Arts Extra! San Francisco

POTRERO HILL — Live Art Gallery hosted a weekend reception on May 5th and 6th for David Faulk’s new work, “The Apology”, which explores themes in shame, love, and anger in religion. Known as a studio space for visual artists and photographers, Live Art Gallery is also home to Queer Ballroom Studios in the Potrero Hill district.

Photographer Michael Johnstone greeted and gave Arts Extra! a quick tour of the intimate and low-key studio space where some artists have worked for nearly 30 years. Presenting David Faulk’s new work on display, Johnstone pointed out the satirical license Faulk took with the 1930s comic strip character Nancy. “I love how he evokes so many complex and contemporary themes like intolerance and personal insecurity through her,” Johnstone said.

David Faulk is also known citywide as Miss Vera, whose playful and passionate photogenic talents have mused many a photographer from across the country; although Johnstone’s photos provide the greatest access to Miss Vera’s intimate and vibrant personality.

Faulk explained his new work to visitors and friends to the opening while catching up on their own stories and affairs. He said his new work, “The Apology”, is a 24-panel dialogue on canvas about shame, love and anger in religion. “It’s like a comic book,” he said, “but a very peculiar comic book: one that includes lots of texture and formal elements.”

His gloomy blue-gray palette plays host to outrageous linear characters trapped in quirky scenarios that signal nostalgic icons of the comic world while breaching obscure dimensions of consciousness. “There tends to be a lot more beyond the initial impression,” Faulk said. “You could say the work is dark, and there’s certainly dark elements to it, but it’s usually within the purpose of getting people to think about something while experiencing something upbeat. It’s the kind of tension between the two that I think about when working on a piece.”

More of David Faulk’s artwork is being shown at Bioscrip Pharmacy, 2262 Market Street through July 15. Live Art Gallery is at 151 Potrero Ave. at 15th St. For additional information on David Faulk and his art, visit verasphere.com.

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View more photos from Arts Extra! at flickr.com/photos/artsextra.

All photos by Jamie Windborne unless otherwise noted. Copyright (C) 2007 Jamie Windborne, www.artsextra.com. All rights reserved.