Fiction Becomes Reality in ‘Welcome to 1984//2020: Punk on the Western Front’
In the world of George Orwell’s 1984, citizens are monitored around the clock, eavesdropped upon by machines, and subjected to confusing political spin. Sound familiar? Destroy Art Inc., the curators...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Love Letter to Nancy White’s Abstract Paintings
Nancy White’s paintings reach, for me, the platonic ideal of abstraction. Walking through Romer Young’s New Work, her second solo exhibition with the gallery (not one to fix something that isn’t...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Mural of Tom Hanks and Too Short in Oakland Goes Deeper Than Paint
I really thought I was doing something when I took a picture of a nearly finished mural of Tom Hanks and Too $hort and then posted it to social media. I mean, I really put my phone in my pocket,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At Southern Exposure, the Ghosts of Myths and Memories Live on in Virtual Space
The first sound you hear when you enter Southern Exposure’s Where do you want ghosts to reside? is slow but steady dripping, a watery metronome calibrating the audience for the reality that awaits....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Artists Mine Data and the Mostly Chilling Implications of AI in ‘Uncanny Valley’
The appearance of one’s doppelgänger usually presages disaster. Today, a shadow version of oneself exists constantly alongside our flesh-and-bone selves, for the most part concealed under the surface...
View ArticleClik here to view.
SFAC Galleries Invite You to Dig Through Their 50-Year History in ‘Capricorn...
When I say “municipal art gallery,” what comes to mind? Is it something buttoned down and formal, gray and dour? An arts space that plays it safe? This was never the case in San Francisco. When the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Just For Kids: A Comic Exploring The New Coronavirus
Kids, this comic is for you. It’s based on a radio story that NPR education reporter Cory Turner did. He asked some experts what kids might want to know about the new coronavirus discovered in China....
View ArticleCharlie Leese’s Sculptures Lumber Indoors at Bass & Reiner
The artist who brought a glimmering, growling sculpture to a concrete platform behind the Dogpatch’s DHL shipping warehouse is back at it with a solo show of steel sculptures, giant vinyl prints and...
View ArticleMatisse’s Cut-Outs Spark Words, Music and Dance at Mills College
It’s a story of art inspiring art inspiring art. Henrí Matisse’s joyful paper compositions, which the artist began making in the 1940s with painted paper and a pair of scissors, inform an afternoon...
View ArticleUpdated WPA-Style Art for a Green New Deal
You’ve probably been hearing the words “Green New Deal” in this election cycle. The term describes a series of policy changes and legislation to address the climate crisis, modeled loosely on President...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Bay Area Braces for Coronavirus Closures and Cancellations
Update, March 6, 5:30pm: San Francisco Mayor London Breed issued an advisory urging residents to cancel or postpone “non-essential events” such as sports games and concerts to stop the spread of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Canceled by Coronavirus: A List of Bay Area Concerts, Cultural Events,...
Updated: March 9, 11:45am Stay up to date on full coronavirus coverage here. Concern over the spread of the coronavirus has caused the cancellation of many concerts, performances and other cultural...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Light Field Film Festival Returns to Push the Limits of Celluloid
Light Field, the artist-run film festival, has shown films that require fog in lieu of a screen. It’s shown films that require multiple projectors and films that require multiple projectors on opposite...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Life in a Two-Bedroom Book Printing Factory
Between the two of them, Meg Fransee and Aaron Gonzalez have five jobs. Fransee works full time as a social worker with the Oakland Unified School District, and part time as a psychotherapist at a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
BAMPFA Hosts Filmmaker Ulrike Ottinger’s Sumptuous Photographs
While I cannot in good conscience recommend a number of events I would ordinarily select for The Do List due to coronavirus concerns (and while most organizations announce the cancelation of those...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Beautiful But Oh So Cold: ‘Devs’ Delivers Arty Take on Silicon Valley Dystopia
Regardless of whether you like anything else about the FX sci fi thriller Devs, its cold, ethereal, luminous vision of the San Francisco Bay Area in the near future captures the look and feel of our...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Art Students Demand Tuition Refunds As Classes Go Online
Updated Thursday, 4:45 p.m. California College of the Arts, like most Bay Area higher-education institutions, is shifting to online classes amid shelter-in-place orders to stem transmission of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Survey: SF Arts Groups Expect $73 Million in Losses During Coronavirus Crisis
San Francisco arts organizations anticipate losing up to $73 million in earned income and donations if the novel coronavirus crisis proceeds through the summer, the results of a new survey show. More...
View ArticleClik here to view.
For Homebound Artists, New Approaches Bloom on Instagram
In Lauren McKeon’s Instagram videos, posted each day since the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place order took effect on March 17, I’ve been watching a red poppy sprout and bloom in a green pot. The pot sits on...
View ArticleHundreds of Exploratorium Workers Face Layoffs, Salary Reductions in SF
The latest local arts organization to announce workforce cutbacks during mandatory shutdown is the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s waterfront museum of science, art and human perception. On Tuesday,...
View Article