We had a pretty quiet Murmur last Friday hitting just two galleries a bit off the beaten path, both kitty-corner from each other at West Grand Avenue at West Street in West Oakland. Westward ho!

We hit Transmission Gallery first and weren’t quite sure what to expect given the unassuming and nondescript industrial entrance, but once we entered the space it was clear the transformation Transmission embodied from its prior incarnation as an auto-repair shop (Valco Transmission Repair).

It was a quiet evening there since the opening reception for the show in place had been held back in February, but it was actually quite lovely to peruse the expansive and pristine space freely without the crowds, and we were able to spend ample time gazing upon Eva Bovenzi’s stark abstractions, which I think is what was required to appreciate their at-first-seeming-simplicity.

Her solo show, titled “Just Look” features over 50 works created with acrylic paint, Yupo paper, and canvas. At first glance you don’t even realize that there are collaged elements to these pieces, exemplary of the fact that “Bovenzi does not use collage to create disjunctions; she uses it to achieve pictorial unity,” as reviewer David M. Roth wrote. (see link at bottom)

The works reference delicate elements from nature (wings, feathers, carapaces, and such) as well as historical works of art, particularly with respect to abstractions of eye forms, which Bovenzi says “led [her] to contemplate the notion of the disembodied eye… as a stand-in for “being-ness”, the quality of simply being alive without partiality.”

The closing reception for the show will be held tomorrow, Saturday 3/15, between 3-5pm with the artist herself giving a talk at 4pm. For those who haven’t yet seen this gallery or show, this is a wonderful opportunity to experience the gallery in all of its light-filled glory (it’s a sunny second-story space), and dialogue with the artist about her work and process.

Transmission Gallery
770 West Grand Ave.
Oakland, CA 94612
Gallery Hours: Fridays 12-6pm; Saturdays 11am-5pm

Stay tuned for highlights of the second gallery we hit… Aggregate Space. I’ll be writing about that next week.

In the meantime, here are a couple in-depth articles for those seeking more info on Transmission and Bovenzi…

• On Transmission Gallery itself – Contemporary art gallery opens in West Oakland
• On Bovenzi’s show Just Look – Eva Bovenzi @ Transmission