Ratio 3

Great gallery space hidden away on Mission (a few doors up from 24^th Street). Well-​lit, but current show (photography by Buck Ellison) was underwhelming… not enought pieces to fill the vast space, and the photos themselves couldn’t carry the space they had to.
Moreover, this potential buyer was denied use of a bathroom (it’s a long ride on the train from Oakland to 24^th Street). I will stick to galleries on Bryant, Oakland, (and on Geary as long as they last). Just bad business… would have liked to feel welcome and have been able to concentrate on the art. Meh.

Legends in their own mind. A bunch of truly insecure gallerists who think acting aloof is going to sell art. It does not.
Every artist they rep can be had elsewhere, from friendly galleries without an attitude.

I was invited to see an art exhibit at this gallery. Once there, we realized the exhibit was a tribute to
.
It was a challenge finding this place, it is tucked down a garbage strewned Stevenson through a homeless encampment, Norteno/​Soreno? hideout and abandoned car graveyard. Watch out for the stray dogs! They look like they are tied up, but they aren’t.
Little did I know that nekkid men wrestling was so popular. The BDSM videos made me exhausted after 5 minutes, that kind of thing seems to take waaay too much effort for such a little payoff, if you get my drift. No judgement, just not my thing.
«Safe Word
June 26 — August 8, 2009
Ratio 3, 1447 Stevenson Street, San Francisco, CA 94 103
Opening reception: June 26, 2009, 6−8pm.
Ratio 3 is pleased to present Safe Word, a group exhibition featuring new work by Danny Keith, Amanda Kirkhuff, Takeshi Murata, Francine Spiegel, and Anthony Viti, on view from June 26 to August 8, 2009.
In January of 2007,
purchased the 200,000 square-​foot San Francisco National Guard Armory and Arsenal located at the corner of 14^th and Mission Street. In July of 2007, Ratio 3 leased a small warehouse space on 14^th and Stevenson Street, just a half block from the new headquarters of
.
Housed behind the 2-​foot thick walls of the Armory building,
produces and broadcasts some of the most extreme BDSM videos available online. While its headquarters is seemingly impenetrable, the general public seems to have unlimited access to Kink.com’s actions via the company’s website. Ratio 3 has invited five artists to create new work that uses
as both an image source and a site for personal investigation. The resulting work touches on the erotic, disturbing, and sometimes humorous output of
. Through video, painting, and drawing, these artists explore what happens when very private desires are acted out on an intensely public stage.
Ratio 3: Bringing vastness to the mind.»

This had got to be the best gallery in the city. The shows are awesome. Crazy installations. Sculpture! Video! Sound! And even sex! Barry McGee! Ryan McGinley! Lutz Bacher! Mitzi Pederson! Art Basel! Artforum reviews! Enough said! These dudes rule the school.

Like entertainment there are different types of art experiences. Some galleries emulate certain genres. An uptown gallery may emulate a white cube, another may take the non-​profit look or approach of an art center. Some galleries follow a strict commercial focus selling art as product or others are driven courageously by art alone with all the mine fields and inconsistencies that lead people to never completely understand what the hell is going on.
Where does Ratio 3 fit into that spectrum? How the hell should I know! All I know is that when I walked in there that I felt with an open mind I would not be let down anytime soon. This place has the signature of a DIY project and the finish and focus of an early Chelsea loft project.
The space is tucked away on Stevenson between the Greek Orthodox Church and the studios of Kink dot com.
Personally I think if the profile of this place continues to take off it might give more visibility to the rest of galleries and art spots on the upper Mission a larger audience. If you don’t buy that why did SOEX decide to move up from 25^th to 14^th street?