The art gallery Emerald Tablet, one of the more interesting galleries scattered around the lively North Beach district of San Francisco, is hosting several activities during the month of August, which are focused on diverse fields of the arts. The “creativity salon” has been directly involved with the San Francisco International Poetry Festival, the main event of the month held last July 26-29th, which coincided with the opening of the new exhibit “PASSAGES: The Art of Sandro Sardella & Friends.”
This new exhibit is focused on the artworks of Italian poet and artist Sandro Sardella, who was also the protagonist of the SF International Poetry Festival.
His works will be accompanied in the gallery by the addition—by other artists and poets participating in the festival—of one or two paintings each. Among these artists will be the celebrated poet, publisher and beat-generation legend Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Sardella’s visual work will be featured at The Emerald Tablet through September 2nd, alongside other poet/painters and participants in the San Francisco Poetry Festival, including Jack Hirschman, Agneta Falk, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Matt Gonzalez, Neeli Cherkovski, Rosemary Manno, Alejandro Murguia, George Long, Dorothy Payne, Mahnaz Badihian and more.
The main subject of the exposition “Passages”, on display for the first time ever and prepared for this special occasion, is the continuous transition of the human beings. The concept behind Sardella’s works is represented by scenes of the passage of people through time on boats called “barcarelle.”
He creates his paintings by placing the canvas on the ground and using quick and impulsive brush strokes by standing above. This effect creates dramatic and moving lines and images, in surreal atmospheres, slightly inspired by the late impressionism style.
Sandro Sardella was born in Varese, northern Italy, in 1952. In 1980, with Ferruccio Brugnaro and other worker-poets, he founded a magazine called abiti-lavoro (clothes-work).
Through the succeeding years, under the imprint of Alberto Casiraghy, Sardella (an accomplished painter as well as a poet) wrote over 60 books involving a poem and an artwork or drawing.
His book of poetry Coriandoli (Coloredpaperbits), published in Italian in 1989, was translated into English by Jack Hirschman and published in the U.S. in 1996 by the Parentheses Writing Series.
In 2010 he published Paper Flowers. In 2011, Sardella began a project focusing on a book of poems and drawings written in 1978, originally written and distributed as leaflets when he worked in a metal factory and in a post office.
As part of the North Beach Poetry Crawl (itself part of the San Francisco International Poetry Festival), a whole day of poetry readings and panel discussions was hosted at the Emerald Tablet on Sunday, July 29th. The event featured international poetry readings from Amiri Baraka (USA), Sandro Sardella (Italy), Aggie Falk (Sweden/USA), Dunya Mikhail (Iraq), Yahia Lababidi (Egypt), Joachim Sartorius (Germany), Sasha Pimentel Chacon (Philippines), Marie Silkeberg (Sweden), Antoine Cassar (Malta) and Matt Sedillo (USA), and will include a Translation Workshop and panel moderated by Judy Bernhard, featuring translation specialists and authors including, John Curl.
In addition to these special events, The Emerald Tablet regularly hosts weekly drawing and painting lessons. “Figure Drawing: Gestural Poses” is intended for improving drawing skills in a live model figure drawing lessons. This morning class is held Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., is currently in session. “Painting Class: Painting Your Way” is for all beginners and newer artists, and for everyone that would like to be creative more often.
Through direct and friendly collaboration with artists and other cultural producers, The Emerald Tablet provides resources, support and development opportunities that go beyond a narrow commercial logic.
They offer artists a center to practice at affordable rates, and a space for events, performances, presentations, debates and various levels of various types.
From workshops conducted by professional instructors, to free symposiums organized by students for students, and international events with established artists. Instead of simply renting space to those who want to use them, they collaborate with the organizers to find a productive strategy and an identity for the event which may be integrated in the range of activities offered by the Emerald Tablet.
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