News

New San and Escif in Death Valley and info on their show

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As we announced on the site the other day, Spanish street and fine artists, San and Escif, have been traveling with Upper Playground all around the West Coast, painting along the way, finding inspiration, and building a body of work that will be on display at our San Francisco gallery, FIFTY24SF, starting on June 30, 2011. They just sent us two images of a piece they finished in Death Valley, California.

Below, you can read our general announcement about the show, and a few words from both Escif and San about what the show will comprise of, and what their thinking is on the Upper Playground “See You in Croatan” road tour.

“We were taught in elementary school that the first settlements in North America failed; the colonists disappeared, leaving behind them only the cryptic message “Gone to Croatan”. The very first colony in the New World chose to renounce its contract with the Empire and go over to the Wild Men. They dropped out. They became ‘Indians,’ ‘went native,’ opted for chaos over the appalling miseries of serfing for the plutocrats and intellectuals of London” – TAZ, Hakim Bey

SAN FRANCISCO, CA [6.13.11] — FIFTY24SF Gallery presents “See you in Croatan” a road show by San & Escif opening on June 30th, 2011.

“See you in Croatan” is an experimental research project which will cross the lives and experiences of two friends in a random road trip across the west coast of the United States. As far away as possible from doctrines, imperialisms and linear reasoning. Searching for beauty in errors and fortuitous tools. Working with intuition and hazard; trying to light relations, transitions and processes; working with research as the way itself; understanding chaos as an ideal space for creation.

From Escif:

I’ve spent a few days thinking about the project, and about the way we are approaching it. The idea of generating a third language seems like it’s not working very well, at least not in a practical way.  Certainly it is a path that should become stronger during the journey, but so far it has seemed to be more of an impediment than the correct path. We already knew that teamwork is very complex, but I think it is a lot harder when the roles on the team are not well established. Because then the fight between the two egos grow to see who is the one directing the movie (I´m thinking out loud) and its something that gets more complex when the two directors (you and I) have such different ways of working.

From San:

I completely understand what you say. I think we have to be practical, although we both like to navigate riskier terrain than we normally would on our own. Team work is hard, and even more so when obsessive perfectionists like us work together, each with our own story, but it is what it is. When I made the two drawings that I sent you, I always thought that what I was doing was twisting my work a little bit to get closer to a new “skin”, not so much trying to invent a third language. I think that´s exactly where the focus of the expo should be, in making an effort to get out of our safe zone and dig into something a little less personal, but using our powers, of course…

San and Escif’s Road Show blog: http://elterceroencuestion.blogspot.com/

Swampy "In My Room" Open for 1 Extra Day Today

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Review of the show by The Citrus Report: We have had a bunch of openings that we have visited over the years, a bunch at FIFTY24SF Gallery in particular. But there was something in the energy on the 200 block of Fillmore Street last night, when the first patrons began walking into Swampy's "In My Room" solo show and installation. At first, the show is clean and simple: 3 large paintings and 8 photographs. They were striking simply based on what we know of Swampy: photos of train-hopping adventures throughout North America, paintings on found objects, and of course, the now widespread and cult-followed Swampy Skull icon.

But then, of course, this show was not just 3 & 8. It was a full installation, with these 11 works just as integral to the concept of the "In My Room" installation as the entire back room experience. This was a "Swampy Show," the before and after, the work put in and the output, inside the mind and what comes out in paintings and photographs. The life, lifestyle, and the work. The adventure. The obsession. The dedication. The character.

So, of course, you lift the 3rd paintings, and climb into the world behind and inside the Swampy Donkey. Its cluttered, it moves, it makes a sound, and it gets added to by friends and casual passerbys. And most importantly, it is not permanent. —Raymond Brown / The Citrus Report

All photography by Patrick Kawahara.

See you in Croatan: A San & Escif Road Show

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San and Escif are traveling down the California coast on a painting trip before they return for their show back up in San Francisco at the gallery. Stay tuned as we update you more on their trip as they prepare for the show. Here's a little snippet of their conversation during the planning process:

[ From Escif (11:02) april 9th Llevo unos días dándole vueltas al proyecto y a la forma en que lo estamos enfocando. La idea de generar un tercer lenguaje me parece que no está funcionando, por lo menos en una valoración práctica. Ciertamente es un camino que debería fortalecerse durante el viaje, pero ya en los previos parece ser un impedimento más que un acierto. Trabajar en equipo es muy complicado, ya lo sabíamos, pero me parece que lo es mucho más cuando no se establecen funciones en el equipo . Es entonces cuando florece una lucha de egos por ver quien dirige la película (esto es una reflexión en voz alta) y es algo que se complica cuando los dos directores implicados (que somos nosotros) tienen maneras de trabajar tan diferentes. ] I´ve been a few days thinking about the project, and about the way we are focusing on it. The idea of generating a third language seems like it´s not working very well, at least not in a practical evaluation. Certainly it is a path that should become stronger during the journey, but in the past experiences it´s seemed to be more an impediment than a right thing to do. Team working is very complex, we already knew it, but I think is lot harder when the functions on the team are not well established. It´s right then when the ego fight flourishes to see who's the one who´s directing the movie (I´m thinking out loud) and its something that gets more complex when two of the directors (you and I) have such different ways of working. [ From San (10:19) april 10th Entiendo todo lo que me dices, creo que hay que ser prácticos, aunque a los dos nos guste tirar para terrenos mas pantanosos en cuanto a lo que solemos hacer por separado. El trabajo en equipo es duro, y mas cuando se trata de perfeccionistas compulsivos como somos, cada uno en su historia, pero es asi. Cuando hice los 2 dibujos que te mande siempre pense en que lo que hacia era retorcer un poco mi trabajo para ir acercandome poco a poco a otra piel, no tanto a inventar un tercer lenguaje. Creo que ahi es donde estaría el punto de la expo. En hacer un esfuero por salir de la retaila de recursos y registros que tenemos cada uno para indagar en algo un poco más impersonal, pero utilizando nuestro power, por supuesto. ] I completely understand what you say, I think we have to be practical, although both of us like to pull on more swampy (tricky) ways despite what we do on our own. Team work is hard and more when people like us, obsessively perfectionist, work together. When I made the 2 drawings that I sent you, I always thought I was twisting my work a little bit to get near little by little to a new “skin”, not to invent a third language. I think that´s exactly where the focus on the expo should be, in making an effort to go out of our safe zone and dig in something a little bit more impersonal (less personal), but using our powers, of course..