Most art-going shrunk to screen-sized in 2020, as virtual exhibitions became pandemic stopgap measures during lockdown. But this summer, Bay Area museums and galleries are open, with plans to unveil big exhibitionsfeaturing works by famed artists including Diego Rivera, Judy Chicago, Diane Arbus, teamLab and Hung Liu.
Some exhibitionswere planned for 2020 and are finally getting their turn, interest aided no doubt by anticipation. Other offerings approach timely themes including identity, activism and the environment. Many also aim for the kind of in-person wow factor — either in scale, abundance of work or ambition — that reminds us why seeing art in person is essential.
It’s enough to make you put away your smartphone.
Summer will also finally see the debut of two awaited museum expansion and remodel projects.This month, theOakland Museum of California’s refreshed garden spacesopen to the public as the museum reopens for the first time since March 2020, with newly installed art and performance areas overlooking Lake Merritt. In July, the Asian Art Museum willfinally open the new Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Pavilion with the immersive teamLab exhibition “Continuity.”
如果你没有回去博物馆和galleries yet, remember to pace yourself and check on any updates in their individual protocols. You’ve got the entire summer ahead of you to take it all in.
‘On the Horizon’
Eco artist Ana Teresa Fernández kicks off the seasonwith a timely sculptural installation that seeks to show the true impact climate change will have on cities. “On The Horizon” will use 16 clear plastic tubes, anchored on Ocean Beach and filled with seawater, to show how high the tide is expected to rise according to current climate change projections. By 2100, oceans are expected to rise 6 feet, and when you see that illustrated by the height of the tubes it’sshocking.
Early in the event, volunteers and students from a nearby co-op will help set up and fill the vessels. As the sun moves, the quality of light against the suspended water will change and take on the colors of the sunset, whichis expected to take place around 8:45 p.m. Fernández hopes that the work willspark a conversation among viewers about the areas that will be most at risk with sea rise. The first installation will be up through June 20; future dates are expected to be announced for July and August.
5-8:45 p.m. Sunday, June 20. Free. Ocean Beach, S.F.onthehorizon.org
De Young博物馆
‘Golden Gate’
挂着刘翔的安装Wilsey法院,标题d “Golden Gate,” will feature four new and five existing works, seeking to highlight international and domestic narratives of migration.
Liu, who is based in Oakland, grew up in Maoist China; her work both demonstrates and subverts the Social Realist school of painting she was trained in. The exhibition is part ofthe Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s Contemporary Art Program, which presents the work of living artists in dialogue with the museums’ unique buildings and permanent collections.
Liu was last at the de Young in 1994 with her installation of 200,000 fortune cookies, “Jiu Jin Shan (Old Gold Mountain).”
July 17-March 13, 2022
‘Judy Chicago: A Retrospective’
The pioneering feminist artist, best known for her celebrated and controversial installation “The Dinner Party,” is the subject of a major retrospective. Projects including her “Birth,” “Holocaust” and “PowerPlay” series will be shown in depth, as will materials related to the creation of “The Dinner Party.” Chicago continues to make waves in her 80s with her colored smoke installations, as well as her outspoken advocacy for women’s perspectives in the art world. Additionalprogramming to be announced.
Aug. 28-Jan. 9, 2022
9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.$15-$30. 50 De Young Museum, Hagiwara Tea GardenDrive, S.F. 415-750-3600.deyoung.famsf.org
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
‘Pan American Unity’
Diego Rivera’s monumental mural, created in 1940 as the centerpiece art at the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island, is leaving its longtime home at City College of San Francisco for two years and coming to the first-floor gallery at SFMOMA, where it will be on view for free.
The fresco, formally known as “The Marriage of the Artistic Expression of the North and of the South on This Continent,” measures 22 by 74 feet and weighsmore than 60,000 pounds. It was able to be moved because it was created on 10 cement steel-framed panels instead of a standard wall.
Summer 2021-23
1-8 p.m. Thursdays; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays-Mondays. $19-$25. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 151 Third St., S.F. 415-357-4000.sfmoma.org
Asian Art Museum
‘Continuity’
Tokyo art collective teamLab opens the museum’s new Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Pavilion with “Continuity,” an immersive digital experience that surrounds viewers with East Asian imagery of lush landscapes and nature. Architect Kulapat Yantrasast’s additions to the museum are also sure to attract curious viewers in their own right.
Opening July 16 for members, July 23 for general public.
1-8 p.m. Thursdays; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays-Mondays. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays.$20. 200 Larkin St., S.F.asianart.org
Altman Siegel
‘Blanketing the Bay’
The exterior mural installation by artist Liam Everett seeks to bring the inside of his studio outside. The gallery’s facade is wrapped in images of Everett’s paintings while in progress, while blown-up black-and-white photographs further reveal the studio setting. Color images in the mural show details of paintings like brushstrokes and impressions on the canvas. The project is a collaboration between ICA San Jose, Altman Siegel and Minnesota Street Project.
On view through Aug. 28. Free, by appointment.1150 25th St., S.F.altmansiegel.com
Fraenkel Gallery
‘Diane Arbus Curated by Carrie Mae Weems’
In an ingenious bit of cross-pollination, Fraenkel Gallery presents a show of 45 Diane Arbus photographs curated by acclaimed photographer Carrie Mae Weems, to announce Weems’ representation by the gallery. Arbus’ work has been central to Fraenkel since its founding and Weems’ selections highlight a few rarely seen gems. Some also reveal glimpses of themes that emerged in Weems’ own work years later.
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday. Through Aug. 13. Free. 49 Geary St., S.F. 415-981-2661.fraenkelgallery.com
Catharine Clark Gallery
‘Open Field: Nine Artists Respond to the Ideals of Black Mountain College’
This new group show — featuring works from Jen Bervin, Lenka Clayton, Ligorano Reese, Mary Muszynski, Reniel Del Rosario, Stephanie Syjuco, Leilah Talukder and Amy Trachtenberg — askedartists to respond to the legacy and philosophy of the famed North Carolina school. Among Black Mountain College’s alumni were 20th century masters like artist Ruth Asawa, composer John Cage, choreographer Merce Cunningham and architect Buckminster Fuller. Famed Bauhaus artists Josef and Anni Albers were at the core of the school’s faculty.
10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays. Through Sept. 11. Free. 248 Utah St., S.F. 415-399-1439.cclarkgallery.com
Oakland Museum of California
The museum reopens Friday, June 18, with free admission through Sunday, June 20, with newly refreshed garden spaces and outdoor sculpture exhibitions, featuring works by Beniamino Bufano, Peter Voulkos, George Rickey and Betty Gold.
Oakland Museum reopens, debuts refreshed garden project by Mark Cavagnero and Walter Hood
Indoors, “Mothership: Voyage Into Afrofuturism” is slated to open this summer; dates to be announced.
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays-Sundays.$7-$16, with children age 8 and younger free. 1000 Oak St., Oakland. 510-318-8400.museumca.org
Berkeley Art Museum Pacific Film Archive
‘Kay Sekimachi: Geometries’
A major survey of the well-known Berkeley fiber artist. At age 94, Sekimachi continues to be a leader in the Bay Area textile and Japanese American communities.
Through Oct. 24.
‘The Enduring Mark: Six Centuries of Drawing From the Gray Collection’
Highlights from the collection of Richard and Mary L. Gray, one of the foremost collections of European and American works on paper. Worksspan centuries, with many selected for their emphasis on representations of the human figure.
Aug. 4-Nov. 28.
‘New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century’
This new survey exhibition explores recent feminist practices in contemporary art. “New Time” includes more than 150 works by 77 artists and collectives, and is organized around themes including hysteria, revisiting historical subjects through a feminist lens and feminist utopias.
Aug, 28-Jan. 30, 2022.
上午11点——下午5点Fridays-Sundays. 2155 Center St., Berkeley. 510-642-0808.bampfa.org
Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
‘Wayne Thiebaud Influencer: A New Generation’
Centenarian artist and longtime UC Davis art professor Wayne Thiebaud’s influenceis celebrated in this new exhibition, featuring 19 contemporary artists inspired by the painter. Explore how Thiebaud forecast the future of painting through his personal journey to find meaning and reinvention in the medium’s history, in ways that are both current and timeless.
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Free but timed tickets must be reserved. On view through Nov. 12. 254 Old Davis Road, Davis. 530-752-9623.manettishremmuseum.ucdavis.edu