Art of an edible kind

A word for a cafe in Oakland called the Cock-A-Doodle Cafe. Like many small cafes all over the world it is a patron of the arts, doing its tiny Medici thing by showing the work of local artists while going about its own tasty business of creation. Long known in the Old Oakland neighborhood for great breakfasts, lunches, and weekend brunch, Blanca the chef, Olivier the pastry maker and waiter, and their associates have recently added dinner to the menu. Here's a sampling of the very artistic - and very delicious - art that will arrive at your table. The dessert is Olivier's specialty - the filling is a sort of French comfort food - chocolate with a special twist! I hope you'll pay them a visit - they're at 719 Washington Street between 7th and 8th Streets in Old Oakland which, if you haven't visited lately, has beautiful old buildings and several other very cool restaurants.

William Kentridge, Magician (at SFMOMA)

The usual terms - art exhibit, art show - don't come close to explaining the visual explosion that has just opened at SF MOMA. William Kentridge, the South African artist who is responsible for the magic on display, is as much a theater artist as a visual artist - but with his work these terms too seem irrelevant and inadequate. He is a master draftsman of the old style, a fact that brought a wonderful feeling of relief on my part, making me aware of how much I miss expecting solid, basic drawing in contemporary art. He marries his considerable skill and understanding of the traditional, however, with breathtakingly innovation in the handling of movement, space, action, and technology. The 'show' presents his work in many formats, including framed works on flat walls, but most fascinating are the projections of his films and video sequences, which move seamlessly from whimsy to the gravity of politics and history; a particularly powerful video is a surreal cartoon-like feature with a commedia del arte cast including a dancing tripod and a cat, but which becomes increasingly loud and demanding as it involves the spectator in the world of apartheid politics. Another room shows Kentridge, a middle-aged, fleshy man who moves with the grace of an actor, in his studio, creating and drawing, drawing himself, and creating himself watching himself create. Another gives an idea of a production of Gogol's 'The Nose' in which Kentridge weaves references to Russian Constructivism and Russian political history - it will be staged by the Metropolitan Opera in 2010 or 2011. The galleries are full of noise and action, visually and audibly signalling that this is no ordinary exhibit or ordinary artist. Don't miss this.

Much Love and Small Pleasures

Several friends have had very difficult news lately, the kind that makes a shrinking stock portfolio seem like small potatoes. So this post is dedicated to them in awareness of the sweetness of small pleasures, some of which are solitary and some best shared with those we love.