Voz Alta’s ‘No Hope for the Manicured’

“Domestic Xray” by Matthew Land and Acamonchi

Lovers of the oddities found at Pat’s Corner, the kooky thrift store stacked floor to ceiling with random treasures, were hit recently by the news that the corner at 30th and Upas streets would be torn down to make room for a Jonathan Segal-designed apartment complex. Along with Pat’s, the bulldozers will be taking the former Ice Gallery and the studio behind it belonging to artist Gerardo “Acamonchi” Yepiz. 

“It has been a big hit and transition,” says Yepiz, who co-curated shows at the Ice Gallery space with Perry Vasquez from 2002 to 2005. “It really made me question who I am and where I’m at in this point in my life. But it also made realize that there are a lot of resources and a lot of love.”

As a goodbye to the space, Yepiz and artist Matthew Land have teamed up for No Hope for the Manicured, opening at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at Voz Alta (1754 National Ave. in Barrio Logan). The exhibition, which exalts the virtues of DIY, punk and getting dirt under your fingernails, will feature collaborative and solo works, new and old, by Land and Yepiz, as well as Chiapas, Mexico-based artist Nacho Chincoya.

“A lot of art shows are centered on the artist and what they’re bringing to the table. That can be kind of egotistical to view as somebody else,” Land says. “To shed a bit of the ego, we wanted to bring more of the community into one art show in celebration of the past 11 years that Gerardo has been making art in the community. It’s an Irish wake, so to speak, for the fall of the creative art space that’s going down over at Upas and 30th.”

Community is a major element in No Hope for the Manicured. Land is organizing a messengerbike race through the and Acamonchi neighborhood—it starts at 3:33 p.m. at 401 B St.—as well as live sets from musician friends The Lumps, Gloomsday and Batwings.

“To me it’s not just about pretty pictures on the wall,” Yepiz says. “It’s about bringing people in, consolidating friendships and people’s creativity. The love is for everyone.”