In downtown Oakland, pt. 2 Gallery is showing two new exhibits, Sam Spano's The Slow Clock, and Paige Valentine's For All The Love You Gave To Me.
Pulling images from real life experiences and a range of photographic source material, Spano creates stylized paintings frequently featuring women, men, and animals that are often humorous and romantic. Expressively rendered with a particular focus on bold colors, composition and surface texture, the people in his paintings are often caught in the middle of introspective solitary moments, mundane daily activities, or surreal dreams. Animals are often featured as playful and loyal companions, psychological projections of the figures in the paintings, or avatars for the artist himself.
In the artist’s words: “For All The Love You Gave To Me (and asked for nothing in return,)” flashes from the tombstone of a Basset Hound briefly in Errol Morris’ Gates of Heaven. It’s a glimpse of a commemoration encapsulating the unconditional love that a dog had to its person and vice-versa. It made me think that the love a dog feels is beyond what we can imagine, and what defines the differences between the dog and the human is their the companionship, and that love and relationship is all that matters. I’m constantly lost in translation, trying to find the words to express what this means, and all I have is a feeling. My ceramics are vessels and objects that dwell in love, they’re commemorations and offerings, smaller pieces to a bigger shrine. The imagery is automatic and somewhat nostalgic, sometimes a nostalgia I have never experienced. Whether it’s in memoriam of a companion, or a still in a movie, the appropriation of art history on a vessel is the core of my practice, which is itself a constant search for connection. At the end of the day, I am just a painter who loves dogs and making ceramics.”
