October 3 – 6th, Kalassal Art Sale & Open House, Kala Art Institute, Berkeley:   It’s time for the annual Kalassal Half-Off Art Sale.  Events are happening all weekend, starting with an opening night party on Thursday, October 3rd from 6 – 9 pm, as well as studio tours, a family art making day, video screenings and a closing party. Featuring works by over 125 artists, this is a great opportunity to support an organization whose mission is to help artists sustain their creative efforts.  Kala Art Institute Gallery, 2990 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley.

Kala staff looking through this year’s submissions, Evie Ladin and her band Evil Diane will perform at the opening event, artworks stacked up and ready.

October 12th & October 26th, the San Jose ICA’s Annual Art Exhibition and Auction events, San Jose:  The 2013 Annual Art Exhibition and Auction events at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) provide unique opportunities for art enthusiasts and collectors to view and purchase artwork by the rising stars and celebrated artists whose work reflects the scope of California’s vibrant and eclectic styles and interests.  With both silent (10/12) and live auctions (10/26), there will be a variety of work including, paintings, photography, works on paper, sculpture, mixed media and installation pieces to choose from.  The Auction Exhibition opens Friday, October 4th, followed by the Silent Auction on Saturday October 12th, and finally the Live Auction Gala on Saturday October 26th.  Purchase tickets and bidder cards online here. SJICA, 560 First Street San Jose.

A selection of artworks available at the SJICA Auction; Lordy Rodriguez, Kara Maria, Nathan Lynch and Tracy Snelling.

Ongoing to October 19th, Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project, Rena Bransten Gallery, 77 Geary Street: The Birmingham Project is a response to the tragic events of September 15, 1963. On that morning four black girls were killed when Ku Klux Klan members bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church. Later that same day two black boys were killed in separate but related incidences of racist violence. Bey began visiting Birmingham in 2005 with the intent of becoming familiar with the city, its history, and its present, planning to eventually make work there in response to that history. These periodic visits continued over seven years. In 2012, at the invitation of the Birmingham Museum of Art, and with the approach of the fiftieth year of the church bombing, Bey began photographing in Birmingham, seeking out and photographing young people the ages of the four girls and two boys that were killed. He also sought out and photographed adults who are the ages that the six young people never became fifty years after their death.

Made individually over five months, the large-scale black and white photographs were then paired to make diptychs, bringing together a young person and an adult fifty years apart in age. In this way the memory of those murdered young people, the passage of time, and a contemporary portrait of Birmingham are invoked.

Dawoud Bey, “Braxton McKinney and Lavon Thomas” and “Maxine Adams and Amelia Maxwell”, archival pigment prints. Source: www.renabranstengallery.com

Ongoing through November 17th, David Wilson: Arrivals, SFMOMA SECA Art Award, various locations: David Wilson’s works on paper and performance-based pieces explore what he describes as “the many lost corners and in-between stretches of natural and developed space” in Northern California. David Wilson’s Arrivals (2013), is a series of six self-guided journeys to outdoor sites throughout San Francisco, begins at a reclaimed redwood trailhead in front of the closed SFMOMA museum building at 151 Third Street. Approximately every two weeks, the artist will leave new takeaway maps there. Each map will provide instructions for the experience and lead visitors to sites where Wilson and his collaborators have recorded songs, music, and sound-based performances. Participants are invited to listen to these recordings upon locating a tape player at each of the sites. The performances draw in part from In Song Sing On (2012-ongoing), a publication project for sing-alongs Wilson is producing in collaboration with artist Colter Jacobsen. Creating a sense of shared intimacy despite distance, Arrivals facilitates a private listening experience that connects each individual with both the performers and with fellow future audience members. Specific walking and public transportation instructions are indicated on the takeaway maps. New maps will be available starting on the following days: October 7, October 28, November 4, and November 17. 

David Wilson, Arrivals (detail of searching Notes at 151 Third Street), 2013. Source: www.sfmoma.org

Watch the interview with David Wilson on Arrivals, courtesy of www.sfmoma.org