Category Archives: REVIEWS

I had problems with Asian Art Museum’s (and V&A’s) Maharaja show, SF Weekly

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Larissa Archer

Any exhibition on the wealth of a nation’s royal class is an exhibition of the inflated amour-propre of men with money and armies at their beck. Well-fed bluebloods wrap themselves in theater curtains, pile on the baubles, and commission royal portraits for … Continue reading →

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Lines Ballet’s Resin Review, HuffPost

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Larissa Archer

Resin, the showcase of Lines Ballet’s fall season, exemplifies what makes the company a treasure for San Francisco and the world of dance. Set to the music of the Sephardic tradition (songs of the Jewish diaspora into Yemen, Spain, Morocco, … Continue reading →

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Elin Høyland’s “Brothers” at Rayko, for the Huffington Post

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Larissa Archer

It is tempting to regard a life that takes place “off the grid” of modern culture — sans TV, sans cellphone, sans facebook, sans travel — with pity, as if the person living this way was “left behind” or just … Continue reading →

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Wrestling, marinara, and buzzy things: the Indie Erotic Film Fest at the Castro

Posted on September 27, 2011 by Larissa Archer

I wrote this for SF Weekly but they were unable to use it. The health hazards of corsets are well-known: they crush your liver, squeeze your lungs, and sometimes, even break your ribs. They force you to take quick, shallow … Continue reading →

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“Illusions of Grandeur” at 111 Minna Gallery, Art Practical

Posted on September 23, 2011 by Larissa Archer

Illusions of Grandeur, at 111 Minna Gallery, showcased the abstract and Surrealist-inspired work of two local painters, NoMe Edonna and Lee Harvey Roswell. Both self-taught, each artist possesses an eye for composition and favors bold colors, as exhibited by the … Continue reading →

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

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Larissa Archer

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

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Larissa Archer

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

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Larissa Archer

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

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Larissa Archer

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

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Larissa Archer

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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