Contemporary Artists Examine their ‘Soft Power’ at SFMOMA

Museum schedules being what they are (complicated, long-negotiated allocations of institutional space and resources), it takes a minute to assemble large-scale exhibitions that feel truly responsive to contemporary social and political circumstances. (Shout out to the exceptions: SFMOMA’s architecture and design department for their nimble curation of the museum’s third floor vitrine space, and the 2018 multi-department effort Nothing Stable Under Heaven.) Now, Eungie Joo, SFMOMA’s first curator of contemporary art, gets a turn, presenting SOFT POWER: two floors of new and commissioned work by an exciting list of artists—all examining their roles as citizens and social actors, and possibly encouraging viewers to do the same. —Sarah Hotchkiss