Your Painting, 2009; oil on canvas. Experience is a form of paralysis. - Erik Satie At first glance, Todd Bura's paintings on view at Triple Base Gallery seemed utterly unsophisticated and primitive. I was reluctant to look closely. As I was about to exit the space, however, a stack of show posters in the corner caught my eye. "Painting Spiritual Painting" is a body of work whose merit is not entirely understood by the viewer unless accompanied by R.M. Wilke's statement printed on the show posters. It exhorts in part that "If the angel deigns to come, it will... Read More

From neck tattoos and bejeweled teenagers on the street to Damien Hirst and the studios of San Francisco graduate students, diamonds are everywhere. It's uncertain whether the nearly ubiquitous shape is flooding contemporary art and popular culture because of its and aesthetic qualities, religious and mystical implications, or simply that our culture has brainwashed women to love and cherish this rock above all other gems, (After all, a diamond is forever). But this question was in the front of mind for me when viewing Hilary Pecis and Elise Mallouk's work invoking this trend at Triple Base Gallery. Untitled (Spring Series... Read More

It is rare for a show of small works not to feel diminutive. Misfits, Todd Bura's second solo outing at Triple Base Gallery, manages this with style. Triple Base's small space helps the modest sized work shine, but the lion's share of credit must go to Bura's pieces and their disparately cohesive installation in the space. Installation view Due to his delicate mark making, muted tones, and softened forms, the work could be described as "slight", but there is meat beneath its subtle surface. The language of Bura's gentle approach is indebted to minimalism, but blends in a povera aesthetic... Read More

Todd Bura's second solo show at Triple Base Gallery entitled Misfits is a tidy collection of minimalistic pieces that are both quiet and rebellious. Bura's honesty for his medium and style show with the cavalier and intentional formal quality of his work. Bura's work reflects an artist who takes himself and his work not at all seriously and very seriously at the same time. View of gallery When entering the gallery, the amount of white space could be concerning at first, but Bura's paintings, consisting demurely as shapes, smears and lines come to the surface amid the installation like a... Read More

"I view my projects as performing a necessary disturbance or jolt in everyday experience that will maybe slowly change our relationship to a crisis or a problem." - Michael Rakowitz - Who knew that the journey of a truck full of dates could render in such poignant terms peoples lives and connections with Iraq? But these rarified khestawi dates, one of over a hundred cultivated varieties, as artist Michael Rakowitz claims, came from the Hilla region of Iraq and were therefore some of the finest on earth. They were the delicious subject of an engrossing slide presentation, though not really,... Read More

Beth Cook's latest work adroitly titled "It's not you, it's me", is more a professional research paper into the minutiae of Beth's life than it is a standard art show. With many artists using their own lives as the muse and working directly with personal experience rather than a fictitious character, often times art exhibits in this vain can begin to feel more like reality television shows rather than something worth leaving the couch for. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case in Cook's work.... Read More