e-flux LINC REAL ART photo credit: l.g. williams WALLY’S FIX-IT-SHOP 2003 LINC REAL ART 1632 C Market Street San Francisco 94103 t: 415-503-1981 e: info@lincart.com http://www.lincart.com/ WALLY’S FIX-IT-SHOP 2003 @ LINC REAL ART, san francisco In mid January, the capricious and nomadic heart of the artworld will relocate, briefly, to San Francisco, where it was left behind some time ago. After finally shaking their apple martini hangovers, true denizens of the ” A ” word will pilgrim westward to ” the most European towne in America “. Here, they will find a Survivor City, where only the fittest artists have come out on the other side of the now, long-forgotten dot bomb crash. Like the grass that always sprouts up between sidewalk cracks, this city is teeming with a cultural vibrancy that cannot be contained. Long thought of as an artistic hamlet with an attitude, the Bay Area has morphed into an International melting pot of intellectual activity and real art whose bravado can no longer be quietly dismissed. Real artists, like Wally Hedrick, prefer the periphery. The vantage point from where they stand is said to be luminous…affording them a long view of the supposed ” center ” while also perching their gaze on the edge of what might only be viewable to themselves as ” the beyond “. For nearly fifty years, Hedrick has been a compelling figure in the American art scene. Well known as a Beat generation artist, he was one of the founders of The Six Gallery, where Ginsburg first read ” Howl “. In 1959, he and then wife, Jay deFeo, failed to attend their own opening for 16 AMERICANS at New York’s MOMA, a show which launched Raushcenberg, Nevelson, Johns, Kelly and others to major careers. Using the analogy of the Fix It Shop, Wally casts himself as something of a psychic repairman; an all-knowing guru whose ultimate job is the cobbling back together of an alchemically whacked world. He can repair your broken down toaster or provide consulting on weed eater cord replacement. More complex jobs, however, like installing computer networks or unclogging rain gutters are left up to his dream team of unemployed, idiot savants who long to toil for free for ” the grandaddy of all Bohemians “. Perhaps not insignificantly, Hedrick lives a stones throw from the infamous Bodega church which was made iconic in Hitchcocks, THE BIRDS. Defying infamy, Hedrick has been know to occaisionally enjoy a game of lawnmower polo with himself . Why Wally chose Bodega as home : “…I wanna be right in the middle of the periphery. ” – charles linder, director _________________ LINC is very pleased to present Wally’s new and old paintings at the 5th annual San Francisco International Art Expo from January 17 – 20. Hedrick’s never before seen 1967 WAR ROOM – in storage for 30 years – will be installed in the lobby of the art fair. For more information, phone the gallery at : 415-503-1981 or e mail : info@lincart.com LINC REAL ART 1632 C Market Street San Francisco 94103 _________________ PRESS RELEASE: — HTML VERSION W/ IMAGES: http://www.lincart.com /news/wally_pr.html