Take some time in April to visit art South and North of San Francisco:

Through May 12, 2012:  Younhee Paik:  Ascending River, San Jose ICA, 560 South First Street, San Jose:    Take a trip to San Jose to see the California premier of Younhee Paik’s large-scale, immersive installation Ascending River.  “Paik’s dynamic, unframed paintings are hung from the ceiling like sails and laid out under a plexiglass-covered floor, enveloping the viewer in an immersive other-worldly environment.  The works are complex in color and texture and filled with motifs of light that seem to radiate from the canvases.  Celestial and water imagery abound, as do recurring imagery of ships and architectural drawings of cathedral floor plans. Through the use of these images, Paik makes a connection between the world of experience and the world of the unknown while challenging our conventional notions of space and time.  The installation also includes a place for the viewer to lie down, relax, and listen to music with headphones. ” – SJICA

Younhee Paik, "Ascending River". Image courtesy of Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY

Also don’t miss the window installation Everything is in Motion by San Jose artist Emanuela Harris-Sintamarian:

Emanuela Harris-Sintamarian, "Everything is in Motion". Image courtesy SJICA

March 30 – September 23, 2012  Mexicanisimo Through Artists’ Eyes at the San Jose Museum of Art, 110 South Market Street, San Jose.  This exhibition features works by a new generation of Mexican and Mexican-American artists who are fascinated by traditional techniques, yet they create cutting-edge conceptual artwork.  Mexico City-based artist Betsabee Romero carves tires with pre-Columbian icons and symbols in order to satirize Mexico’s machismo car culture.  Margarita Cabrera’s series Arbol de la Vida  combines issues of contemporary art practices, indigenous Mexican folk art and craft traditions and US-Mexico relations.  The sculptures depict actual tools used on small farms in the agricultural communites throughout the United States.  Dating back to the Olmec times, the traditional Mexican craft theme of Tree of Life embodies the tools with an assortment of ceramic birds, butterflies, flowers and leaves.

Betsabee Romero, "Espiral Sin Fin", 5 carved tires. Image courtesy SJMA

Margarita Cabrera, "Cerrucho (Saw)" and "Pala (shovel)", ceramic, slip paint, and hardware. Images courtesy of Walter Maciel Gallery

April 15th, 27th, 29th and on-going, Oliver Ranch Tours, Geyserville.  Located in the heart of Sonoma County, 70 miles north of San Francisco, the Oliver Ranch is home to 18 remarkable site-specific installations.  The picturesque 100-acre property was originally bought by Steve and Nancy Oliver in 1981 to graze a few extra sheep from, as Steve says, “My daughter’s 4-H project gone bad.” The ranch’s evolution from exiled sheep quarters to world-renowned sculpture ranch was gradual and organic, a natural convergence of the Olivers’ longstanding passion for art and deep connection to the land.  The Oliver Ranch Foundation now make tours available to non-profit organizations who can then offer the tour as an auction item or on a cost-per-ticket basis.  You must purchase a ticket (from $75-$150) from one of the scheduled non-profit organizations listed on their tours page.  The best part of the tour is that Steve Oliver leads it himself, describing the artist’s process as they respond to the land and create their site-specific piece.

Richard Serra, "Snake Eyes and Boxcars" (Six pairs of forged hyper-dense corten steel blocks)

Ann Hamilton's cast concrete tower performance space. Walking down Bruce Nauman's cast concrete staircase.

Ongoing through June 10th, Color Theory:  The Use of Color in Contemporary Art, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art, 551 Broadway, Sonoma.  This exhibit, guest curated by Katrina Traywick of Traywick Contemporary, celebrates and explores the meaning, usage and significance of color within the context of contemporary art. Employing non-traditional materials and processes, nine artists engage the foundations of color theory in ways that are entirely contemporary. The exhibition ultimately illustrates that color is not only to be seen, but also experienced.

Charles LaBelle, "Driftworks - Miami (colors)", compound photograph. Image courtesy of Traywick Contemporary

Lucrecia Troncoso, "Not MY Tongue Tied", plastic latex, cardboard, thumbtacks. Chris Duncan, "Cornered", string, wood and mirror. Images courtesy Traywick Contemporary.