PELLET (aka Kyle Perera) has several new works up at 49 & 55 South First Street just past Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose. The exhibit will be on view 24/7 from the sidewalk through November 2007.

There are two titled exhibits, the one at No. 49 is Daydreams Turn to Nightmares. Pellet says of this display: Almost all of my little characters are either obliviously happy, in a state of awakened sadness or disappointment, or too stupid to realize all of the destruction around them, as well as their impending doom.

The No. 55 space is titled: That's Not Good! The monkey paintings are fairly simple and easy to digest, while some of the pieces in between them are saturated/overloaded with information, kind of like a normal conversation full of facial and body gestures, inside jokes, intonation, and a million other signals that we have to take in and put into context in order to communicate even the most basic, crude, unclever joke.

Take a stroll down North First and visit Pellet at www.pelletfactory.com

Andy Gouveia, Pellet, Maryellen Mahar and Paul J. Gonzalez came out over the course of two weekends to paint murals on a construction wall in front of a vacant building as part of the Phantom Galleries program at 50 North First Street, downtown San Jose. (more photos here.)

They look amazing and really brighten up that stretch of pedestrian experience between Santa Clara St. and St. James Park. Stop by if you get a chance!

Mariana Barnes, PhD, Dragon, acrylic on canvas, 60" x 48"

Mariana Barnes is currently on view in the lobby of 28 North First Street with five large canvases from her Mosaic series. The inspiration for these paintings comes from the art of ancient civilizations combined with everyday patterns, explains Mariana.

Mariana is a self taught artist and has been painting for the last 20 years. As a scientist/engineer, my time is divided between my art and my work in aerospace. Being an artist makes me a better scientist and vice versa. Each pursuit feeds the other -art keeps me sane, science keeps me grounded. says Maria.

Originally from Argentina, Mariana has been exposed to a sophisticated Latin American culture, where art and music are highly regarded and are a normal part of everyday life. All of the color and energy of my Latin American background nourish the paintings I create.

The exhibit is on view Monday thru Fridays 9-5pm thru the end of March, 2008.

Doghood & Worthless have installed new Phantom exhibits entitled: IlluminOpArt - The Dance of Light.

Doghood is an electronic artist, his computer programmed lighting, coupled with the optical illusions created by graphic artist Worthless, create a hypnotic experience of kinetic art after dark.

There are two installations (two addresses at the opposite ends of the same building):
455 South First Street & 460 South Market Street in the SoFA district of downtown San Jose.

We're very pleased to announce we've acquired two new locations for the Phantom Galleries project in the SoFA District. We are grateful to the owners of the buildings for their participation which gives exhibit opportunities to our local artists and enlivens our district.

486 South First Street - Long time Duke of the Art Car brigade, Philo Northrup exhibits his personal assemblage artwork. On view through May, 2008.

480 South First Street - Lori Gordon's watercolor text paintings are part of the current exhibit This Show Needs You at SJICA. On view through May, 2008.