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Vessel Gallery, Oakland Art Murmur Fixture, to Close Following Lease Termination
Eight years ago, Lonnie Lee opened Vessel Gallery with a solo exhibition by Oakland sculptor Cyrus Tilton. Next month, she’ll close her Oakland gallery–a fixture of Oakland Art Murmur—with a show by...
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Vince Staples and Green Day: Talking With ‘Dookie’ Cover Artist Richie Bucher
You may not know the name Richie Bucher, but you’ve almost certainly seen his artwork. Bucher, an East Bay artist and musician, drew the cover art for Green Day’s Dookie, an album that’s sold 20...
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Talking With Artist Hank Willis Thomas About Political Struggle
About a week ago, I found myself standing next to Hank Willis Thomas, the world-renowned conceptual artist who built a career by creating pieces that critique aspects of race, pop culture and politics....
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Beyond the Burka: ‘Contemporary Muslim Fashion’ at the de Young
As the first major exhibit to explore the intricacies of global Muslim fashion, Contemporary Muslim Fashions, running through Jan. 6 at the de Young, finally features a more accurate depiction of...
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More Than Chairs at Oakland Museum’s ‘The World of Ray and Charles Eames’
I know what you’re worried about. You’ll go to the Oakland Museum’s new exhibition, The World of Ray and Charles Eames, and leave so seduced by the elegant furniture that you’ll immediately drain the...
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SFMOMA’s Permanent Collection is Free This Weekend
The air quality in San Francisco is on red, or unhealthy, according to the city’s Department of Emergency Management, and residents are expected to feel the effects of the smoke over the holiday...
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Joaquín Segura’s Chilling ‘Pyre’ Installation Becomes Doubly Resonant
The day Pyre opened at 3320 18th Street (an elusive and ambitious exhibition space known only by its address, without a website or social media presence), San Francisco’s air-quality index peaked at...
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Ficre Ghebreyesus Painted Blackness as a Rich and Complex Landscape
In her memoir, The Light of the World, the poet Elizabeth Alexander chronicles the ways that she and her husband, the late painter Ficre Ghebreyesus, filled each other’s space to build a life and...
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Maxwell McMaster’s Dreamscapes Provide Respite from Troubled Times
When walking through the SoMA district of Downtown San Francisco on a Friday night, it’s impossible to miss the bright, inviting light emanating from Natural High, the current show at First Amendment...
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At fused space, ‘Seven Places of the Mind’ Is No Slouch
A dreamy exhibition at the Potrero-area gallery fused space, curated by Margaret Tedesco of 2nd floor projects, gathers paintings, sculpture, video and textile work under the title of the third set of...
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Jenine Marsh’s Train-Pressed Coins Define the Value of the Small Gestures
A freight train barrels down the tracks and artist Jenine Marsh sits and waits. She waits first for the deep vibrations. Then she waits for the sounds that come all at once—of crashing cars and...
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Do You Know the Way to San Jose’s Chicano Murals?
A few weeks ago, news broke about Bay Area artist Jose Meza Velasquez filing a $5 million lawsuit after a real estate developer painted over his historic Mural de la Raza in San Jose. But by and large,...
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NYT Names Brontez Purnell, Ishmael Reed Among Top Black Male Writers
Bay Area writers Brontez Purnell and Ishmael Reed have been honored as part of a giant feature in the New York Times’ style magazine titled “Black Male Writers of Our Time.” With 32 writers both...
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This New Nonprofit Gallery is Named ‘/’… Yep, That’s a Single Slash
We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast to inform you it’s not all doom and gloom in the Bay Area arts scene! Just a month ago, a new San Francisco nonprofit visual art space named /...
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How the Bay Area Art Scene Persevered in 2018
Thinking back on the ups and downs of 2018, I have personal tendency to look for the worst—the signs of collapse, of slow downfalls and impending doom. But was this year in local visual arts any...
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The Man Making Art From Government Surveillance
Trevor Paglen writes the kinds of books that get you into weird conversations with strangers. He takes the kinds of pictures that are slightly unnerving until you read the title card, and then it...
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Through Subversion and Joyful Skewering, Artists ‘Reorient’ Stereotypes
How do stereotypes form? Researchers at the University of Aberdeen suggest in a 2014 paper that stereotypes are the result of how we process and share information. Unpacking the article for Pacific...
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Digital ‘Anxiety’ Takes Concrete Form at Hit Gallery
In a derelict and nondescript warehouse off 16th and South Van Ness, Hit Gallery occasionally announces itself by propping open a heavy metal door. From there, a foyer leads to stairs and the main...
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Curator Abby Chen to Head Asian Art Museum’s Contemporary Art Department
Bucking local trends, the Asian Art Museum announced today that Abby Chen, former artistic director of the Chinese Culture Center (CCC), will assume the role of head of the museum’s contemporary art...
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The Bay Area’s Best Visual Art of 2018 (IMHO)
It hasn’t been a quiet year in local visual arts. We had our share of blockbuster shows, the welcome return of an affirmational regional survey and plenty of exhibitions that spoke directly to our...
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