FIRST FRIDAY RAMBLES - DID YOU SEE THE SHOW?

Posted by arts_reviews

Posted: November 7, 2008 - 4:09 pm

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Sarah Palin: Or is it Tina Fey? Work by Mineko Hummel is on display at Cafe Savannah, 508 W. 6th.
By MIKE DUNHAM
I don't think this picture, titled "Expectations," represents the best work of Japanese-born Mineko Hummel. She's much better with her pictures of people (and animals!) that she personally knows, even though her card announces that she does portraits from photos. The most captivating piece in the current show is the drawn self-portrait that greets you at the door of Cafe Savannah - not for sale, alas. I want to see more like it.

I could easily view Hummel's work as the cafe was fairly empty at 5:30 p.m. The crowd at Crush, however - not there to look at Erin Pollock's photos - made it impossible to get close to them, one of the problems with having art shows in dining establishments. Wait for breakfast to stop by 343 W. 6th.

The huge group show at International Gallery of Contemporary Art, 427 D St., had its own crush of patrons, but displaying art is the primary business of that venue and one could get a much better look. Most impressive were the mask forms by a number of Native artists, including a fine set of four faces in progressive stages of disintegration by Jack Abraham. Classic Alaska masks - with a bit of tweaking - by Perry Eaton, Jerry Laktonen, Phillip John Charette and Rebecca Lyons were among the other highlights. A pair of McCain and Obama spirit masks, complete with feathers, by Percy Avugiak (who is showing more work at the Midnight Sun Cafe, 245 W. 5th) are a must-see while the recent election is fresh in our minds.

A more modest group show was under way at Babes in the Woods, one of the several small shops tucked away in what we used to call the Post Office Mall at 333 W. 4th and is now known as the Ship Creek Center, I think. I was especially charmed by a small woodcut-looking piece by Rebecca Poulson, titled "Flower Girl."

Several of the shops at 333 W. 4th had receptions under way - which mainly meant later hours and food, not necessarily schmoozing with artists. Fare included a chocolate fountain with strawberries ready for dipping. The Artic Rose folks have just moved their Arctic Rose Alaskan Artisan Gallery into the space formerly occupied by the Alaska Native Heritage Center downtown gift store. They had been on the third floor of the center for some time, but not attracting many lookers to that out-of-the-way location. As of Friday, they'd only been in the space for two days and were still putting things on the wall. Among other artists represented is popular Iditarod painter Jon Van Zyle. And yes, the Artisan Gallery uses the standard spelling of Arctic as opposed to the Artic Rose on L Street.

Alaska village children: as depicted by the late Joan Kickbush at Aurora Fine Arts.

The storybook illustrations of Alaska village life that made Joan Kickbush beloved by tourists always seemed a little treacly to me. But the 16 canvases from her estate now on display at Aurora Fine Art Gallery, 737 W. 5th, are paintings that the artist, who died two years ago, kept for herself. I get the feeling that they were particularly sharp depictions of specific people she knew. At any rate, they tend to carry more personality than her typical work, and several have an air of hardship absent from the happier illustrations. There's a darker hue to the colors.

At Stephan Fine Arts Gallery, 600 W. 6th, Kim Marcucci has a bright set of abstracts commenting on urban construction. The pieces seem to come with stories and have titles like "Bridge to Somewhere." You can view the paintings online at www.stephanfinearts.com. Also bright and abstractish are Dennis Lind's glossy acryllics at Virtu, 400 W. 4th.

The prize for the best food in downtown Anchorage for this First Friday Art Walk goes to Covenant House; it included shrimp and spring rolls and sushi. Every two months the shelter has a one-night show of work by young people associated with the house, usually different genres depending on what sort of art project they've been working on recently. This time it was soapstone and painted wood carvings in Native styles. I was particularly struck by a non-traditional sculpture titled "Mountain Face" by Henry. Only first names are used at the shows, which take place at Covenant House's community services center at 750 W. 5th, across the street from Holy Family Cathedral.

There was much more going on downtown and elsewhere. If you saw anything you liked - or didn't - leave a comment here.

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