CQ SPELLING CHECKED

By: SVV – Correspondent

-Cheney's replacement might go through your garbage

The Soap Gallery, a newly minted art space in San Francisco, plays host April 5 to three things that exemplify this city: bootstraps, activism and art.

River Soap Company – the scene behind the art gallery – has evolved after 17 years of business into a full-fledged retail/wholesale outlet of natural and organic toiletry products. But the soap itself, permeating the air in an amalgam of peppermint and spice at the Soap Gallery, started it all.

Lisa Mendelson, eclectic artist and co-owner of the company says, “We were broke and I bought my sister Eve a birthday gift, which included a bar of soap. That prompted us to say, ‘we need a new product like this.’ At the time, no one had money for anything and we thought, ‘Oh!, this is kind of a neat luxury item for under five bucks.’”

The sisters rendered some animal fat in the kitchen – it smelled “kinda porky,” Mendelson says – and bought some lye to start experimenting with recipes. But working with animal products and dangerous chemicals prompted Mendelson and her sister to break out the Thomas Register, an industry directory. It is found at the library or on the Internet and is something they consider essential for anyone that wants to find suppliers and start a business.

The concept of having an art gallery at the business headquarters was born three years ago in the SOMA District of San Francisco, River Soap Company’s previous location. The sisters, both lovers of art, decided to provide a cheap venue for local artists to display their craft. Unusual in the art gallery world, they only take 10 percent of the proceeds. (most galleries are in the 20-35 percent range)

“We don’t provide a lot other than clean walls, some lighting and 60 beers [for the artist reception],” Mendelson explains, “I mean, 10 percent!”

The Soap Gallery is debuting this Saturday at its new location with an exhibit by progressive activist Mark Gonzalez. The former San Francisco District 5 Supervisor is Ralph Nader’s running mate in the 2008 Presidential Election. They are running as independents and are currently on a blitz to challenge the conventional reality of a two-party political system – and to get on the ballot in time for Nov. 4, 2008.

A member of the Green party, Gonzalez, 42, ran for mayor and narrowly lost in 2003 to then-Supervisor Gavin Newsom by less than 15,000 votes.

As an artist he creates collages from “found art,” which can be anything. The waste and detritus of our consumer society is a rich playing field for artists such as him.

But progressive causes do not play a part in the creation of art for this vice-presidential challenger.

“For me it’s not, I mean, my program is to try to make something beautiful,” he muses.

Gonzalez’s works on display at 3180 Mission St. in the bustling and hip Mission District are a study in small abstract collages, with some no larger than a 3x5 card. Pointing to a blazing-red ensemble entitled, “Gushing Sun,” he touches a small scrap of wax paper. This piece, he says, came from working with Bay Area figurative painter William Theophilus Brown.

Another piece of scrap, which he likens to paintings by Dutch artist Piet Mondrian, came from a Burger King sandwich container.

Gonzalez has a little box that he throws things in - rather like a painter’s palette he says - from which he works to create his art. Taking artistic practice seriously – he has played bass guitar in a punk band after all – he’s done roughly one collage per day since 2006.

“You have to do a lot of them to get ones that work,” he says.

“Right now with the political thing I’m only collaging like once every two or three days,” he says. “But I’ll sit down with it as a kind of daily exercise, a little meditation.”

“It’s really no different than a sketch pad,” he says. “It’s not some big, okay everybody, stop, I’m about to make a collage.”

With strict ballot qualifications and big hurdles in each of the 50 states to register the Nader/Gonzalez team for the election, this is not surprising. However, the answer to his artistic question does come as a small and immediate expression on a little square of white paper.

“Ultimately I’m looking for an aesthetic thing that works… and that has a beauty in it,” he says.

The Soap Gallery is open during normal business hours on weekdays and by appointment. Contact them at (415) 920-9199 or at http://206.130.104.2/soap-gallery/.