After its owner spent years renovating its historic building into a multi-use space, Chandran Gallery finally opened its doors at 459 Geary St. this summer. This week, local painter Richard Colman is putting the final touches on his new show at the gallery, Faces, Figures, Places & Things, which will debut on Friday night.
What makes Colman's show unique is that it was created both for and in the new gallery. Over the past month, Colman has been using Chandran as his studio, creating large-scale paintings specifically to fit the gallery's walls—and floors.
The Chandran family originally bought the building at 459 Geary (between Taylor and Mason streets) in 2011. According to the SF Weekly, 27-year-old artist Ashley Chandran, a native of Hillsborough, heads up the gallery; her late father, Indian-born entrepreneur Robert Chandran, ran an oil company.
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Planning documents show that the building, which was built in 1922, underwent extensive seismic upgrades and changes to zoning. In addition to the gallery on the ground floor, there are now offices on the middle floors and a luxurious apartment on the top floor, complete with three bedrooms, four bathrooms, a wet bar, and a lap pool.
While the building underwent renovations, Chandran collaborated on site-specific art installations like the Chandran Gallery Beach House in Miami, with decor and textiles created by visiting artists. The gallery's first in-house exhibit in the new space, Surf Craft, was held in July; it featured surfboards painted by well-known artists, which were auctioned off to raise money for Waves For Water. That exhibition was followed by NBD, photographer Swampy's show documenting a year-long trip from Mexico to Alaska.
Colman is a native of Maryland, but lives and works in San Francisco. He describes his work as "blending figurative imagery and bold geometry," exploring themes of human relationships, sexuality and death. His work has been exhibited extensively, with shows in Copenhagen, Paris, New York, Japan and Washington, D.C. In San Francisco, he's shown his work at Guerrero Gallery, Park Life Gallery, White Walls and Upper Playground.
Colman, whose studio is located in what he calls "Dolores Triangle," said his typical space was too small to accommodate his latest project, which is why he asked Chandran to use their space as a studio. At the moment, the floors are protected by plastic and paper, and paint cans and brushes are everywhere.
In addition to large-scale paintings on the main level of the gallery, Colman is also installing a number of big pieces on the floor.
Although this body of work is entirely new, those familiar with Colman's work may recognize themes from previous exhibitions. "A lot of times, the work I've done or the work I’m doing informs itself, especially at this point, having produced a lot of work over the years," Colman told Juxtapoz Magazine earlier this month. "A seemingly unimportant detail from work ten years back, or something like that, will work its way into the newer stuff. It all keeps informing itself."
The show opens on Friday evening, and while the scene at the gallery still appeared to be very much in progress, curator Amanda Krampf felt confident the work would be ready for the public by the end of the week.
This model of allowing the artist to use Chandran as both studio and exhibition space may be used again, but not for a while: after Colman's work comes down in November, a group show is going up. That said, "we look for artists that go outside the box, and that are willing to interact with the space," said Krampf.
The opening of Faces, Figures, Places & Things will take place from 7-9:30pm this Friday. Drinks will be served. The exhibition will run through November.
