By Joe Nalven
Do San Diego artists dream different dreams?
The Oceanside Museum of Art and L Street Fine Art in downtown San Diego are jointly exhibiting “San Diego Dreaming,” featuring some 70 local artists and very different dreams.
The exhibition evolved from “California Dreaming,” which is traveling from Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone in Italy to both the Oceanside museum and the Riverside Art Museum.
One might reasonably ask whether San Diego dreams are any different than those dreamt in Venice, Calcutta, London, New York and elsewhere. Certainly, our lives bind us to specific locations and it is perhaps harder to dream what might imagine on Mars or Saturn or Alpha Centauri. For that, we need to await Comic-Con and perhaps those retrospective shows that take us back in time.
For now, let’s enjoy our own dreams.
At the Oceanside museum, Eric Swenson imagines current and past lives inspired by those grand ships that Cabrillo sailed into our bay:
“San Diego is the first landing point of Europeans in California when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered its bay in 1542. The Tall Ships Festival and Parade, sponsored by the San Diego Maritime Museum, recreates the magical feeling of those historic sailing vessels in San Diego Bay,” said Swenson.
“Huge crowds come to view these ships with what I imagine was the same awe when first seen by the Kumeyaay Native Americans.”
Here’s what Ken Goldman dreamed of the San Diego County Fair, which will be exhibited at the L Street gallery across from the Omni Hotel:
“I am not sure whether the idea of dropping off one’s intellect at an entry gate to become a rube for a day is everyone’s idea of a dream day, but once a year it is just so darn different and fun,” said Goldman.
“I would normally never touch fried food, look at livestock, chickens, rabbits, become overwhelmed with people watching and take lots of photos of colorful people doing colorful things, especially during a warm side-lit golden California Sunset. But I do — every year.”
The artwork at L Street is curated by Kay Colvin, while that in Oceanside is curated by Malcolm Warner.
- Oceanside Museum of Art, 704 Pier View Way, Oceanside, CA. Exhibit runs through June 21. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
- L Street Fine Art, 628 L Street, San Diego, CA. Exhibit runs March 30 to June 30. Open daily 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Joe Nalven is a San Diego-based digital artist.