Hungry, thirsty bridge and tunnel crowds flocking to the Mission Saturday night had to slow down while they drove down Valencia street to see what was happening as crowds of people spilled onto the sidewalk for the Portrayals group art show opening reception.
Artists Kevin Earl Taylor, Lee Harvey Roswell, Arlo Jamrog, and Mr. Ben Venom were showing about six paintings each, mostly portraits, in this show that will be hanging at the Mina Dresden Gallery until March 21, 2009.
The art wasn't the only thing to take in, with the reception being filled with a bit of a who's who of the local scene with members of local rock band Black Fiction in the house, as well Flaming Lotus Girls, performance artist Matt Cornell and Kinetic Steam Work's Zach Rukstela and Bree Hylkema (the later also featured in one of the paintings).
Lee Harvey Roswell, an SF painter who's subjects have slowly been shying away from silent film imagery while crawling closer to modern day clowning, was in full face paint with a bevy of beauties also done up in full clown regalia.
At one point, the ladies of the clown took Roswell down to the ground in a mocked Rodney King style beating.
The show is a great mix of very different styles and approaches to portraits and can be seen by making an appointment with Mina Dresden Gallery gallery.
