Alphonse Berber Projects is pleased to announce the opening of a solo show of new painting and sculpture by Don Porcella. The opening reception will be this Saturday from 6-9pm, at 575 Sutter St. in San Francisco, and will include a musical performance from the artist's band Face Urchins starting at 7 pm.

New York artist Don Porcella creates whimsical and subversive sculptures and installations using pipe cleaners. He received a BFA in painting and drawing from California College of the Arts in San Francisco and an MFA in painting and drawing from Hunter College, New York; he also has a BA in psychology from the University of California at San Diego in LaJolla. Growing up in suburban California, Porcella draws from his experience of "strip malls and shopping mall culture." His strong interest in comics and the absurd reflects the influence of the many science fiction writers living in the San Francisco Bay area. The handmade quality of his work and "non-traditional modes of art making," along with his appreciation of folk art and outsider art, comes in part from the influence of his parents; his mother Yvonne Porcella is a well-known fiber artist and his father made and fixed most anything by hand.

New York Times, art critic Ken Johnson describes Don Porcella's paintings as, "...images like Sasquatch lounging in a pink recliner by a wilderness lake and a mobile home trailer on fire are embodied in a thick, sensuously waxy medium." Drawing from his own imagery of the suburban, and his interest in folk art, cartoons, and science fiction, Porcella's work allows the subjective and strange to penetrate humorous representations of a wildly imaginative reality.

You can follow the artist on his blog at www.donporcella.blogspot.com