Opening Friday, the first of several exhibitions this year by Zarouhie Abdalian opens at the Berkeley Art Museum. MATRIX 249 is the artist's first solo museum show, and will feature a group of new sculptural works. Abdalian’s work typically involves context specificity, simple materials and sound (though not always audibly). I am excited to see the new pieces; though descriptions are on offer through BAM’s website I suggest going to see them either at the opening or later with out too many preconceptions. Friday’s opening looks to be quite nice, with one of the always entertaining L@TE programs titled Sounding the Path of the Signal,  programmed by Abdalian, in which ‘each of the works in this evening’s program proposes a novel treatment of the interaction between sound and the specific site of its production.’

Curiously Direct Pick
Jessica Silverman//Digital Infinity= Group show of mixed media works by five artists, three from Europe and two from LA/NY. There is a lot going on here. Each of the artists works with a mixture of non traditional materials, repurposed consumer goods, and appropriated imagery. I liked much of it; especially noteworthy are the pieces by Sean Raspet in the main space, strange cubes filled with clear gel holding images, objects, lenticular screens, and frozen, three dimensional brush strokes hovering in space. The way these works create a small, self-contained internal logic is quite smart. Aleksandra Domanovic's tall stacks of paper which create imagery on their edges through full bleed printing are novel (though maybe weighed down a bit by their novelty), as is Hannah Sawtell's large sculpture. I'd seen and liked Sawtell's online and I found it impressive in person, complicated, precise, and alien. Definitely worth a visit.

Friday:
+ Zarouhie Abdalian "Zarouhie Abdalian / MATRIX 249" at Berkeley Art Museum

Saturday:
+ Kara Joslyn "Kara Vaggio Does Sol LeWitt" at S.H.E.D. Projects

Tuesday, July 30

Alison Pebworth "Alison Pebworth’s Beautiful Possiblity Tour Homecoming Celebration: Slide Show, Elixir Tasting and Training Session" at Southern Exposure
Mission District: 3030 20th Street , FREE, 7-9pm

Thursday, August 1

Artist Talk: "Shahzia Sikander in Conversation with John Zarobell" at Contemporary Jewish Museum
SOMA: 736 Mission Street, Third Street, Free with regular gallery admission, 6:30-8pm

Elisabeth Sunday, Jeri Eisenberg, Susan Friedman "Summer Portfolio" at Corden Potts Gallery
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 4, 5:30-7:30pm

Lisa Bartleson "Slow Reveal" at Toomey Tourell Fine Art
Downtown: 49 Geary Street, floor 4, free, 5:30-7:30pm

Aaron Wong, Adriene Pineda, Ahmani Hewitt, Ailyah Lucero, Alexis Gregory, Amita Chan, Becky Chen, Emma Swan, Jane Trieu, Jenny Ma Li, Katrina Jang, Kevin He, Kristine Li, Minori Ueyama, Pei Lei Wu, Sadat Collins, Selena Wong, Tamirah Gallaread, Tatiana Garcia, Tayyaba Gorsi, Zauniqué Washington "The Surreal Project: 18th Annual Meridian Interns Summer Show" at Meridian Gallery
Downtown: 535 Powell Street, Free, 5:30-7:30pm

Ellen Yetvin-Haven, Erin Mitchell, Giselle Gautreau "Front Lines" at Hang Art
Downtown: 567 Sutter Street, 6-8pm

Scott Scheidly "The Pinks" at Spoke Art
Tenderloin: 816 Sutter St., 6-10pm

Friday, August 2

Reading: Aleida Rodriguez, D. Scott Miller, Ed Bok Lee, Pireeni Sundaralingam "Amplitude I" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SOMA: 701 Misssion Street, at Third Street, Screening Room, Free with gallery admission, 7-9pm

Daniel Jefferies, Nick Wildermuth "From the Container" at a.Muse Gallery
Mission District: 614 Alabama Street, 6:30-9:30pm

Lynne-Rachel Altman "Sinter" at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary
Oakland: 480 23rd Street, floor 1, Free, 6-8pm

Sheila Ghidini "Conversations" at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary
Oakland: 480 23rd Street, floor 1, 6-8pm

Donald Mitchell, Lauren Dare, Maureen Clay, Monica Valentine "Departures" at Creative Growth
Oakland: 355 24th Street , 5-9pm

Cyrus Tilton, Gala Bent, Iris Polis, Walter James Mansfield, William Harsh "Concerns for the Environment" at Vessel Gallery
Oakland: 471 25th Street, Free, 6-9pm

Chandra Baerg "Perceptual Shifts: Recent Work by Chandra Baerg" curated by Suzanne L'Heureux at Interface Gallery (Temescal Alley)
Oakland: 486 49th Street, 6-9pm

Jennie Ottinger "Members Only" at Johansson Projects
Oakland: 2300 Telegraph Avenue, at 23rd Street, free, 5-8pm

+ Zarouhie Abdalian "Zarouhie Abdalian / MATRIX 249" at Berkeley Art Museum
Berkeley: 2626 Bancroft Way, at College Avenue, $7, 7pm

Saturday, August 3

Alan Grizzell, Alexis Babayan, Andreina Davila, Ann Murphy, Audrey Jones, Bart Frescura, Cleo Vilett, David Fullarton, Dawline Oni-Eseleh, Deanna Fainelli, Ellen Coffey, Eric Sanchez, Frank Cole, Joanne Ludwig, Josh Winzeler, Kane Lynch, Kevin McLoughlin, Laura Lengyel, Luke Heimbinger, Mary Burger, Max Kaufmann, Maya Kabat, Megan Atherton, Tina Erickson "Scouting Oakland" at Compound Gallery
Oakland: 1167 65th st., Oakland, CA 94608, Ground floor, 6-9pm

+ Kara Joslyn "Kara Vaggio Does Sol LeWitt" at S.H.E.D. Projects
Oakland: 1917 Peralta Street, 7-10pm

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