10,000 Steps: A Quick Trip to SF MOMA

 Jim Goldberg, Rich and Poor series, 1982 
   
After an hour of walking around downtown, I entered the new SF MOMA to catch some of what I had missed (photography, outdoor sculpture) on my first visit.  Checking in, the desk associate suggested I also take the bathroom tour.    I wondered why anyone would apply for third floor bathroom docent.    One bathroom I entered was painted completely in the SF MOMA Orange, another was all in a blue/green.   Still not sure if this is a good idea, but it does eliminate bathroom monotony if one suffers from it.

Since the museum wasn't crowded this time, I went to the seventh floor and worked my way down. 

I spent some time looking over Brad Kahlhamer's large wire and bell sculpture Super Catcher.

 

 By the time I got to the photography exhibits, it was wall to wall people.   Jim Goldberg's series, Rich and Poor shows double prints of photographs of rich and poor persons together, first with one person describing in their own handwriting their happiness and relative wealth, then the other person.  Because of the crowd I didn't get very far into the exhibit. It is very moving and worthy of a first stop next time.

Jeff Muhs at The McLoughlin Gallery, 49 Geary Street        After SF MOMA, I headed over to Geary Street to see some of the remaining galleries there. At The McLoughlin Gallery, Jeff Muhs sculpture Penopeia convinced me completely that pink really does go with concrete.

This Huffington Post article about Frida Kahlo is worth reading:  How To Be More Like Frida Kahlo, As Told By Frida Kahlo

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/frida-kahlo-birthday_us_577c2871e4b0a629c1ab1edb

Posted by Phil Gravitt

Christian Marclay is the recipient of the annual SFMOMA Contemporary Vision Award

Christian Marclay; photo: courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art announces artist Christian Marclay as the recipient of the annual SFMOMA Contemporary Vision Award. Marclay will be honored at a dinner held in the museum on Monday, October 17, 2016. The award celebrates the extraordinary achievements of global leaders—creators, innovators and change-makers—whose work foregrounds contemporary art as a vital and  meaningful part of public life. Organized by the Modern Art Council, SFMOMA’s premier fundraising art experience group, this event supports the museum’s education and exhibition programs.

“We have a special connection with Christian—we commissioned Video Quartet in 2002, and his seminal piece, The Clock, closed SFMOMA in 2013 prior to our expansion, marking the end of one era and the beginning of another for our museum,” said Neal Benezra, the Helen and Charles Schwab Director of SFMOMA. “His understanding of what is visually compelling, combined with his ability to create powerful cinematic narratives, makes him an ideal recipient of this award.”

Born in San Rafael, California and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, Christian Marclay crosses the borders between genres and practices, combining and remixing aspects of visual art, music and performance. Spanning three decades, Marclay’s innovative work explores the juxtaposition between sound, photography, video and other media, and reveals the deep and lasting influence of his DJ practice in its playful and surprising sampling and collaging. His installations display provocative musical and visual landscapes and have been included in exhibitions around the world including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Venice Biennale, Centre Pompidou Paris and Kunsthaus Zurich.

In addition to featuring his internationally heralded masterpiece The Clock, SFMOMA has exhibited many key Marclay works, including the 2002 premiere of Marclay’s acclaimed four-screen video projection Video Quartet, which was commissioned by SFMOMA and the Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg, and is now one of the cornerstones of SFMOMA's media arts collection.

This will be the first SFMOMA Contemporary Vision Award dinner held at the newly expanded and transformed museum. The evening will be chaired by Modern Art Council member Florence Buatois, and will feature dinner and a conversation between honoree Christian Marclay and Rudolf Frieling, SFMOMA curator of media arts.

The 2016 SFMOMA Contemporary Vision Award is sponsored by Cadillac, SFMOMA’s Premier Sponsor and official automobile partner. Supporting Sponsorship is provided by Wells Fargo, who has renewed their long-standing support for the award dinner. In-kind support is provided by Official Wine Sponsors Kim Crawford, Meiomi and Ruffino; Official Spirits Sponsor Campari America; and Official Beer Sponsors Corona and Modelo Especial.

Ruscha and the Great American West at the de Young

Ed Ruscha and the Great American West includes 99 works that reveal the artist’s engagement with the American West.This exclusive exhibition has been organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and celebrates his career.

Nine sections reveal Ruscha’s fascination with the evolving landscape and iconic character of the “Great American West” in symbolic, evocative, and ironic renditions. These include works that depict gasoline stations, an important element of Ruscha’s work, as well as others that comment on Los Angeles and the film industry, such as his  “Technicolor” images of the Hollywood sign. The exhibition also includes works in which a word or phrase is the sole subject, often depicted in a variety of forms that simulate poured liquids, cut ribbons, or spray paint.

http://deyoung.famsf.org

Ruscha at the Getty. http://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/focus_ruscha/ 

Predictable praise from an art critic: http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/2-Ed-Ruscha-shows-explore-pop-artist-s-casual-8380519.php

Kubrick at the Contemporary Jewish Museum

Stanley Kubrick during the production of 2001: A Space Odyssey (GB/United States; 1965–68) at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco
Stanley Kubrick during the production of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (GB/United States; 1965–68) (©Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)


The Contemporary Jewish Museum presents the first show dedicated to the legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick’s life and work. The exhibition presents materials from the private estate of the film director. His films are represented through annotated scripts, production photography, lenses and cameras, set models, costumes and props. Among the items on display are iconic objects such as the costumes for Starchild and the ape, both from "2001: A Space Odyssey," the little dresses of the sisters from "The Shining" (1980), the survival kit from "Dr. Strangelove" and the "born to kill" helmet of Private Joker from "Full Metal Jacket" (1987). Through Oct. 30.

"Boundaries of the Spirit' at Nanhai art

http://www.examiner.com/article/boundaries-of-the-spirit-at-nanhai-art-millbrae?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Memorial Day fun in the sun for the Bay Area

http://www.examiner.com/article/memorial-day-weekend-fun-the-sun-for-the-bay-area?CID=examiner_alerts_article

George Lucas may build his museum on Treasure Island

Lee Suzuki, The Chronicle

http://www.examiner.com/article/george-lucas-may-build-his-museum-on-treasure-island?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Celebrate SFMOMA's grand reopening on May 14

Andy Warhol does Elvis

http://www.examiner.com/article/celebrate-sfmoma-s-grand-reopening-on-may-14?CID=examiner_alerts_article

New SFMOMA now boasts of being the biggest art museum in the US

Courtesy SFMOMA

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-new-sfmoma-now-boasts-of-being-the-biggest-art-museum-the-us

Mark Bradford will represent the US in Venice in 2017

 http://www.examiner.com/article/la-painter-mark-bradford-will-represent-the-us-at-the-2017-venice-biennale?CID=examiner_alerts_article

'Edward S. Curtis and One Hundred Masterworks'

Palm Springs Art Museum is presenting the extraordinary "Edward S. Curtis: One Hundred Masterworks exhibition," featuring vintage photographs that represent an important historical documentary of the Indians of North America; and "Changing the Tone: Contemporary American Indian Photographers," which showcases works by living artists of Native American heritage. The exhibitions are on view now through May 29, 2016


http://www.examiner.com/article/edward-s-curtis-one-hundred-masterworks-at-the-palm-springs-art-museum

'Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective' at the de Young

"A garden is probably the most spiritual and purest of joys. It's a communion with nature and beauty in the most simple and fundamental form," said Oscar de la Renta, shortly before he passed, in 2014. Himself a talented gardener, the designer was beloved for his exceptional floral prints. Now open at the de Young Museum, Oscar de la Renta: The Retrospective, is a full-bloom tribute to the dazzling career of a man who truly celebrated life. (from 7x7)."

Cynic that I am, I would add that he celebrated life among and for the wealthy and made himself very rich doing so. The exhibit celebrates the thin, the famous and those with deep, deep pocketbooks. I can assure you that nobody at the Gala wore a Mohawk hairdo. The Chairwoman of the Board of the FAMSF was ecstatic. Why have an exhibit of serious art when you can show couture for wealthy women?

http://www.examiner.com/article/oscar-de-la-renta-a-retrospective-at-the-de-young-museum

Spring shows at the Asian Art Museum

"Pearls on a string" at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

"Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts." In May 2013, the National Endowment for the Humanities made a gift to the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore that underwrote an exhibition drawn in part from its collection of Islamic art and manuscripts. That exhibit has now traveled to San Francisco. In a journey spanning the 16th through 18th centuries, "Pearls on a String" takes viewers to through three Islamic capitals to answer the question "Who's behind the art?"

http://www.examiner.com/article/spring-shows-at-the-asian-art-museum

2015. The year that was in art.

http://www.examiner.com/article/2015-the-year-that-was-art?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Raphael's 'Lady with a Unicorn' comes to SF's Legion of Honor in January

In his "Lives of the Artists," Renaissance writer Vasari declared that Heaven had bestowed upon Raphael the “infinite riches of her treasure.. of modesty, grace and talent.” His work personified the Renaissance ideals of clarity, order and balance.

Viewers will have a chance to decide for themselves when “Lady with a Unicorn." a one-painting exhibit opens at theLegion of Honor in January 2016. The work comes to us via the Cincinnati Art Museum and marks the very first timeRaphael’s “Portrait of a Lady with a Unicorn” has visited the United States, itself a reason for celebration.

http://www.examiner.com/article/raphael-s-lady-with-a-unicorn-opens-at-sf-s-legion-of-honor-january

'Sunrise' and 'Time Tunnel' at the Chnese Culture Foundation

“Sunrise." by the Chinese Culture Foundation, is a project which takes the mundane pedestrian bridge from the Chinatown Hilton to Portsmouth Square and elevates it to a vision for Chinatown’s future. The bridge was built as a compromise for the 27-story hotel tower blocking sunlight to the square known by many as Chinatown’s living room. 

 More at: http://www.examiner.com/article/sunrise-and-time-tunnel-at-the-chinese-culture-foundation

Bay Area Art and holiday events for Dec 9-12

Watercolor by Nancy Ewart

Art Explosion, Man Candy, MoAD and an Irish painter. Plus SANTA CON!

http://www.examiner.com/article/bay-area-art-and-holiday-events-for-dec-9-12?CID=examiner_alerts_article

Closing events for the 100th anniversary of the Panama-Pacific Expo

Throughout 2015, the PPIE100, a citywide consortium of cultural, civic, and historical organizations, has conducted centennial programs to commemorate the PPIE’s historical significance and to reflect on its legacy. Yet, even as the city celebrates the triumphs of 1915, "The Palace of Fine Arts", the sole surviving building from the PPIE and Bernard Maybeck’s masterpiece, is slated to be turned over to private development companies who have proposed a host of money making ventures including a hotel, a restaurant, a gym and a spa. The rotunda, the columns, the temple in the lagoon and a performing art space are to be preserved. But the three final plans all incorporate commercial venues like hotels and restaurants, which will bring hundreds more cars into the already congested location.

A local group, calling itself “Save the Palace of Fine Arts” has already collected 20,000+ signatures calling on the San Francisco Department of Parks and Recreation to use the space exclusively as a cultural and educational center. They face powerful opposition but, as in 1915, it’s not wise to underestimate the love that San Franciscan’s have for their city and their willingness to fight to preserve the legacy of the past.

On Friday, December 4, 2015. celebrate the final night of the Ferry Building's bright '1915" neon sign in honor of the centennial. The lights will go out on December 4, 2015, the same day the fair closed a century ago, and the Ferry Building will be restored to its 21st Century appearance

 More on the closing events here: http://www.examiner.com/article/closing-events-for-the-100th-anniversary-of-the-panama-pacific-expo?CID=examiner_alerts_article