Original Mixed Media Art Works by Adam Karol Cimerman

Spring 20″ x 13″ x 7″, 2009

ARTIST NOTES FOR “ODE TO 9th ST” YEARS: 1976-1987, SAN FRANCISCO, CA

“Ode to 9th Street” is a fond farewell to an apartment I lived in for 12 years in the South of Market (SOMA) area of San Francisco.

This apartment was my first real encounter with the urban dwellers’ nemesis: the cockroach.  Mine were atomic and I soon learned to say “no thanks” to periodic exterminator visits.  Were they actually feeding them?  I developed strategies – and also became somewhat interested in them. I even posed as one for photos, which resulted in a sketch (look under the table).  The gag store insect-in-an-ice-cube was sometimes served to an unsuspecting guest. Although I recall having rarely used either my small kitchen or bathroom for 3 years (1977-1980) roughly my years as an art student, night owl creature & health club member, I eventually solved the roach problem with boric acid and baking soda mixed 50/50 and left in huge white stripes.  Thereafter, they pretty much vanished.

Other box elements explained: “plaster face mask” is of me.  It was created with the help of Mark McCloud a San Francisco artist.  The “straw” is a Charlie Watts (RIP) drumstick.

The various friends & acquaintances who gathered (like insects at night) to the “lightbulb” of my apartment wore out several stones recordings and were just as likely to be seen bent over their own huge stripes of white powder – which did not make them vanish – but rather increased their numbers. For hours on end, we played a game called Yahtzee.  My personalized scorecards were printed: Adam’s House of Yahtzee.

The antiquey wooden clothes hangers were covered with all sorts of antique formal wear I collected. The detachable white shirt collar (rear wall) had been one of my regular costumes from those days.

The very small figure perched in the center foreground is meant to signify me as a rather small man about town; a rather small town as it seemed to me at that time.

I have never since ventured into that 9th St. building or seen my old apartment, but viewing this piece can evoke those spaces and the years spent there,

I hope that you find it quite beautiful in its own way.