By John A. Barry And Bill Carmel
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About this blog: John Barry is the creator of trAction Painting, a process/performance genre in which he applies paint to large surfaces with bicycles, roller skates, and other wheeled conveyances. With Bill Carmel and other associates, he has bro...
(More)About this blog: John Barry is the creator of trAction Painting, a process/performance genre in which he applies paint to large surfaces with bicycles, roller skates, and other wheeled conveyances. With Bill Carmel and other associates, he has brought trAction Painting events to local schools and summer camps. He also creates visual puns. His works are included in several private collections. John has authored/coauthored a dozen books, including Technobabble and Sunburst: The Ascent of Sun Microsystems. John can be contacted at jobarry33@comcast.net or 925-918-7882.
Bill Carmel has 35 years' experience as a professional artist. His fine art paintings, sculptures, and designs are included in private, corporate, and public art collections in the United States, Europe, and Australia. After teaching at Humboldt State University and Southern Illinois University, he returned to the Bay Area, where he remains active in the arts by serving as a co-curator for the Lamorinda Arts Council's Orinda Gallery and by exhibiting throughout the Bay Area. Bill reviews exhibits at SFMOMA, the De Young and Palace of Fine Arts museums, and other Bay Area exhibition venues. Bill can be contacted at billcarmel3@yahoo.com.
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Attendance at the Danville Fine Arts Faire [sic for the past three years appears to be a reflection of the sour economy that continues to grip the state and country. Four or five years ago, the Faire featured sidewalk-to-sidewalk people. On Saturday I was able to ride my bike down the street past booths and hardly have to hit the brakes.
Sunday was Father's Day, and that may have diluted the crowds somewhat, but Saturday's attendance was relatively sparse as well. In reality mainly a crafts event, the Faire's fare calls for primarily discretionary purchases, which tend to soften when the fins hit the fan.
Another sign of the economic times is the disappearance from Hartz Avenue of the Kevin Milligan Gallery--whose space is now occupied by a shoe store. Milligan is allegedly opening another location, but for now at least, the only remaining downtown art gallery is the city-run Village Theater Gallery, which rarely exhibits the work of local artists.
In the apparently unlikely event that the California economy is ever taken off life support (at least State Controller John Chiang has stopped payments to our feckless legislators), perhaps the arts will begin to flourish locally.
John A. Barry is a writer and avocational artist. To share anything art-related, call him at 314-9528 or email jobarry@pacbell.net
