A letter from San francisco....A

Market Street is the main drag in San Francisco, a bit like Oxford Street in London, and similarly you will probably hate it, avoid it and end up going there constantly.

Market Street Gallery is a small art gallery next door to a grocery store in the seedy part of Market Street, near the skid row hotels and the smell of street piss.

Tonight though the gallery was decorated with pink ribbon, glasses of wine were at hand and a few beautiful people made it there to celebrate the opening night of the fifth annual Altered Barbie exhibition. Me too.

Around the corner the Barbie Ball, a sister event and maybe funnier, was in full swing but in the gallery the results of artistic Barbie mutilation, adaptation and inspiration were on display. And sale if you had a spare 200 dollars, or so.

There was Barbie as the Madonna, transformed as hot rod racer and jet fighter plane, an abstract painting of garish colour with stuck on plastic Barbie shoes which was quite nice, a very low key yet pleasing series of ceramic tiles based on her image and an interesting fifties style nude photo with superimposed Barbie head.

And then there were the viewers, men in drag and pink ribbon, women in improbable heels and girly stockings.

And a beautiful black pussy cat, one of the few that I have met here in San Francisco which seems to be very much a dog loving town.

Someone I met, who was walking six dogs, explained that there are more dogs in San Francisco than children. It’s probably true as I have seen very few relatively.

On Saturday the local park is advertising a “Dog Days” where apart from free micro chipping and agility courses, there will also be a canine good citizen test, a dog communicator, holistic pet products a dog caricaturist and dog massage.

The latter probably FOR your four footed friend, not BY.

I didn’t have a drink at the gallery; the day was surreal enough already.

A...Altered Barbie