Weekend Picks for March 15 - 17

Yemen "apartment house." @ Naftali Hilger

Jewish Community Center of San Francisco: Jews of Yemen; photographs by Naftali Hilger. Israeli photojournalist Naftali Hilger’s photos of the Jews of Yemen takes us into a world of ancient traditions. One of the few outsiders allowed within the community, he returned six times between 1986 and 2008. Hilger, who will host a gallery tour and talk on March 19th, presents this ancient world in all its elegance and spare grace.

 @ Naftali Hilger

Women cook over wood stoves in rooms with white washed walls, a boy studies the Torah with an elder-images of a world lost in time and threated by contemporary Islamic politics. Most of the images are domestic but one stands out – a photo of a man standing by a rock in the desert close to Saudi Arabia. According to the caption, Jews who left the area in the past 130 years wrote their names on the rock before leaving their country.

Where: Katz Snyder Gallery, Jewish Community Center, 3200 California St., S.F.
When: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays-Sundays; closes April  30 Admission: Free. Contact: www.jccsf.org
Note: Hilger will lead a gallery tour and lecture at 7 p.m. March 19.

Ampersand by Max Rippon. 

White Walls: “Cut from the Chase” Barcelona-based artist Max “Ripe” Rippon continues to explore typography, calligraphy and hand painting in his new exhibition, “Cut From The Chase.” The works contain ink, spray paint, watercolor and one-shot enamel on paper.  While street signage, calligraphy and graffiti are influences, Rippon offers a new look on lettering. White Walls. 868 Geary St, SF. http://www.whitewallssf.com/
 

What do indoor clouds, Google Street View and Dutch masterworks have in common? Find out at a unique evening event hosted by the SFAC Galleries in conjunction with its current exhibition Conversation 6. The SFAC Galleries brings together the de Young Museum’s special exhibition Girl with a Pearl Earring: Dutch Paintings from the Mauritshuis assistant curator Melissa Buron of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and renowned photographer Doug Rickard to expand the dialogue around the exhibited works of Dutch installation artists Bernadnaut Smilde, who will be visiting from Amsterdam.

Moderated by Galleries Director and exhibition curator Meg Shiffler, the panel will draw conversational threads that will enliven a broad discussion around major themes such as documentation, site, ephemerality vs. permanence, and “truth” in image making. This program is made possible through the generous support of the Graue Family Foundation.

When: Wednesday, March 20th, 6-7:30 p.m. . Where: Koret Auditorium, SF Library, Main Branch, 100 Larkin Street, lower level. S.F. Arts Commission Gallery. 401 Van Ness Ave. http://www.sfartscommission.org/

http://www.examiner.com/list/weekend-picks-for-march-15-17