of his work go on display in the Chelsea district of NYC – April 29th at the Paul Kasmin gallery. The title of this series is called “The Gay 90’s – Olde Tyme Art Showe” and below I have a few shots of my favorite pieces. Plus the show was packed and a lot of people had dressed up in “Olde Tyme” 1890-s garb. I should have taken some pictures, but I only focused on getting some photos of his work.
Mark Ryden got his start in Southern California where his first solo debut was in Pasadena in a series called “The Meat Show” – and through his weaving of cultural icons, alchemical references, religious allegories, and iconography, he creates a style that is uniquely childhood like, but surrealist, and chock full of pop references but with twisted (sometimes disturbing) imagery. Imagine if you will a psychedelic Jacques-Louis David (who I also admire) and maybe Sailor Moon or a doe-eyed Devil Martian playing a Saz .
I used to see Mark Ryden’s material in magazines in the city where I grew up. Publications such as Juxtapoz – who would often have ad’s from galleries in LA such as La Luz de Jesus. It was easy to get lithographs from them for a decent price, since there was no way I could ever afford a Mark Ryden original (at least not yet!).
Mark’s material gets shuffled into the Lowbrow Art movement aka Pop Surrealism, and I can certainly find several artists in that genre which I have grown to appreciate through early exposure to the style. Many of these artists are self-taught versus more traditional manners of going through art school, or apprenticing (which would be highbrow).
Flickr set here.
:: Streets of NY series ::
I’ve selected a few images out of a photo-essay I did called “Streets of NY” – which focused on just snapping shots candidly of people as we passed on the streets in NYC and Brooklyn. Certainly influenced by the likes of Bruce Gilden, but I wasn’t *that* “in-your-face”
you can see the “Streets of NY” Flickr set here.
:: SF Yellow Cab – Cabspotting – NYE 2007 ::
The Cabspotting video is a collaboration project between Yellow Cab, the Exploratorium, and Stamen Design – where the New Years Eve 2007 fares by Yellow Cab are tracked by GPS.
:: Advice from the Shade ::
Captured on a recent photowalk, this friendly gentleman started telling me about his younger days of shooting with Hasselblad’s in Paris.
he even offered to be my tour guide there. I wonder if the Hasselblad’s were in the cases he is sitting on.
Plus, how gangster are his snake-skin-sandals? sheeeeeeeeet.
:: Banksy in SF ::
This is making the rounds all over the SF-focused-interwebs, but I figured I’d add my shots too. ’tis SF banksy madness – Banksy in SF!
Famous UK/artist/mate Banksy was/is apparently in town for the opening of the film “Exit Through the Giftshop“. These are 6 of the known 11? Banksy’s in SF.
here’s a link to my flickr set of Banksy shots & a posting here on Berderp about Banksy’s visit to New Orleans.
:: Hoppers Hands ::
Hundreds of people each week run to the far West end of Crissy Field, past the Warming Hut and on towards Fort Point. They continue all the way along the breaking waves of the Bay until the reach a fence with a plaque on it featuring a set of hands. Not just any hands – but Hopper’s Hands.
“Hopper’s Hands” gets it’s name from a Golden Gate Bridge IronWorker named Ken Hopper. Ken has been working on the Golden Gate Bridge for over 20 years. He not only does repairs on the bridge, but he is listed as a first-responder and on the rescue-call list for suicide attempts off the Bridge.
Nevertheless, over the years, Ken kept seeing runners come up to the gate at Fort Point, touch it with their hands, and turn around. He asked a worker to paint a set of hands and a pair of dog paws after seeing a lady get her dog to touch the fence.
If you would like to read more about Ken and the IronWorkers here is a great SFGate article. Additionally, here is a good feature on NPR about him and another IronWorker.
:: Cranes under the Bridge ::
A ship containing 3 container cranes went underneath the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge this morning, headed to the port of Oakland. Towering at 235 feet each, they were carried on a special ship that is able to lower itself into the water to account for narrow squeezes such as this.
This particular maneuver was done twice before now – once in 2002 and again in 2005. Engineers would have preferred a different passing time under the bridges, but Tuesday morning presented the lowest tide possible for the ship to pass safely underneath.
It is said that the distance between the cranes and the Bay Bridge could be about 5 feet. The cranes came all the way from Shanghai.
:: Kelinci Series : Barcelona :: pt 14 ::
time for another update from our spirited and venturous world traveler – Kelinci. It’s been several months since we last heard from our lil’ friend & for those of you who are just joining our program, we have an on-going running feature properly titled : Kelinci Series. A photo essay excursion about a smokin’, traveling rabbit that has a fondness for snow bunnies, exotic beaches, and sending me updates of his rabble-rousin’ around the world.
This particular set of photos comes to us from Barcelona, the capital of Spain. Barcelona, a bustling metro area of almost 5 million people, is situated on the coast of a country of which 77% of it’s population lives in urban areas, and is actually sister cities with Boston and Tel-Aviv (along with 20+ others)
here we see him not far from Sagrada Familia, checking out some locals. Sagrada Familia, has been under construction since 1882, and isn’t expected to be finished till 2026.
Barcelona is not just Las Ramblas, and a few Gaudi houses – its a thriving port where food, art, music and people blend into a vibrant cultural epicenter. With its vermuts, and cargols, to its enormous cache of art found above the normal eye-viewpoint level… well we gotta get a little low for Kelinci
Kelinci in front of Casa Batillo
:: UrbEx Series : Fort Ord ::
Fort Ord sits near Monterey, CA, on a 28,000 acre reserve that in its day was the place to go for infantry training in the US Army. It began it’s mark in US military history in 1846 during the Mexican-American War.
The location finally became known as Ft. Ord in 1940, and in September of 1994 it was closed by the US Army.
But by the time of it’s official recognition as a permanent Army outpost, it had grown to cover more than 20,000 acres. It was a famous staging area for many famous fighting units and divisions. Such as the 32nd-Infantry Division, 6th Infantry and the 3rd Infantry Division
There’s also an 8,000 acre firing-range there, and apparently some unexploded ordnance if you know what I mean
Aside from the firing range there’s also a 6500 acre munitions area in which the Army has been attempting to get rid of for several years now. Back in October 2003, the Army planned a control burn of 500 acres, but they wound up scorching about 1500! Yikes!
The Base Realignment and Closure Act of 1988 finally included Ft Ord as a target to reduce costs – overall, 120+ bases have closed since this act.
Ft Ord is just US military history now
See the Flickr set here.
:: unpacked ::
lemme unpack and settle into my spot
i spy:
– lolli-pop box
– cliff bar wrapper
– finished odwalla
-uneaten sandwich still in wrapper
-soap dispenser
-batteries
-(2) bottles of ketchup (mmmmmmmmm..ke-e-t-t-tc-h-h-up)
and some fruit
:: New Orleans – Cities of Dead ::
Just the other week I ventured into once very familiar territory to me many years ago – New Orleans, the Big Easy. This particular trip was focused on capturing images from the infamous cemeteries aka .. Cities of Dead. The most well known (and featured in a few films), Saint Louis, Lafayette, and the Metairie Cemeteries. You’ve got great rusty ironwork, sun bleached tombs, endless nooks and crannies with twists and turns of mini-walkways everywhere.
New Orleans, founded in 1718, saw its fair share of burials early on & these were made on the river bank. The first cemetery, 1721, was on st peter street. burials were also made in the church. St. Louis #1 cemetery was established in 1789. However, soon the locals realized the high water table allowed their recently deceased to often float back up. Even after trying to put stones into the caskets to weight them down wouldn’t keep Mother Nature from bringing them back up.
Some of the oldest burials in the Mississippi valley lie here in New Orleans. Beginning in 1789 the custom started with multiple burials in the tombs and vaults. When space in a tomb is re-used the remains of the previous burials are lowered into a receptacle below the ground level or placed in the back or side of the vault. This practice of re-using burial space has become a custom amongst New Orleans traditional burials
When/if you make a pilgrimage to New Orleans I highly suggest you check out these local gems
Click here for the Flickr set
:: Banksy – New Orleans ::
In 2008, renowned graffiti-artist Banksy, cruised through New Orleans proper and proceeded to bust out about 15 – 17 pieces in the area. Since then, some have been stolen, or buffed over. In particular, one man, Fred Radtke , aka The Grey Ghost, at one time lead a 1-man crusade against graffiti in the New Orleans area since 1997. He would buff over insanely good pieces – including Banksy’s. Finally, at one point Fred buffed over a city commissioned mural, and at that point the city’s stance with him took a 180 degree turn and he was warned that he would face jail time if caught defacing anymore walls.
nevertheless, all these shots were taken just recently, and I was able to get almost all of the one’s that are still currently up – minus a few pieces. Other famous pieces that were buffed over you can find on Flickr or Google by searching.
here are the Banksy shots:
:: ba-boom & 2010 ::
I confess – I’ve been slacking on the blog and pics. Some inspiration sputter, coupled with other priorities, it getting dark so early, and then of course the Holidays, and here it is 2010. Here is a happy new years to you – and a video showing how I rang in my New Years – click if you like fireworks.
and click here for the Flickr set
:: morning smoke ::
this guy was strutting sartorially in the Tenderloin district and I had to snap a shot
:: rise n shine ::
…for an early flight outta SFO.. those morning hues starting to fill the sky
:: building glows ::
lots of my focus lately has shifted to just pure photography and less attention to events. so for now just some more fotos of recent work:
:: San Francisco building-o-color ::
been seeing some great colors against buildings lately
:: reflections eternal ::
i know, i stole the title for this post from the hip hop duo “Reflection Eternal” – but i do admire this reflection captured recently after a day of showers here in SF
:: Seahorses and Seadragons ::
i’ve recently captured more up-close shots of insects and aquarium life, so thought another posting in that vein should follow the recent butterfly post I did.
this is a leafy sea dragon, featured at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seahorse exhibit
and these are Dwarf seahorses – locked to blades of grass
If you haven’t been to the Monterey Aquarium lately, I recommend getting down there for the Secret Lives of Seahorse exhibit before it ends — well, you have till Aug 2012
:: Berderp, Patron, and Casa De Thrillist ::
last night local urbanites extrordanire Thrillist teamed up with Patron to host a stop over of their Mix Masters events that have pervaded our imbibing culture across the US.
First of all, the Casa de Thrillist house is AMAZING. Situated overlooking the city from a nice perch the party’s premise was that 1st floor hosted a Dj, mingling,a pool, and 2 of San Francisco’s finest assisting in your inebriation.
On the 2nd level the event focused more on the “You Mix” approach – allowing guests to work with a mixologist to concoct a libation that would catch the attention of the Thrillist editors in hopes of getting his or her drink recipe mentioned on the Patron Social Club site & maybe walk away with a free bottle of Patron. Fresh ingredients for the takin’ included blackberries, cucumber, ginger liquor, fresh jalapenos, mint, 3 types of Patron, pineapple, oranges, cilantro and more. The guests partied, ate complimentary hamburgers, and got drink mixing tips from David Nepove a.k.a Mr Mojito – who hails from Enrico’s with about 20+ yrs of drink making experience.
My girlfriend whipped up a “Hot Melon” (spicy watermelon goodness) while I pursued a different angle with my “Gingerlicious”
This couple kicked off the pool party madness – but out of respect I won’t show what happened beyond this:
later in the evening Thrillist handed out the awards for Worst Drink, Best Name, and Best Overall Drink. I believe somewhere in there was “Black Bitch”, “Pat My Sajack” and, well, I forget the others.
THANK YOU Thrillist krew! BooYAh!
:: Tenderloin SFD and Centurion House ::
I had heard about this SFD (single family dwelling) house for sale located in the Tenderloin, and I thought it deserved a visit. It was built in 1909, has had 3 original owners and actually was originally a 1 story in the beginning – and most of what I toured on the lower level had very interesting layout and shapes of rooms – small and divided up.
I don’t think I know of any SFD style house in the TL – anyone else?
:: Bob Saget : Warfield ::
this past Friday night Bob Saget returned to San Francisco to perform a one night set at the Warfield Theater. Many of you may be mumbling to yourself – “gawd. I hated that guy on America’s Funniest Home Videos” or maybe you’re crooning what a crush you had on Uncle Jesse watching that show in the late 80’s to mid -90’s – whatever your opinion is of Bob outside of his stand-up will surely be destroyed and covered with jaw-gaping astonishment as this guy is extremely funny and extremely messed up in the head. The guy ain’t right!
:: shadow-wire system ::
my shadow wire system i live with every day and so do you
:: BerDerp™ :: 
