The Oakland artist uses acrylic on canvas to share reflection on human existence in specific cultural contexts.

The self-guided tour of East Bay artists studios in more than a dozen cities is going strong in year 40 and adds a third summer weekend.

A trio of artists showing at Slate Contemporary under the title California Modern proves once again that painting is vital and relevant even if one fetishizes Eichler houses, vinyl LPs, and Herb Caen’s dainty white gloves.

The artist is a synaesthetic — music and strong emotions cause a visual response in him beyond what most of us would normally perceive. His paintings, he explained, are not exactly an attempt to recreate the things that he sees under synesthesia, but rather, its effect.

Five artists — Barbara Boissevain, Sukey Bryan, Lauren Elder, Ethan Estess, and Sarah Newton — present works demonstrating a sea change is needed to magically transform that nest-fouling species, Homo sapiens.

Here Is the Sea and Faces Without Noses, a pair of Richmond Art Center exhibitions, examine environmental and aesthetic themes. Nature and culture, again, do their eternal parallel-evolution dance, seen through sociopolitical/informational and aesthetic/poetic filters. It’s style-plus-content art that looks good and is good for us.

The El Cerrito painter and assemblage artist, who will be part of the Love Our Island Art Walk on April 12 in Alameda, turns to subject matter driven by everyday things: nature, discarded/found items, architecture, and the weather.

The Alameda sculptor is a master manipulator of artistic material.

The sculptor’s work reflects his interest in industry and nature but is informed in part by the art of his mentor and friend Bruce Beasley.

The Oakland artist catches viewers by surprise with her juxtaposition of media and subject matter.