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The Circus (in my mind) is in Town

New Art by Randolph Colosky. November 12 to December 18, 2008

Rachel Kaye: Under the Affluence

An exhibition of works by Rachel Kaye. August 28 to October 4, 2008.

With a revised sense of portraiture, the selection of paintings for the exhibition, Under the Affluence, culminates into a provocative cabinet of the figure and its domestic interior. Rachel Kaye’s process distills celebrity magazine clippings and photographs of high-profile women into careful recompositions reflecting the efficacy of portraits as affirmations of authority, beauty and power. These iconic depictions of desirable women, shimmering chandeliers and decadent living quarters position the viewer within a voyeuristic gaze in continuous anticipation of the figure. The elite playpens and staged realities are rendered temporal and ironic highlighting the interior as a constant projection of self-fashioning, wealth and opulence.

Rachel Kaye received her Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from the California College of the Arts (CCA) in 2004, where her studies were primarily concentrated in abstraction. Ultimately finding nonrepresentational painting lifeless and impersonal, Kaye made a momentous departure from abstraction and turned to the figure. Her previous focus in pure color and composition coupled with her current interest in the language of social status form the basis for this exceptional body of work.

Shown for the first time in the Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, Kaye’s work purposefully strikes a balance between severity and lightness addressing the absurdity of celebrity obsession while calling attention to systems of value. Adobe Books is delighted to host Rachel Kaye’s solo exhibition and honored to include her in the gallery’s longstanding history of showcasing local emerging artists. — Devon Bella, Curator

Rainen Knecht and Christopher Baird

New work by RAINEN KNECHT and CHRISTOPHER BAIRD

Christopher Baird lives and works in San Francisco. Raised in Portland, Oregon and graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2002 he has shown in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Portland, San Diego and Kyoto, Japan..

Rainen Knecht also lives and works in San Francisco and graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. Raised in Gig Harbor, Washington Rainen has shown in San Francisco, New York, Seattle and Kyoto, Japan.

Jen Smith

Opening reception February 28th 7-10 PM

With special live performance by The Quails

Curated by The Folks

Raised in Washington, DC where her ideas about the role of art were determined by experiences within the political oriented music community. Has been an active in San Francisco for the past decade, most noteably though her band the Quails. She has shown locally at places like Needles and Pens, the Yerba Beuna Center for the Arts and currently has work on view in the show "Small Things End, Great Things Endure" at New Langton Arts.


The Quails are gathering to sing rock songs from the psychedelic/punk songbook with the people, by artists such as the Clash, the Kinks and Pink Floyd. There will be song books and musical previews for people unfamiliar with the songs. Rock and Roll Choral Gestalt!