Last week, our guide kicked off the New Year by focusing on what’s going on in New York, so it’s only appropriate that we follow it by checking in with the West Coast. Not to be overshadowed by Los Angeles, the evolving San Francisco art scene continues to put up excellent gallery and museum shows that merit its place as a major arts destination. We’ve rounded up a list of what’s on right now.
First up, Gallery Wendi Norris presents the work of Cuban-born artist María Magdalena Campos-Pons. Through colorful work in a variety of media—including photography, sculpture, and video—she tackles issues surrounding identity and migration, often by invoking powerful totemic imagery. It’s not be missed. Then, Fraenkel Gallery hosts an unusual group show focusing on vinyl album covers and the artists who have designed them. It might sound kind of niche, but the artist lineup is impressive and worth the visit alone: It includes Pablo Picasso, Tauba Auerbach, Sophie Calle, and Chris Ofili, to name a few. Then, anyone who is a fan of Sarah Morris’ geometric abstractions can take a look at her latest output Berggruen Gallery, which is a series focusing on coding “sound waves, sound graphs, and digitized movements” into painting. And lastly, we’d be remiss not to mention the superb Robert Rauschenberg retrospective currently on view at SFMOMA, which brings together over 150 works by the late artist, from his earliest conceptual experiments to his iconic Combines.
Find artnet’s full list of picks below.
Exhibition: “María Magdalena Campos-Pons: If I Were A Poet”
When: January 11–28, 2018
Where: Gallery Wendi Norris, Presidio National Park, 649 Old Mason Street, San Francisco, CA
Rupert Garcia, Rolling Thunder (2017). Courtesy of Rena Bransten Gallery.
Exhibition: “Rupert Garcia: Rolling Thunder”
When: January 6–February 24, 2018
Where: Rena Bransten Gallery, 1275 Minnesota Street, San Francisco, CA
Andrew Schoultz, Life and Death, Birds and Beasts (2017). Courtesy of Hosfelt Gallery.
Exhibition: “Andrew Schoultz: Illuminated Opposition”
When: December 16, 2017–January 20, 2018
Where: Hosfelt Gallery, 260 Utah Street, San Francisco, CA
Leonor Fini, Dimanche Apres-midi (1980). Courtesy of Weinstein Gallery.
Exhibition: “25th Anniversary”
When: December 16, 2017–January 20, 2018
Where: Weinstein Gallery, 383 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA
Leo Valledor, A New Slant (1981). Courtesy of Brian Gross Fine Art.
Exhibition: “A New Slant”
When: January 6–February 24, 2018
Where: Brian Gross Fine Art, 248 Utah Street, San Francisco, CA
Rebecca Norris Webb, Rearview Mirror (2009). Courtesy of Robert Koch Gallery
Exhibition: “Bloomfield | Bussières | Webb”
When: November 18, 2017–February 10, 2018
Where: Robert Koch Gallery, 49 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA
Sarah Morris, Sound Graph 2 (2017). Courtesy of Berggruen Gallery.
Exhibition: “Sarah Morris”
When: January 11–February 17, 2018
Where: Berggruen Gallery, 10 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA
Wolfgang Tillmans, Device Control EP (2016). Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery.
Exhibition: “Art & Vinyl: Artists & the Record Album from Picasso to the Present”
When: January 4–February 3, 2018
Where: Fraenkel Gallery, 49 Geary Street 4th floor, San Francisco, CA
Naomie Kremer, Flying Jib (2017). Courtesy of Modernism Inc.
Exhibition: “Untold: Paintings & Hybrids”
When: January 18–March 3, 2018
Where: Modernism Inc., 724 Ellis Street, San Francisco, CA
Robert Rauschenberg, Pelican (1963). Photo by Peter Moore. Courtesy of SFMOMA.
Exhibition: “Robert Rauschenberg: Erasing the Rules”
When: November 18, 2017–March 25, 2018
Where: SFMOMA, 151 Third Street, San Francisco, CA