San Diego has a lot of visual arts, dozens of art museums, and galleries that cannot be counted. If you need some help to narrow down your museum plan, KPBS art, producer and editor, Julia Dixon Evans (Julia Dixon Evans) puts together five works of art every month for you to review. She is now discussing her choice for December with us, Julie, you're welcome.

Hi, Yu. Thank you for your hospitality. Then we

Start working outdoors, especially because some people may not be interested in getting indoors right now. Uh, this one is outside the Mesa College Art Gallery. Tell us about

it. Yes, this is called shadow work. Oh, one of them is the work of local emerging sculptor Jennifer Vargas. I really like the way she uses fine wire mesh in her work. She will bend it and layer it. The density of the grid complements the light and shadow, all layers and intersections create these gradients and patterns, and metal is usually this hard and cold material, but somehow it looks airy and soft in her sculptures. And this one is just outside the Mesa College Art Gallery and is part of the Sewing Seeds of the Universal Language Exhibition. All this was planned by the museum research project there. And this sculpture is huge. It, it almost seems to rise and fall from the cement. There are some blue, orange and its splashes, it will change when you move around it, especially when you squat down, look up at the sky, through the mesh and the lights of the Mesa University Art Gallery, time is limited By the day from Tuesday to Thursday. But because it is outside, you can visit this work as long as you can reach the campus parking lot. Not 24 hours a day, Monday to Saturday, but for only $1 per hour, you can park your car in front of it. Or you can visit it on Sunday. That

Shadow work. Oh, and a work by Jennifer Vargas will be exhibited outside the Mesa College Art Gallery before December 15th. Next is an interesting performance installation involving actual food. Tell us about the work of artist Maggie Shin.

Yes, this is another local artist whose work combines sculpture, animation, music, performance and food. She moved from one continent to another for about 15 years, and she learned that she would see foods and ingredients and sources of food so different from place to place. She is really honing this device to study the landscape and the environment. I recently spoke with Maggie, and she said that she would like visitors to consider the large-scale system involved in your food production and harvesting, and its impact. She did this by making everything in the exhibition very small, because

I reduced the size of the landscape so that the relationship between man and land, uh, became more obvious. You know, things like what we do to the land can sometimes be very abstract, if nature is so big.

The food is these edible mini sculptures, which represent different parts of the landscape. The audience can indeed taste food, such as edible sand that tastes like lemon or sponge made of avocado. It is a mixture of real things and other worldly things. And this work, yes, it is intended to be experienced as a performance work. So the audience gathered together and watched her and the actors lead them through a scientific harvesting process, accompanied by animation, augmented reality, and then the soundscape of discovering noise. Then we can eat.

Okay, the Maggie shins scape installation performance will be held this Friday, December 10th at 6:00 pm. Again, on January 8th at the Art Center in Logan Heights, the San Diego Art Museum recently held an exhibition featuring more than one hundred photographs from the 20th century to the present, from Ansel Adams, Dorsey Iconic photographers such as Ya Long and Minor. White just to name a few. One of the works is more eye-catching for you than the others, Julia, uh, one of Paul. tell us

First. What I want to say is that it is almost impossible to pick a prominent one here. There are so many fascinating photos, but this one is the work of American photographer Paul Strand, who lived from 1890 to 1976. So the work in the early 20th century was really solid. This piece is called Wall Street in New York. It was published in 1915. The setting of this picture sounds simple. It's like a dozen people hurriedly working in front of the very unique front window of the JP Morgan Chase building on Wall Street. But the abstract, combined position in Strand's work. It is based on what you expect to focus on in such photos. It's like the historical curiosity of capitalism in 1915, but his way of working, people seem to be small in scale. Then according to the nature of the light, they are SIL and look almost like ghosts, and the windows of the building also appear ominous. It's just that these huge, thick black rectangles dominate the street absolutely feels like a metaphor. Yes, the entire exhibition is worth seeing, but this Paul Strand photo stopped me.

Wow. interesting. Paul Strand's work on Wall Street in New York is part of the S DMA master photographer Garner Collection exhibition, which will last until February 21. Let's stay in the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park and go again. There are textile exhibitions from influential Japanese design companies. Nuno tells us this

right. Nuno was founded in 1984. This exhibition showcases some of their historical textiles. It is located on the lower level of the Japanese Friendship Garden, in a relatively inconspicuous gallery room. In a Mai, there are about 30 such textiles. The metal rod racks are arranged in a row. The stands are partly dresses and partly beautified hangers. And it definitely looks almost like the ghost of Erie. Each form is covered with one of the textiles. And these textiles are really beautiful. It is this fusion of form, function and material. One of my favorite works is a float weaving work in 1997 called patch paper. It has some pieces of fine white paper slipped into the fibers of this white Hiller cloth. They stand out like thick wavy hair or feathers. I have to say it's hard not to touch it.

This is part of the textile language Nuno. It will be exhibited at the Japanese Friendship Garden until February 27. Wendy Mariama's installation works will be exhibited at the Carlsbad Fest Gallery, called the label project. Tell us about it.

This is part of Wendy Maria's larger work, called Executive Order No. 90, 66, named after Roosevelt (FDR) order, which authorizes the Japanese-American prison camps we now know, and Created and 20,000 paper labels for San Diego artist Mariama's labeling project. Replicas of these labels were distributed to every Japanese American who was sent to a concentration camp. She divided the tags into hanging bundles. These were also separated by the camp and hung on the ceiling. They are huge and disturbing. The inhumanity represented by the label is indeed monumental. This work was installed as part of a group exhibition. It is called the Impermanence ATEST Gallery, and it focuses on the short-lived aspects of objects and artistic life. All this is very interesting and contemplative. Wendy

Mom’s label project will be exhibited at the ATEST Gallery on February 13th. You can find detailed information and pictures of each artwork on our website kpbs.org. I have been talking to Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS art editor and producer. Julia, thank you.

Thank you very much, Jed.

The view outside the Mesa College Art Gallery

Distorted and layered into soft patterns, I like local sculptor Jennifer Vargas using fine wire mesh in her works, whether it is large sculptures or smaller works. The density of the grid complements the light and shadow, and the layers and intersections create gradients and gradient patterns. It is almost inexplicable how a material with such a hardness-metal-looks breathable and soft. Her work is fascinating and changes as you approach or move.

Now Vargas has installed a sculpture outside the Mesa College Art Gallery-part of the exhibition "Sowing the Seeds of a Common Language" curated by the Museum Research Class. This work almost undulates from the cement, with splashes of blue and orange. If you can, don't forget to squat down and look up at the sky through the grid.

Although the gallery’s opening hours are only from Tuesday to Thursday, you can visit Vargas' sculptures any time you arrive on campus. Parking is available 24 hours a day from Monday to Saturday, but the permit is only $1 per hour, and there is ample parking space in front of the gallery-or take a taxi on Sunday like me.

Details: Starting from December 15th, it will be open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Mesa College Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College PhD, Linda Vista. free.

Watched at the Athena Art Center during two performances

In a complex interdisciplinary installation, artist Maggie Shen combines food with her research on landscape, environment, family and society. Through performances, interactive edible sculptures, permanent sculptures, AR and animation, Shen hopes that visitors can contemplate the large-scale systems involved in food production, harvesting and consumption and their impact by narrowing the scope. For example, in a gallery.

"Because I reduced the size of the landscape, it made the relationship between people and land more obvious. Just like what we did with land, if nature is so big, sometimes it will be very abstract," Shen said.

In order to create a smaller area, she turned food into complex, edible sculptures. Shen said that she just handles food like traditional sculpture materials, but pay attention to consistency. She also wants to challenge the taste buds-the audience can taste surprising tastes. Imagine edible sand that tastes like lemon, or a sponge made of avocado.

Although the exhibition is on display at the Athena Art Center in Logan Heights (part of the Bread and Salt Works), the work is intended to be regarded as a performance work. Shen and another actor are harvesting food, while animation and original soundscapes accompany the work.

"The performance is driven by music," Shen said. The soundscape is divided into three parts: the sound of bread and salt, the sound of the forest, and the whimsical rhythm.

After the performance, everyone can enjoy food in the scenic area. "That means we consumed our land," Shen said. "By realizing that we are part of the whole, we may have the opportunity to make different decisions."

Details: The performance will be held on Friday, December 10, 2021 and Saturday, January 8, 2022, at the Athena Center for the Arts, 1955 Julian Ave., Logan Heights from 6 to 8 pm. free.

Exhibited at the San Diego Museum of Art

As part of SDMA's current major exhibition, the Master of Photography: Garner Collection, this Paul Strand (United States, 1890--1976) work somehow stands out among the giants. Photography is divided into three parts, but somehow Strand's work feels that it transcends all parts.

The seemingly simple subject is a dozen people hurriedly working in front of the unique JPMorgan Chase building on Wall Street, but Strand’s composition abstraction is based on what you expect to focus on in photos like this: historical curiosity, capital of 1915 Ism. In perspective, people appear to be small in scale, and because of the nature of light, they are shrouded in silhouettes and look almost like ghosts. The windows of the building also looked ominous, with thick black rectangles covering the street.

The entire exhibition is worth seeing, but this photo of Strand stopped me.

Details: On display until February 21, 2021. It is open every day except for SDMA, 1450 El Prado and Balboa Park from 10 am to 5 pm on Wednesday, and from noon to 5 pm on Sunday. 8-20 USD

Watch at the Japanese Friendship Garden

"Nuno, the language of textiles" is an exhibition hidden in the lower level of the Japanese Friendship Garden, in a relatively inconspicuous gallery room, Inamori Hall. Inside, thirty metal pole frames—partly in the form of dresses and partly gorgeous hangers—arranged in even rows, each draped in a piece of delicate cloth.

These works come from Nuno Studio, an influential Japanese textile design company founded by Junichi Arai in 1984, although Reiko Sudo has been at the helm since 1987. Every textile is a harmony of form, function and material. One of my most popular is the 1997 float weaving work "Patched Paper", in which pieces of fine white paper are stuffed into the original transparent white cloth. In the fiber, it protrudes like thick, curly hair or feathers. It looks fragile and everyday, almost like a toy, but at the same time very delicate.

Details: View until February 27, 2022. 11 am to 4 pm every day. Japanese Friendship Garden, 2215 Pan American Rd. E., Balboa Park. 10-12 dollars.

Exhibited in PHES Gallery

The sculpture is part of Wendy Maruyama's larger work "Executive Order No. 9066", named after President Franklin Roosevelt's order, which authorizes the establishment of a "military zone" and the "evacuation" of all people deemed to pose a threat to national security during World War II. People-this will become the imprisonment camp now known as Japanese Americans.

In the "Label Project", Maruyama produced thousands of paper labels. Replicas of these labels were distributed to every Japanese American who was sent to a detention camp—an estimated 120,000 people in total. The device divides 120,000 tags into a series of hanging bundles, divided by camps, and these bundles hang restlessly from the ceiling. The sheer number of labels and the inhuman feeling they represent is impressive and overwhelming.

The work is part of the new exhibition "Impermanence" at PHES Gallery, focusing on the short-lived aspects of life, objects, and art. It will also include the construction and dissolution of the sand mandala by the Tibetan monks at Ganden Sazi Temple. Mandala creation starts at 10 am on Wednesday and lasts every day until it disbands at 2 pm on Saturday, December 11

Details: On display until February 13, 2022. The gallery is open from Thursday to Saturday from 2pm to 7pm or reservation is required. PHES Gallery, 2633 Carlsbad Street. free.