Author Archives: Larissa Archer

Zines, awkward sales pitches, and awful fonts at the Zine Fest, SF Weekly

Small-press publishers don’t slack off. Over the weekend at SF Zine Fest, the County Fair Building’s two halls and a reading room were filled with independently produced artwork and literature. And if that weren’t testament enough to their productivity, many … Continue reading

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My review of Fraction Magazine’s show at Rayko Photo Center in the Huffington Post

For the lay observer, a group show often has the advantage of a clear theme, a unifying idea behind the curation that primes the viewer to look for certain common elements throughout the exhibit, and to interpret the work with … Continue reading

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Photobooth and my crush on tintypes, SF Weekly

​ A lot of people have been scratching their heads at the surge in popularity of photographic styles that were once the inevitable defects of machinery long since surpassed and outmoded. While digital cameras that can take clear, detailed, almost “perfect” … Continue reading

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Specs Celebrations in North Beach, SF Weekly

​It’s rare to hear news of an old San Francisco establishment that doesn’t end in “evicted over a rent dispute” or “replaced by a Starbucks.” While ongoing development of the city is a mark of vitality and should be welcome … Continue reading

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Notes from an Extended Art Crawl, SF Weekly

                    August is the month when most of the world goes on vacation and makes you feel a bit of a chump for staying put in a dubious staycation in the … Continue reading

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My review of Scott Yeskel’s “Mapping California” in the San Francisco Examiner

Painter Scott Yeskel’s exhibit at Jack Fischer Gallery is titled “Mapping California,” but it could as aptly be named “Leaving California” or “EscapingCalifornia.” It is not a pervasive view of California he depicts. He ignores the wealthy enclaves of Hollywood … Continue reading

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Fabricated Realities at Robert Koch Gallery, in Art Practical

Despite the sometimes disturbing effectiveness of Photoshop, we still expect photography to show us something that at least seems real. It’s understood that the freedom to contrive entire alternate worlds belongs to the painter, sculptor, writer, or dramatist—any artist whose … Continue reading

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Jonah Raskin writes about pot; I write about him for SF Weekly.

  “If baseball is the opiate of the masses, why aren’t opiates given to the masses?” This was possibly the most cogent question posed to Jonah Raskin on Thursday at Canessa Gallery after he read from his new book, Marijuanaland: Dispatches from an … Continue reading

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Fan Ho’s A Hong Kong Memoir in the SF Examiner

Fan Ho’s “A Hong Kong Memoir,” on display thorough Sept. 3 at Modernbook Gallery, might seem at first look like the work of an Asian Eugene Atget — documental (bordering on sentimental) images of a city and a life that … Continue reading

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the cool/weird dance project "Sex, Love, Money" in SF Weekly

​The reasons for marrying are probably as numerous as the marriages out there. Why do so many people choose to (legally) bind themselves to other humans for life? It means putting up with another’s weird habits and Republican in-laws and … Continue reading

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