"De Las Calles de Mexico a Las Calles de La Mision"

Paintings created in Mexico and the Mission District of San Francisco
 by Anthony Holdsworth.
The Juan Fuentes Gallery, 2958 24th Street
 Oct 22 - November 26
Reception: Oct 22, 6 - 8 pm.  With guest musician Francisco Herrera.

I have been painting the Mission District for the past four years. I consider these works distinct from my other California cityscapes.
 The Mission District is a window on Latin America.  When I paint here, my experience of Latin America, especially Mexico, enters the paintings.
I look forward to this opportunity to show paintings created in Mexico alongside the Mission District Series.

Above: Detail from "Un Rincon de La Plaza Grande, Patzcuaro, Michoacan

Below: Detail from "On the Red Road, Balmy Alley, Mission District, San Francisco

Large Acrylic Prints and Other News

Large Archival Prints of the Kaiser Permanente Series

My solo exhibition at the SFMOMA Artists' Gallery in Fort Mason is over. The eight "Kaiser Permanente Series" paintings remain at the gallery, where they may be purchased or rented.

I am offering large, exceptionally high quality, acrylic prints on canvas of these paintings. This is possible due to the digital scans that Ben Blackwell created for the murals of these paintings that are now placed in the new Kaiser Permanente Medical Facility in Mission Bay, San Francisco.

The Bay Bridge, oil on wood, 20" X 40" one of eight views of San Francisco in the Kaiser Permanente Series.

View all the paintings in my online Gallery under "Kaiser Permanente Series"

Prints are signed, numbered and limited to editions of forty.
They are available in two sizes:
Original Size: 20" high for $ 1400
and Large:  36" high for $ 1900.
Width varies depending on the proportions of the original painting.
For example the Bay Bridge painting (above) would be either 20" X 40" or 36" X 72"
 

Last Sunday, Studio Exhibitions: 1-6 PM Oct 30, Nov 27...

. My studio is open the Last Sunday of every month from 1 pm until 6 pm or by special appointment. You will also see my current studio exhibition and may explore the inventory in the mezzanine. Expect beverages , including cappuccinos, and conversation. Visit Studio.

The Mission District Series

Who Would Jesus Bomb? # 2, 20" X 56", oil/wood panel, 2016

I am continuing my Mission District Series with more emphasis on the people of the Mission. I continue to be appalled by the way our society permits unfettered speculation to trump community. The cultural heart of our city is being eviscerated.

 The Oregon Coast

Views from Cascade Head, Oregon,  pen and ink from my sketchbook

Our son, Mario, took Beryl Landau and I on a trip to the Oregon Coast last year. I have posted two sketches from our trip. It's a spectacular landscape and I'm considering returning to do some oil paintings.

 Nicaragua

Thirty-one years after Beryl Landau and I organized the Artists' Tour of Nicaragua '84, during the heady Sandinista period, we returned for an eight day visit.

The Nicaraguan landscape was as breathtakingly beautiful as I remembered it. The city of Granada on Lake Nicaragua was dazzling. It had shed the tired, threadbare look that it had during the long years of revolution and subsequent struggle to defend the revolution against the US backed Contras. 

Rooftops of the city of Granada                           Above the beach of Pochomil, Pacific coast

But while it was clear that hotels and small enterprises were beginning to prosper, the heartbreaking poverty that afflicts the majority of Nicaraguans seemed as bad as ever. In place of that heady mix of euphoria and hope that animated so many Nicaraguans during the first Sandinista period the general population seemed stressed.

In Managua where I had painted, and walked late at night, without fear of crime in 84’ and 85’, my son was warned not to go out for fear of desperate young men who sniff glue and rob at knife point.

Nicaragua in the 70's and 80's

For a brief video account of my two painting trips in the 80’s take a look at the video that I made with Michael Johnson titled “From Oakland to Nicaragua" in my video section of this website. You have to scroll to the very bottom of the videos to find it!

Nina Serrano, who helped organize our Artist's Tour of Nicaragua '84, has published a novel about this period. A detail of one of my paintings "The Festival of Diriamba" is on the cover (below). Her book is available at at: http://nicaraguaway.com/

Geoff Hoyle in "Lear's Shadow"" at the Marsh Theater in Berkeley

Geoff Hoyle has been delighting and electrifying us in the Bay Area for decades. I observed him developing and presenting his most recent solo show “Lear’s Shadow” at the Marsh in San Francisco. Being the son of Yorkshireman who climbed out of the slums of Sheffield by educating himself in electronics and steeping himself in the classics, I’ve had a lot of exposure to Shakespeare. Indeed, my father’s frequent lament when either I, or my brother, disappointed him was “Ah how sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.”

But Geoff’s Lear was a revelation for it’s highly original point of view that remains true to the original story while shedding a stark, contemporary light on this universal tale.

I couldn’t resist proposing to Geoff that he and I collaborate on two paintings. He agreed and this diptych is the result of an intense collaboration over two afternoons. Where his contribution ends and where mine begins is not, at this point, clear to me. It was an unforgettable experience. Especially unforgettable to see Mr. Hoyle uncharacteristically immobile while I painted him!
If you like this diptych, I guarantee that you will love Geoff’s performance. Reserve your seats at the Marsh in Berkeley before they are all sold out.

You will also get to see this diptych which is hanging in the theater.

Upcoming Solo Exhibition at SFMOMA Artists Gallery

Spirit of Place - The Kaiser Permanente Series and related works

February 27 - March 27 at the SFMOMA  Artists' Gallery, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Boulevard, Building A, San Francisco, CA 94132     Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10:30 am - 5 pm      Contact: 415.441.4777artistsgallery@sfoma.org

Reception: Wednesday March 2nd, 5 - 7 pm. Live music by a trio drawn from José Najera's "Bernal Beat:" /  7 pm - 8 pm Artist talk and videos

Kaiser Permanente Series: Potrero Hill Community Garden

    In January 2015, I was commissioned by Kaiser Permanente to paint a series of eight paintings of neighborhoods of San Francisco. Kaiser was seeking vibrant paintings that represented the cultural and topographical diversity of our city. The finished works are reproduced digitally as ten foot murals in the reception areas of eight floors of their Mission Bay Medical Offices. These murals which Kaiser has titled 'Heart Walls' will welcome patients with iconic scenes of our city.

Kaiser Permanente Series: Caffé Trieste

    The original paintings for these murals form the centerpiece of a solo exhibition at the SFMOMA Artists' Gallery. The exhibition will also include related works and paintings of Mexico and Italy and some paintings from The Garden Series.

Kaiser Permanente Series: Jazz Musicians on Divisadero

Installed courtesy of  Chandra Cerrito Gallery Art Advisors at Kaiser Permanente, Mission Bay Medical Offices, San Francisco California.

Carnaval Time in the Mission

FROM SICILY TO EMILIA-ROMAGNA: A TWO MONTH PAINTING TRIP

An old Italian once told me "We are German in the North and Arab in the south" This is only a slight exaggeration as we observed traveling from Sicily to northern Italy over a two month period.

 Stromboli erupting, as seen from Ginostra on Stromboli in the Aeolian Islands

The  south, with its Baroque Spanish architecture and the terra-cotta rooftops scattered in a volcanic landscape, could almost be Mexico. Except that Mexico doesn't have Greek temples. Nor people who, more than two thousand years after they were vanquished by the Romans, still consider themselves Greek.           

    Garlic Merchants, Catania, Sicily                                                      From our terrace in the Spanish Quarter, Naples

Lugo amid the fertile plain that surrounds the river Po in the northern province of Emilia-Romagna exudes a sense of well being and orderliness more characteristic of northern Europe. Many here are practicing Catholics who also insist that they are Communists. Neighbors often share their cars. 

The main square of Lugo in Emilia-Romagna

Florentine youth, eager to be on the the cutting edge, have embraced American culture with gusto. On this visit much of the graffiti was in English. One noteworthy message asked: "If this is tourist season, why can't we hunt them?"

 Piazza Santo Spirito, Florence, Italy

I was scandalized to find hamburgers on the lunch menu at 'Pops', a popular youth hangout in Piazza Santo Spirito, until I tasted their truffle hamburger which was exquisite.  Italy has a history of absorbing from cultures around it and converting them into something uniquely Italian. 

Our painting group's base twenty minutes from Florence: Querce Seconda, Romola, Tuscany

Watch the video of our two month painting trip in English or Italian:

I encourage you to experience the full variety of cultures we encountered by viewing the video of our journey. It is designed to inform and entertain you, so set aside forty minutes. Pour yourself a glass of wine and click the title to enjoy  From Sicily to Emilia-Romagna: through Artists' eyes 

Questa è la versione Italiana:  Dalla Sicilia all'Emilia-Romagna: attraverso gli occhi degli artisti

The music of Hugo Wainzinger and Al Fabrizio is a marvelous addition to this video. If you like their adaptations for guitar and mandolin, you may find more of their music  - and buy their CDs at: www.heartstringsmusic.com