Hey hey, it's First Thursday and that means new openings at 49 Geary and Fifty24SF. Check out the many floors of openings downtown first (Dana Harel at Frey Norris looks promising), those run early (starting around 5pm), then you can swing on over to 111 Minna for Ted Lincoln's opening then head to the LoHai for the street-art-to-gallery offerings (Upper Playground's specialty) of U.K.-based artist Hush.


Dana Harel; Hush

Save some oomph for Friday, because it's Art Murmur in the East Bay and lots of temptation in the City. Best bets for Art Murmur include John Casey at Swarm and the group show at Rock, Paper, Scissors that includes Deth P Sun and Alika Cooper. If you're in the mood for esoteric, stop by Johansson Projects for Flaming Furbelows, "an art exhibition that explores uneasy encounters between attraction and repulsion, tenderness and terror" by Marina Vendrell Renaut.


John Casey

In SF, Jennybird Alcantara is showing some new detailed and evolved works at Varnish. She has been hard at work on her technique, and it looks to be a good show for those who appreciate surreal narrative and beautifully disturbed symbolism.


Jennybird Alcantara

Michelle Blade emailed to remind us about the opening at Triple Base, Out of the Flat Files II, which she'll have some work in, as well as the fact that she's recently updated her site with lots of new work as well as a lot of work never seen before.

Mark Warren Jacques is opening a cool-looking show of acrylic and ink paintings mixing geometic color and organic lines, The Optimistic Life and Mind, at Rare Device from 6-9 p.m.


Mark Warren Jacques

Saturday has a couple fun things in store:

Winston Smith is having a Socialism/Anarchy-themed party at Room 101 (Fivepoints Arthouse #50a Bannam Alley, near corner of Union & Grant Avenue in North Beach, San Francisco, Airstrip Two.) The invite says, "Come celebrate the 25th Anniversary Silver Jubilee of George Orwell's account of "April 4th, 1984" Various Examples of Decadent, Elitist "Art" on Display for your Condemnation and Edification; Admission is Free ---(Escape may be more costly).


Winston Smith

Do Not Miss: Porous Walker at Receiver Gallery on Valencia at 25th Street. Jimmy DiMarcellis quit his high-profile (and high-stress) job working with Hollywood legend Francis Ford Coppola and rediscovered his other self, the artist known as Porous Walker. Known for his outrageous installations and excellent associations, this will be a big hopper of hipsters and down-to-Earth friends marvelling long into the night at his absurdist minutiae.

That's right. I own a thesaurus and I'm not afraid to use it.

Get out there this weekend! It'll be chilly and windy, but at least it won't be raining. And according to all sources, the economy is sucking, so prices won't get much better than this.


Porous Walker