Pretty Pictures

Herbie Gaines

Divisadero Street. Or as those in the know call it: The Center of the Universe.

Those that are not privy to the same kind of know that I’m referring to may insist on flippantly labeling this vital urban corridor The Navel of Creation, or The Sweet Spot. Regardless, if you live in SF chances are you’ve stood at this very intersection and felt a strange gravitational tug take hold, rooting you to the spot and filling your being with a sense of place and global orientation, as if the Giant Blue Luchador is speaking directly to you and saying “Go ahead, strike out and see the world. But trust me or I’ll crush your head, nothing can compare . . .”

For ten years I’ve taken the Luchador’s advice and hung around. Maybe my reluctance to move on has something to do with the way the evening light plays across the facades of the plywood condos. Or quite possibly my nesting tendencies are strongly influenced by the regular, early-morning comingling of barbeque smoke, roasting coffee and the fragrant trash bins curbed in front of the Popeye’s Chicken. Hell, it could even come down to something as simple as the quality of pigeon we get around here . . .

Then again, it could be Herbie Gaines.

Formerly located in the storeroom of a liquor shop on the corner of Fulton and Broderick, for the past few years Herbie’s become a neighborhood fixture, presiding over an open-air studio along the fence running east/west at Divisadero and Grove. He’s easy to spot: look for the guy in the leather newsboy cap and the down vest with “Cheep Art Shop” painted on the back. If you’ve missed him for the day check out the piles of discarded paintings left on the sidewalk almost every night:

Herbie works with whatever he can find and is always accepting donated materials, so you never know what medium he’s going to be working with. House paint on cardboard is typical, but I’ve come across him chalking figures onto discarded table tops and strips of wall paneling with equal confidence.

Outsider art? Not really. Herbie’s work may be described as coarse, naive even. But his output tends to cycle through clearly intentioned motifs such as portraiture, animal studies and multiple depictions of neighborhood scenes that reflect a prevalent awareness of the community in which he works and exhibits. To simplify, Herbie is working hard for an audience and for an income, as his reoccurring signs can attest.

I’ve been a fan for some time, making a point of stopping by every few days to see what’s new. Here’s a few of my favorites:

Even if Herbie’s work isn’t to your taste (my portrait of a woman in a beehive wig wearing a bra and oven mitts took a little getting used to), take some time and stop by. And if you’ve got any unused art supplies kicking around Herbie knows just what to do with them.

Also, Herbie told me last week that he’s going to be featured in a gallery show in the East Bay this July. While I was talking to him he was roughing out a portrait of Frederick Douglas. When I asked him if the show meant an end to his work on the street he looked up and asked, “what else would I do?”

Maybe the Giant Blue Luchador’s been talking to him too.