"The patriotic title notwithstanding, Peter Combe’s "Stars and Stripes" is less about the impending Independence Day holiday, or the sci-fi-film sequel, than the mysteries of appearance and representation. So what better subjects than the film stars of the 1960s and the Op Art and hard-edge abstraction of the same period? If this sounds like yet another postmodern-PC critique of celebrity culture and formalism, the tools of devilish global capitalism, be advised: they’re delightful and ingenious contrivances that call into question the nature of vision as well: they’re art-as-philosophy, without tears.

"Combe’s medium- to large-size assemblages may read as paintings, but  they’re also kinetic artworks that change slightly as the viewer moves, somewhat like lenticular photographs. The studio glamour head shots of Grace Kelly, Liz Taylor, Rock Hudson, Marlon Brando, Richard Burton, Tyrone Power and Dirk Bogarde appear from a distance to be shimmering, yet semi-ironic homages, á là Warhol, especially when partially obscured by large red block letters spelling out DICK, POWER, and DILF. Approach further, however, and the works become mysterious, phantasmic. Combe: “There is a magic that occurs, a trick of the eye where color seems to occupy space — a void — at once ethereal, yet seen from another angle the whole appears as if a ghostly image, veiled in gossamer.”

—DeWitt Cheng

Mathematical in conception and mystical in effect, Peter Combe’s artwork consists of paint swatches punched into circles and assembled into pictures distinguished by subtle, and sometimes spectacular, hue-shifting illusion.
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In “Stars & Stripes,” opening today at Andrea Schwartz Gallery in The City, Combe’s portraits of movie icons and abstracts feature his personal blend of science, elegance, mystery and cool.

— Anita Katz

"Originally from Canada, Peter Combe is now an American citizen. He tells me that when he initially reflected on who Americans revere the most, the answer to him was clear--Hollywood movie stars. These golden-age-of-film portraits are an ode to that. For those of you keeping score at home, they're made entirely from small paper circles of color hand-punched from paint swatch samples. Worth seeing."

—Alan Bamberger

Peter Combe: The San Francisco artist — who uses hand-punched paint swatches in creating portraits of celebrities and abstracts –opens his solo show “Stars & Stripes” with a reception. [5:30 p.m., Andrea Schwartz Gallery, 545 Fourth St., S.F.]

The definition may sound simple, but the world of artist books can be a bewildering place. From the familiar pairing of images and text, to sculptures created out of paper and complicated bindings that create a performance each time the book is opened, nearly anything can be called an artist book if there is intention and consideration. This series showcases artists from different realms of the art world exploring the structure and meaning of the book.

These days it’s hard to miss the photographs of Cara Barer, an artist whose work blurs the lines between sculpture and photography. Recently featured at AIPAD 2016 and KunstRAI Art Amsterdam, Barer’s work spans multiple markets and has caught the attention of photography and art book collectors alike.

--Elizabeth K. Harris