Event

Ghosts of the Barbary CoastPost an Event »

Fifty24SF

December 4 - December 31, 2008

Info

http://www.fifty24sf.com/
(415) 252-9144

252 Fillmore Street San Francisco, CA 94117

Google Map »

Opening Reception: Thursday, December 4, 2008 from 7–9:30 p.m. “Ghosts of the Barbary Coast” is a solo exhibition by Jeremy Fish, a fine artist and illustrator based in San Francisco. North Beach, the neighborhood in San Francisco that Jeremy Fish calls home, is the inspiration behind “Ghosts of the Barbary Coast.” Through his research, Fish found that San Francisco is a city “built on an adventurous pioneer spirit, which you can still see traces of in contemporary San Francisco. It’s that magnetism this city has to that adventurous personality that I am building on.” When you mix in a “lust for gold, and a full spread of vices, all perpetuated by hoodlums, harlots, heroes, pirates, and pioneers, all running to California ‘chasing a dream,’” you’re left with the beauty that is San Francisco. Through his pieces, Fish resurrects the San Francisco of the past, a time when “young men and women were finding millions in gold, just as fast as they lost it at the gambling table, or to a thief.” Jeremy takes us to bars of the past such as “The Fierce Grizzly” (that actually featured a live female bear chained to the wall), or “The Boars Head” (where a woman performed sexual acts with a pig). The San Francisco that Jeremy Fish explores is one with 24-hour pharmacies selling single-dose intoxicants to patrons of The Coast at all hours. This was certainly not the norm in the U.S. in 1850, but “this was the dawn of the west coast.” The show features over 35 new works, including large woodworking projects from Indonesia. “Ghosts of the Barbary Coast” will be on display at the upper level of the FIFTY24SF Gallery from December 4-30, 2008.