There are plenty of annual art sales and auctions and events in the bay area, each with its own style and price range. Mostly, they are places where the well to do go for a mix of a party and conspicuous consumption. Among these events, the most fun for those with less than deep pockets and a fondness for the occasional art purchase is the Southern Exposure’s excellent Monster Drawing Rally. If you are anything like me (budget wise), this is one of the most fun non-barter opportunities to acquire work.

The 120+ artists will take turns (30 at a time) creating art over the course of an hour, which will then be sold for 60 dollars a piece (with a lottery for works wanted by more than one person) It’s a crazy scene, with people jockeying for a chance to snag one of the works which are often quite good, despite the time constraints and frenzied atmosphere. The artist list is ridiculous, covering a wide swath of the bay area art scene. And, there’s a bargain wall of unpurchased work from the previous year, off of which I snagged a drawing by David Wilson that makes me smile pretty much every day. The money made goes to fund SoEx’s various excellent programs.

It happens Friday at the Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa, SF, from 6-11pm. 

NOTE

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Curiously Direct Picks

Haines Gallery//Dennis Oppenheim: 1968: Earthworks and Ground Systems= Interesting show of some of Oppenheim's land art work, including a film (transferred to digital) and a reprint of some of his sketchbooks. The show as a whole speaks to the heightened sense of possibilities of the early conceptual art movement, with almost too many ideas jostling about; this show made me want to make it to LA for the big land art show that much more.

Eli Ridgway//Zachary Royer Scholz: Nothing is Ever Finished= Solo show of sculpture and flat works by Scholz, composed of parts of older pieces. Some of the works are better than others, and the exhibition could use more context to go along with its conceit; that being said there are some great moments. The sculptures were most interesting to me, especially a large upright door shaped plank, a piece of steel precariously bent between roof and floor, and a pair of strange stacks, one of steel shelving and one of rope, which rise at the points they intersect. 

And I highly recommend looking up the works of John Smith, two of which I saw as part of a screening at SFMOMA. They are simultaneously funny and smart, playing with language and the cinematic. Clips of many works are at his website, www.johnsmithfilms.com

Thursday:
+ Workshop: "Craft Bar with Etsy Labs" at Museum of Craft and Folk Art
+ Dennis Oppenheim "1968: Earthworks and Ground Systems" at Haines Gallery
+ Xiaoze Xie "New Work" at Gallery Paule Anglim
+ Christine M. Peterson, Facundo Arganaraz, Joshua Churchill "Surface" at Sherwood Gallery

Friday:
+ "Southern Exposure's Annual Monster Drawing Rally" at Southern Exposure (Verdi Club)
+ Dani Galietti, Daniel Brickman, Erika Romero, Jared Theis, Katherine Nulicek, Kyle Dunn, Terry Peterson "UC Davis 2012 MFA Exhibition" at Nelson Gallery at UC Davis (Nelson Hall)

Saturday:
+ Performance: Ann Hirsch, Brandon Drew Holmes, Bryan Morello, Daniel Leyva, Jake Sollins, Jodi, Joel Dean, Matthew Endler + Bittany Berg, Monique Goldwater + Caitlin Denny, NWL (Peter Conheim of Negativland and Jon Leidecke, Sara Ludy, Zach Shipko "Body Manipulations" curated by Caitlin Denny at The Lab
+ Performance: Ann Hirsch, Brandon Drew Holmes, Bryan Morello, Daniel Leyva, Jake Sollins, Jodi, Joel Dean, Matthew Endler + Bittany Berg, Monique Goldwater + Caitlin Denny, NWL (Peter Conheim of Negativland and Jon Leidecke, Sara Ludy, Zach Shipko "Body Manipulations" curated by Caitlin Denny at The Lab
+ Panel Discussion: "OMCA In-the-Mix Series | Protest: Left and Right, or Progressive and Conservative" at Oakland Museum of California

Wednesday, June 6

Antonio Monroy, Artemio, Carlos Amorales, Cristian Franco, Edgar Cobain, Enrique Hernandez, Felipe Manzano, Gina Arizpe, Israel Martinez, Joaquin Segura, Juan Bastardo, Nina Hoechtl "La Quebradora" curated by Amy Pederson at Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts
Mission District: 2868 Mission Street, $5 donation, 6:30 - 9:30 pm

Thursday, June 7

+ Workshop: "Craft Bar with Etsy Labs" at Museum of Craft and Folk Art
SOMA: 51 Yerba Buena Lane, $5-10, 6-8pm

Kathleen Henderson "Drawings" at Gallery Paule Anglim
Downtown: 14 Geary Street, floor 2, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

+ Dennis Oppenheim "1968: Earthworks and Ground Systems" at Haines Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 5, 5:30-7:30pm

Beth Moon "Odin's Cove" at Corden Potts Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 4, 5:30-7:30pm

+ Xiaoze Xie "New Work" at Gallery Paule Anglim
Downtown: 14 Geary Street, floor 2, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

+ Christine M. Peterson, Facundo Arganaraz, Joshua Churchill "Surface" at Sherwood Gallery
Downtown: 58 Maiden Lane, 3rd Floor, Free, 6-9pm

Ada Sadler "New Paintings" at Dolby Chadwick Gallery
Downtown: 210 Post Street, floor 2, Free & Open to the Public, 5:30-7:30pm

"Ann Weber" at Dolby Chadwick Gallery
Downtown: 210 Post Street, floor 2, Free & Open to the Public, 5:30-7:30pm

Friday, June 8

Mary Button Durell "Flash: New Works by MaryButton Durell" at La Boutique l'Art et la Mode
Downtown: 414 Jackson Street, Suite 101, 6-8pm

+ "Southern Exposure's Annual Monster Drawing Rally" at Southern Exposure (Verdi Club)
Mission District: 2424 Mariposa Street, between Hampshire and Potrero Streets, $15 & up donation for admission, 6:00pm to 11:00pm

+ Dani Galietti, Daniel Brickman, Erika Romero, Jared Theis, Katherine Nulicek, Kyle Dunn, Terry Peterson "UC Davis 2012 MFA Exhibition" at Nelson Gallery at UC Davis (Nelson Hall)
Davis: 1 Shields Avenue, floor 1, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

Saturday, June 9

Jennybird Alcantara "Creatures of Saintly Disguise" at Varnish Fine Art
Downtown: 16 Jessie street, suite 120, FREE, 6-9pm

Anne Colvin "FAX: "Attn: Miss Calpurnia"" at SF Arts Commission Gallery
Civic Center: 401 Van Ness Avenue , at McAllister Street, 2-6 pm

Kevin Peterson "Prospective" at Shooting Gallery
Tenderloin: 839 Larkin Street, Free, 7-11pm

Greg Gossel "Fading Fast" at White Walls
Tenderloin: 835 Larkin Street, floor 1, Free, 7-11pm

+ Performance: Ann Hirsch, Brandon Drew Holmes, Bryan Morello, Daniel Leyva, Jake Sollins, Jodi, Joel Dean, Matthew Endler + Bittany Berg, Monique Goldwater + Caitlin Denny, NWL (Peter Conheim of Negativland and Jon Leidecke, Sara Ludy, Zach Shipko "Body Manipulations" curated by Caitlin Denny at The Lab
Mission District: 2948 16th Street, $5 - $10 Suggested Donation, 8-11 pm

+ Performance: Ann Hirsch, Brandon Drew Holmes, Bryan Morello, Daniel Leyva, Jake Sollins, Jodi, Joel Dean, Matthew Endler + Bittany Berg, Monique Goldwater + Caitlin Denny, NWL (Peter Conheim of Negativland and Jon Leidecke, Sara Ludy, Zach Shipko "Body Manipulations" curated by Caitlin Denny at The Lab
Mission District: 2948 16th Street, $5 - $10 Suggested Donation, 8-11 pm

Ben Venom "I Call The Shots" at Guerrero Gallery
Mission District: 2700 19th Street, Free, 7-11pm

NICHOLAS COLEY "Changes in the Landscape" curated by Steven Lopez at ArtZone 461 Gallery
Mission District: 461 Valencia Street, Free, 5-8 pm

Diana Lee "Top Shelf Scratchboard" curated by Steven Lopez at ArtZone 461 Gallery Mission District: 461 Valencia Street, 5-8pm

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Amber Jean Young "Letters home" at Michael Rosenthal Gallery
Mission District: 365 Valencia street, Free, 6-9pm

Crystal Morey "In Our Nature" at Compound Gallery
Oakland: 1167 65th st., Oakland, CA 94608, Ground floor, 6-9pm

Christopher Lopez, Ethan Worden "On Looking at Things, Empty and Otherwise" at Swarm Gallery
Oakland: 560 2nd Street, Free, 6-8pm

+ Panel Discussion: "OMCA In-the-Mix Series | Protest: Left and Right, or Progressive and Conservative" at Oakland Museum of California
Oakland: 1000 Oak Street, The Great Hall's 1968 Lounge, Free with gallery admission, 1-2 pm

Artcards San Francisco is a weekly email publication led by editor Jackie Im and Aaron Harbour. Email event submissions to sfinfo@artcards.cc or use our submission form. New: you can now add an image to your listing by using the submission form.

+ = Editor's pick
? = Opening not confirmed - check site for updates.