Some of you may or may not know that San Jose has a First Friday art walk. The South FIRST FRIDAYS art walk is a self-guided evening tour through galleries, museums, and independent creative businesses featuring exhibitions and special performances. Here are a few of the shows you should check out this Friday!
Anno Domini // the second coming of Art & Design
Death Will Tear Us Apart, Mike Egan (Pittsburgh, PA) solo exhibition.
Death can find us in many forms through our lives. Whether it’s the death of a friendship, a marriage, a relationship or the physical death of someone close to us. Death can come to us as a skeleton, a devil or even a blood thirsty wolf. In his newest body of work, Egan shares his story about these characters who may be heart broken, filled with rage, spitting out lies or happy to have friends nearby for support. He has seen the many faces of death and has found the strength to come back to life.
Mike Egan received his BFA from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Shortly after he went on to receive a diploma in funeral directing and embalming from the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science. While working in funeral homes for five years, Egan developed his own style of painting. Although he is no longer working in funeral homes, his time spent working as a funeral director/embalmer still greatly influences his paintings today.
Artist’s reception: Friday, April 5, 2013 from 7-11pm
Anno Domini is located at 366 South First Street, San Jose, CA
KALEID gallery
Join KALEID gallery for two new feature exhibitions:
CHILD-SIGHT, new works by Leah Jay
There is a magic in the vision of children: puddles are lakes with glinting mermaids, dancing spirits rise from the boles of trees, and a hint of magic clouds the world … As adults the innocence of “child-sight” often dims, but we can rekindle it – through the medium of our dreams and by setting our imaginations free.
As an artist I explore those worlds, bringing you back to a land of timeless, innocent joy. By pouring wet paint on a surface, I allow an unpredictable flow to inspire my hand. Eddies of paint free my imagination – to recall and realize magical landscapes and creatures in this mass of color. Over this fertile ground I can choose from every tool in my toolbox – brush, chalk, pencil, pen or charcoal – always striving to channel pure emotion and energy from my work.
I’m inspired by childhood memories; fairy tales; nature in all its forms; line and color; faces and music; the lighthearted and the fantastic. My influences are those whose own visions rekindle childlike delight and wonderment: Sulamith Wulfing, Brian Froud, Alphonse Mucha, Susan Seddon Boulet, Tove Jansson and Kay Nielsen.
Light and Soul Experiences in Natural and Cultural Landscapes, solo exhibition by LAuruS Myth
Ancient temples have been left behind almost like a dormant seed which can help us to understand our potential. Even today, the modern temples are places where people can form a community and celebrate spiritual culture. Anything from nurturing the earth through gardening, appreciation of connections, and the care and concern for others’ and their spiritual path, are all practices of spirituality. All of these actions represent the feminine energy that has been dormant in past centuries. This series depicts the fusion of sacred spaces, temples, and earth technologies. I hope to plant the seed of fertility through my work exploring spiritual connection to the earth.
About the Artist: Patterns, symbols, vibrations and experiences from the realms of nature, technology and spirituality are celebrated elements of LAuruS Myth’s work. Born in 1987, in San Jose’s Silicon Valley, LAuruS is a prolific emerging artist who expresses the constant search inward and outward for a collective power. She graduated in 2009 with a BFA and was presented with an Award for Excellence in the Arts. Her inspiration comes from world travels and intimate interactions with other cultures. Finding a deep connection to every culture she permeates, LAuruS celebrates the varieties of culture through her paintings and hopes to evoke a worldly sense of unity.
KALEID gallery is located at 88 South Fourth Street, San Jose, CA
MACLA Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana
Keepsake by Jose Arenas, acrylic on wood, 2012
MACLA is pleased to present Latino Art Now, their 15th Annual Latino Art Auction.
View the very best of contemporary Latino art from the Bay Area and beyond. Over 50 Latino artists represented through paintings, prints, photographs and mixed-media. In MACLA’s Castellano Playhouse, special guest performances starting at 8pm.
MACLA is located at 510 South First Street, San Jose, CA
Good Karma Vegan Cafe
Phantom Galleries presents From Chaos, new original works by Dylan Kelly // Chaos938 Studios at Good Karma Vegan Cafe.
From Chaos is a collection of brand new artwork by South Bay artist Dylan Kelly, painting under the alias Chaos938 since 2003. Using reclaimed wooden panels, spray paint & acrylics He creates a vibrancy and texture with each piece that is very unique.
This colorful show embodies new paintings, with limited edition screen prints, and a photo retrospective of the many aerosol murals created this year in the bay area by the Artist. All prints are signed and numbered collectables.
Good Karma is located at 37 South First Street, San Jose, CA
The Metro Gallery
Seven Trees photography by Daniel Valencia
Born in San Jose, CA, Daniel Valencia is a photographer that has had a camera in his hands since he was eight. He has photographed literally everything, and I know that many people say that they photograph everything but this guy really has photographed everything and I don’t mean that in a good way. For a while he hadn’t found a style or consistent subject matter, he was unstable and unsure. Nevertheless I have watched his work evolve and mature, from skateboarding to street photography, from capturing the human condition to journalistic work. This body of work though is about his home, his neighborhood, Seven Trees. The socio-economic status of the area and the socio-psychological effects on its inhabitants. This is his work and with this work he will one day innovate photography, if he already hasn’t. ~Edgar Godinez
The Metro Gallery is located at 550 South First Street, San Jose, CA
Pho69
Phantom Galleries presents artist Roan Victor at Pho69 Restaurant.
The California natives symbolize, with conscious effort, the natural growth of imagination and inspiration from mundane things around us. In some of the work I also tried to personify the plants according to their characteristics. ~Roan Victor
Pho69 is located at 321 South First Street, San Jose, CA
Psycho Donuts
art by Kori Thompson
Psycho Donuts in downtown San Jose is a quirky donut shop and art gallery. The gallery displays top local artists and has an ongoing exhibit featuring the work of John Renzel, Lacey Bryant, Nicolas Caesar, Murphy Adams, Christine Benjamin, Michael Foley, Michael Borja, Valery Milovic, Carlos Villez, Eric Joyner, Laura Callin Bennett, Michelle Waters, John Hageman and Robert McColley!
Psycho Donuts is located at 288 South Second Street, San Jose, CA
Hope you all had a great week and have an even better weekend! What better way to start it off than with some amazing art?
-Nancy
“Merkel. Improved Formula. 100% Austerity”
(photo from 
