Roots division is a progressive art space. It's conveniently located in the Mission District on 17th St. at Van Ness and the space offers a gallery and artist residency in exchange for community workshops. For two days local residents will be able to witness the current exhibit, Alienated Mass Hysteria at the Roots Division venue.

Why hasn't this space earned its place in the SF art community? Possibly for the lack of publicity? Or possibly because exhibits often turnover so fast, leaving very little time for patrons to attend shows. However, that shouldn't really stop great works of art from being seen.

In the gallery are Juan Carlos Quintana, Arvin Flores and Jose Guinto. The left walls feature Arvin Flores' work, Quintana is in the center, and farther right is Jose Guinto's. The three styles seem to communicate to each other very well, and the patchwork, textile-like, is woven intricately and meticulously. The pieces are mapped out well, and it's almost impossible to stop and do something else before going to the next piece. Each work seems to be mounted in a way that leads you to the next. There is a battle between the sacred and profane.

Arvin Flores seems to present a punk-core, nouvelle vague, while Quintana's work is very nostalgic, almost anthropological--evoking birth, and history plagued with rust and washed over time. Jose Guinto's piece, Born to lose II, is so amazing I could just look at it for days on end (image below). Unfortunately, the show will end tomorrow. In reference to Guinto's piece, it reminded me of how I've always wondered how artists like Juan Luna, can create a huge piece like Spolarium and be in that state of mind for months, or for how long it took to create the work. Spolarium is a painting that shows fallen gladiators being dragged to an unseen pile of corpses in a chamber beneath the Roman arena. Just like Guinto's delicate presentation of a heap of garbage violently rotating to form a cumulus shape, covered in grease as two reckless figures ride it with abandon.

The opening reception was followed by Tsubibo, a Tagalog indy pop/folk/punk band who performed songs that gave meaning to the word "alienated." Alienated Mass Hysteria sounds so alone, just like when The Police sung, "I feel so alone, I feel so alone, I feel so lonely"--so mad, depressing and polite.

Jose Guinto, Born to Lose II, Mixed Media on Paper, 72x120 inches

Juan Carlos Quintana, Please Come Again

Arvin Flores, Horned Dialectic