Mr. Dodds states, “I have spent most of my adult life attempting to explain in words the creative works of other people. In my case, as a theater critic, it has been to explore a playwright's intention, a director's concept, an actor's choices, first for The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, and, for past 12 years, for the Bay Area Reporter in San Francisco. Called upon to write to about my own creative work, the words come much harder.

The very process of writing is to use words in a coherent manner to express an idea. But in the visual arts, thoughts are not processed into the familiar forms of grammar. Rather, the goal is to break free of the alphabetic symbols we gather and arrange to make ourselves understood and let an image convey an emotion through uses of color and space and visceral possibilities. The standard cues that words provide are blown away.

The works I am showing at Magnet reflect my interest in iconography of earlier eras, and specifically the 1950s of my youth. I like to bring in seemingly incongruous elements -- such as "wholesome" vintage advertising and the homoerotica disguised in fitness magazines of the era -- to make a new statement from both images. Maybe the word for this process is ‘disruptive,’ pushing the viewer to reconsider his or her perceptions.

Most of my images are drawn from my digital cameras, imagery created directly on the computer, and found images. Often they come together during a long road of experimentation, and a piece may go through dozens of permutations before I feel it is ready to be shown.”

For more information or to contact Mr. Dodds, please visit www.richarddodds.com or email him at doddsart (at) comcast.net.

 

 

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Want to volunteer at Magnet? There’s a monthly informational meeting for new volunteers held on alternating Tuesday evenings or Saturday mornings. We’ll tell you a little about Magnet and our volunteer needs, and you can see where you fit best. For more information call Steve Charfauros at 415.581.1608 or email stevec (at) magnetsf.org

 

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Saturday, February 13th, 7:00-9:30pm
Swing and Salsa Dancing with QueerBallroom.com

 

Learn to Swing or Salsa, or show off what you can already do! Magnet and QueerBallroom.com team up to teach the Castro a step or two. Lessons given in both Swing and Salsa - No partner or experience needed. For more information check out www.queerballroom.com or call (415) 581-1604.

 

 

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All ages, all genders, all the time!

 

Featuring Carl with Records

 

Carl says: I sing my original songs with old records as background. I've written around 500 songs. I'm also a poet and a painter who works from dreams. I came out with my book "Suspense above the Pool" (dream paintings each with a written text) in 1998. I'm from Tucson Arizona (born in Sapulpa, Oklahoma in 1950) but have lived in the San Francisco area (now Oakland )since 1973 -I was briefly in the" Angels of Light" (a psychodelic gender bending free theater group from S F in the '70's similar to the Cockettes) and "the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence ' when they first started -I helped create and starred in a musical: "To Know a Veil" with some of The "Angels of Light" in 1981. I made some films: "Weekend Zombie Nurses" (which was in one of the early Gay and Lesbian Film festivals in S. F) and "Rat Girl Rhonda " featuring some of the " Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence "- I lived in Thailand over a year (1972) with wonderful Thai transvestites (I wrote a musical about that). Recently I've done some shows for Cockette reunions and performed as the featured performer at The Eagle in "Herr- a Chick" and many other local clubs and theaters including The Marsh , The Hypnodrome, Cafe Flore , The Castro St. Fair, The Metro, MOMA, Aunt Charlie's , Cafe du Nord , for the Tingle Tangle ,and for The Center of Sex and Culture. I was the featured performer for Cara Vida's Cabaret, and many other venues. Last October I performed In NYC for the first time at the Bleeker Street Theater and the Delancey St. Lounge. I do a big halloween haunt every year with my partner Larry Schmidt who mostly designs it all I think of nature as god and I love the outdoors as well as travel - I've been to Asia ( I loved seeing Burma , Bali , India and Thailand )- Also l enjoyed much of Europe - I went to Austria (loved Vienna ) and Bavaria to study the "mische" technique in 2002 and 2004 (combining oil paint and egg tempera ) I've been a volunteer at Community Thrift Store for almost 30 years in charge of my own department : Records! (and tapes etc) raising thousands of $'s monthly for HIV etc. I hope someday to produce my musical version of Tennessee Williams camp film "BOOM!" that you can hear on Myspace under "Carl with Records in "BOOM!". Also look for me on Facebook under Carl Linkhart.

 

If you'd like to perform at the open mic, please bring five minutes of whatever you want to share. Musicians, one song. Prose writers: that's about two and a half double spaced pages of prose. We’re the friendliest open mic you’ll find but we pay attention to time so that nobody accumulates further open mic-related PTSD.

Future Smack Dabs all happen on the third Wednesdays at Magnet. For more information contact Kirk Read at kirkread (at) earthlink.net