THE TENDERLOIN PROJECT

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to Butter Gallery over the weekend for the opening of The Tenderloin Project in Miami.  This was the fourth Living Exhibition, and once again it was incredible to see such a positive response to the project.  This was a unique exhibition as it was the first time that I was able to display works of art that were done by residents of The Tenderloin community, as previously showcased on the blog at the end of last month.  This is the future for the project – creating access to the arts for community residents and to allow their voices and their work to be seen and heard throughout the world.  A very special thanks to everyone who came out for the opening and an extra special thanks to Paco of Butter Gallery for making the show happen.  The exhibition will continue to live through the end of August before traveling to New York…

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to the opening last Friday for The Tenderloin Project at ABV Gallery in Atlanta.  The response to the show and the project was incredible!  Amazing to hear such positive feedback from everyone who attended and to realize that a project like this can travel from San Francisco to Atlanta and still hold relevance.  The feedback was a success in and of itself, and it was great to see so much art from the project selling as well.  Everything will now remain on display at the gallery until July 25th.  A special thanks to gallery owner Greg Mike for hosting the show, and to everyone at the ABV team, Tommy, Ash and Priscilla, for their hard work and for helping me to realize my vision for the installation.  A very special thanks to Homa as well for her help in producing the exhibition and for documenting the adventure.  Enjoy the photos below…

Arrived in Atlanta yesterday to install the third living exhibition of The Tenderloin Project at ABV Gallery.  Here are some photos from day one…

ABV Gallery will be hosting the 3rd Living Exhibition for The Tenderloin Project in Atlanta, Georgia. The show will open on Friday, June 25th with an artist reception and will run until July 23rd. On display will be 49 photographs from the project by the project’s creator, Sean Desmond, along with a dozen collaborative art pieces by artists such as Mike Giant, Apex, Greg Mike, Oliver Black, Hugh Leeman, Mark Bode, D Young V and more. Original photographs, silk screened prints and a range of garments produced by SF-based clothing brand, Black Scale, will all be available at the show.

The third exhibition for The Tenderloin Project will be taking place at ABV Gallery in Atlanta, Georgia on June 25th.  Stay tuned for more details…

The first official show for The Tenderloin Project will have it’s opening reception tomorrow night, Friday April 9th at Medicine Agency in San Francisco.

The show will include a collection of 49 original signed photographs by Sean Desmond, along with 11 collaborative pieces by a variety of artists that include, Mike Giant, Mark Bode, Apex, Oliver Black, Greg Mike, Serge Gay Jr., KC Angel and others…

A poster from the project will be available in an edition of 100, signed and numbered by Mike Giant and Sean Desmond.

A full preview for the show will be released tomorrow on www.thetenderloinproject.com.

Medicine Agency

1262 Mason Street

San Francisco, CA 94108

http://medicineagency.com

We’ve had a number of inquiries about whether or not the reception for the print show at Medicine Agency is open to the public.  The answer to this is YES.

The show will be at Medicine Agency on Friday, April 9th beginning at 7pm and indeed it is open to the public.  1262 Mason Street, San Francisco CA 94108.  http://medicineagency.com for more info.

Thanks to everyone for both new and continued interest in the project.

Medicine Agency is proud to present the first official exhibition of photographs by San Francisco based photographer Sean Desmond. The show will feature a collection of 35 photographs from Desmond’s ongoing Tenderloin Project, a portrait in film and photography of San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood. To many, the Tenderloin is a poor and stigmatized area, to be avoided if possible, rushed through if necessary. As a point of departure, Desmond and the Tenderloin Project withstand such stereotypes and enter the neighborhood with eyes open and active intent.

The images that emerge transcend a mere documentation of what we could all see if we only looked. We witness the Tenderloin through Desmond’s interaction with it, a process explicated in the Project’s films and evident in each photograph. Portraits of the neighborhood’s marginalized dwellers stand alongside portraits of the streets themselves, all—dwellers and streets, alike—caught in the act of living. The starkness of the black and white photography upholds the starkness of the locale, while magnifying the countervailing warm welcome of the subjects and vibrant animation all around. The viewer enters the Tenderloin with Desmond, with the objectivity of an outsider, and is left with the tension of intimacy, raw and tender.

Desmond’s San Francisco show will mark the first official exhibition of his work from the Tenderloin Project. The show will then travel to select U.S. cities, where Desmond’s penetrating images will give broader audiences a personal introduction to understanding what life is like in the Tenderloin.

The show will also feature collaborative pieces by a variety of artists from the Bay Area and beyond, including Mike Giant, Greg Mike, Mark Bode, Apex, Oliver Black and others, with an exclusive silk-screened show poster by Sean Desmond with Mike Giant.

SF-based clothing brand Black Scale will also be releasing their second run of t-shirts and first run of pull-over hoodies featuring original photographs from the Tenderloin Project.

The show opening is April 9th, 2010 at Medicine Agency.

1262 Mason Street, San Francisco CA 94108.