As the grotto posted, Cantocore Free On Board in SFO is closing on April 18, 2009. That means you still have 18 days to see the show, write reviews, and get into the whole project. Here is more from the announcement:

CANTOCORE: FREE ON BOARD AT MISSION 17 CLOSING PARTY APRIL 18

Cantocore: Free On Board is the second installment of a collaborative project, exploring the globalized conditions of contemporary culture, through an exchange specifically between artists from the San Francisco Bay Area and Guangzhou, China.

The collaboration takes its inspiration and its name, “Cantocore,”from the rapid economic, social, and cultural changes currently taking place in Canton province. Hip Hop is thriving, heavy metal music is blasting, and the art market is booming. Over the last 20 years, cities such as Guangzhou, the capital of Canton, have changed from having a uniquely Chinese culture into global cities influenced and informed by diverse forms of representation. During the same period, Chinese artists also have exerted a growing influence on culture across the globe – and perhaps nowhere more than here on the Pacific rim of California, where Chinese Americans have played a central role since its inception. Art and culture is no longer defined by merely national boundaries – if it ever was – and yet cultural differences persist, providing productive tensions, rich with critical and creative possibilities.

Cantocore works to explore these globalized conditions of contemporary culture and the possibilities they present, by cultivating the dialogue specifically between the Bay Area and Guangzhou. Artists involved in the project include, among others, Americans with roots in China, Chinese who have come to study and work in San Francisco, and Americans who have emigrated to China. The first installment of the project, titled Cantocore: Import / Export, took place in September 2008 at the Ping Pong Space in Guangzhou. Cantocore: Free On Board provides the follow-up response.

What common concerns inform these artists work? How does their art nevertheless read differently across the globe? How do the histories and environments of each city inform the aesthetics of the work produced and presented there; and how does the work transcend its geographic origins, drawing aesthetic and conceptual influence from elsewhere?

This exhibition is a collaboration with The Garage Biennale, The Fabricatorz, and Ping Pong Gallery, China. Participating Artists:JD Beltran, Deer Fang, Wang Ge, Misako Inaoka, David O. Johnson, Guy Overfelt, Jon Phillips, Lin Fang Suo, Zhou Tao, Katherine Worel, Huang Xiaopeng.. Curated by Deer Fang, Justin Hoover, Jon Phillips.

Through April 18. Closing party Saturday, April 18, 5 – 7 pm. 2111 Mission Street, Suite 401, San Francisco 94110. Telephone: 415.861.3144. For more information, see http://www.cantocore.com and http://mission17.org/exhibits/upcoming.htm

Tanner Menard looked at the Cantocore project from a distance stating:

I have been reading about Cantocore for a number of days totally obsessed by the complexity of the concepts presented on its site http://cantocore.com/, but it was not until I read the following statement that I was really sold on the idea; ‘Cantocore is the reality of life versus the theory set forth by jurisdictions where people live.’ As an artists who’s personal world view leans towards ontological anarchy, this statement elevates Cantocore from a link on Jon Phillip’s website to the top of the bookmark list on my favorite web browser.

I then waxed poetic about it on my website stating:

When people ask me to explain what exactly Cantocore is, I often dance around the similarities between Guangzhou and San Francisco. Both are at the far extremes from the political centers of power in China and the United States respectively. I also usually talk about the lifestyle of lowered barriers of the 3 P’s: property, privacy, and prices. These combined increase one’s state, or feeling of, personal freedom. However, this concept of the reality of life versus the theory set forth explains exactly how I feel about Cantocore: Just do it! Don’t have a meeting. Don’t make a committee. Don’t whine. Just make your project wherever you are at with what resources you have. Get it off the ground and sort out the pieces as you go.

Please check out the full text of both Tanner’s post and my re-follow-up. Please consider adding your own thoughts as your own review out there on your site, or feel free to blog here or in the comments on this site. We are eager to hear what you think about Cantocore and the latest show on in San Francisco until April 18, Cantocore Free On Board.