Art Slant | Kamau Amu Patton(s) and/or "Kamau Amu Patton"(s) | June 2010 | Chris Fitzpatrick
Commercial galleries often present solo exhibitions simply titled after the exhibiting artist's name, but the title Kamau Amu Patton—the inaugural opening at Alphonse Berber Gallery in San Francisco—seems an appropriate reintroduction. To be sure, Kamau Amu Patton is an alien. Of course, he is by now a rather familiar figure in the Bay Area, and has presented projects in group and solo exhibitions at galleries and museums, as well as on public billboards and kiosks, airbrushed on windows, through radio waves, and in the form of vinyl records or serigraph editions. Yet his work feels less and less contemporary with each presentation, more and more out of sync. His exhibitions carry traces from the past, but always seem to arrive by way of a displaced future to dishevel the present with futurological retrospection.More...
Art Practical | Precicely In Between | June 2010 | Matt Stromberg
What initially strikes one upon entering Kamau Amu Patton's show at Alphonse Berber Projects is the darkness. So much so that gallery director Jessica Cox immediately informed me that it was not a mistake; the lights were off for a reason. She could tell by my hesitant steps that it was unclear to me what I was stepping into—which is exactly what Patton intended. His exhibition comprises bent and twisted pieces of metal littering the floor, glass panes and black mirrors leaning against the walls, strategically placed lights, black canvases and collages, and a fog machine. Although made up of minimal elements, the effect is more than the sum of its parts. Patton has created an immersive environment that illuminates the role of the viewer in completing the work; one does not so much see the work as experience it through its hybrid elements. More...