FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Grand Opening: Group Show
presented by little tree gallery
featuring works by:
Ilana Crispi, Maria Forde, David O. Johnson, Lebasi Lashley, and Tim Sullivan

July 15th –- September 3rd, 2006
Opening Reception July 15th, 6pm-9pm

little tree gallery
3412 22nd St @ Guerrero
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.643.4929
www.littletreegallery.com
info@littletreegallery.com

little tree gallery is pleased to present the work of Ilana Crispi, Maria Forde, David O.
Johnson, Lebasi Lashley, and Tim Sullivan for its inaugural exhibition entitled Grand
Opening: Group Show. Each artist has been chosen for their individual talents, not for
their continuity of materials or themes. In this brand new space, the five artists have
produced original, new work that combines pleasing aesthetics with smart conceptualism.

Ilana Crispi is showing crocheted sculptures of dinosaurs, pigeons and a backhoe tractor.
Using wire, cotton, and linen, these familiar forms encourage a meditation on the surface
of things. Ms. Crispi is a recent graduate of the Mills MFA program and has shown in
New York, Los Angles, and the Bay Area. She was a resident artist at the De Young
Museum and The Legion of Honor in San Francisco and was also an artist in residence at
the Rochester Folk Art Guild.

Maria Forde's three oil paintings, Heather Eilleen: 3 things i like about my sister #1, #2
and #3 give the viewer a glimpse into the artist and her only sibling’s relationship. Each
painting is honest yet heartfelt. Through the San Francisco Art Commission, Ms. Forde's
work was featured in the Art On Market Street Kiosk Poster Series entitled The Pick-
Pocketers. Ms. Forde has an upcoming solo show at little tree gallery this November.

David O. Johnson’s two minimalist sculptures combine neon with concrete and
styrofoam. The materials are urban and familiar. Mr. Johnson worked with the textile
artist Sheila Hicks in Paris and received his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute.
His recent solo show at Ping-Pong Gallery was featured in The Examiner’s Weekend
Arts Edition. Mr. Johnson will have a solo show at little tree gallery this coming winter.

Lebasi Lashley's Pixel Portrait Quilts for a Hope Chest #1, #2, #3, and #4 are made of 2"
squares of fabric. The old-fashioned ideas of the hope chest, quilting, and courtship are
united with the new peculiarities of internet dating. Each quilted portrait is an abstraction
based on a posted online picture of potential suitors with whom the artist had contact over
the course of a year. A graphic designer, Ms. Lashley is the principal owner and operator
of Petting Zoo. Ms. Lashley received her BFA from the University of Michigan.

Tim Sullivan's photograph entitled George Kuchar as The Amazing Luminous Fountain
is a fun homage to all of Mr. Sullivan’s idols, referencing Marcel Duchamp, Bruce
Nauman, and George Kuchar himself. Recently, Mr. Kuchar made a film entitled Vacant
Viewables about the making of this photo, which screened at Scanners: The 2006 New
York Video Festival at the Walter Reade Theater. Mr. Sullivan will be featured in the
California Biennial at the Orange County Museum this fall and has shown nationally and
internationally. Mr. Sullivan will have a solo show at little tree gallery this October.