Structured like a chain letter, ten arts luminaries influential in the San Francisco Art Commission Gallery’s past were each asked to select one artist to be in Chain Reaction 11. The ten selected artists were then also asked to choose an artist to participate in the show, and finally the third group of artists each chose a final artist to be included. Following the chains of artists chosen by artists will provide a glimpse into what we find most compelling about current Bay Area visual arts production.

Growing up in a hair salon I would often find a safe place to wait for my mom to finish her up-do’s, perms and “sets.” That safe place was usually under a blow dryer, looking through magazines. Since then, I’ve always been attracted to heat, magazines and hair. So, last month, when I was getting my groove on in a crowded club and felt hair in back of me, near my thigh (?), I turned around to check the goods. And booyah, there was my next subject – with hair down to her calves, Jenny Mesoga. The sweetest young lady who not only posed in the freezing cold for a strange photographer who has a fascination with hair, but also climbed that tree in her 3 inch heels (of course my favorite was the simpler one). Now that is true collaboration.