Those who live at 181 Fremont have the best of San Francisco’s evolving art scene at arm’s reach. Just ten minutes from your doorstep lies one of the most celebrated art museums in the nation, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
This spring, dive into the many modern and contemporary art exhibitions as part of the museum’s spring lineup that features Andy Warhol, Suzanne Lacy Retrospectives, plus single-gallery presentations on view dedicated to Rodney McMillian, Alexander Calder, Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, and more.
Here are a few of our favorites that you won’t want to miss:
New Work: Rodney McMillian
Now – June 9, 2019
Much of Rodney McMillian’s work speaks to how American politics and social histories shape matters relating to class, race and gender. The exhibit features a painted abstract panorama spanning the entire gallery, paired with a soundscape incorporating iconic 1980s songs performed by McMillian, along with the voice of a social advocate proposing radically new language and policies around the condition of homelessness. This exhibition is his first solo museum presentation on the West Coast.
snap+share: transmitting photographs from mail art to social networks
March 30 – August 4, 2019
Photo taking and sharing has become ever-present in our daily lives. At the snap+share exhibition, trace the evolution of sharing photographs in a visual and unique way with examples of 1960s and ’70s mail art, physical piles of pictures uploaded to the Internet over a 24-hour period, and a working refrigerator that allows participatory meme-making. Spanning the history of mail art to social networks, explore how networks are created through sending photos and how those networks have changed in the age of the Internet. The show presents a variety of artists working in various media, including On Kawara, Ray Johnson, Moyra Davey, Erik Kessels, Corinne Vionnet, and David Horvitz.
Suzanne Lacy: We Are Here
April 20 – August 4, 2019
Explore Suzanne Lacy’s entire career, from her earliest works on feminism to her latest video installations, at the co-organized exhibition by SFMOMA and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Honoring the voices and contributions of women to public life, the YBCA presentation will revisit key collaborative projects from a modern-day perspective including an in-depth focus on The Oakland Projects, a series on youth leadership, public policy and community.
Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again
May 19 – September 2, 2019
Organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art, From A to B and Back Again is the first Andy Warhol retrospective organized in the U.S. since 1989. Reevaluating the complexities of Warhol’s instantly recognizable works and 40-year career, this exhibition will feature more than 300 works of art stretching across three floors of SFMOMA.
JR: The Chronicles of San Francisco
May 23, 2019–April 27, 2020
Over the course of two months, internationally recognized artist, JR, set up a mobile studio at more than 20 locations around San Francisco, where he filmed and interviewed nearly 1,200 people across the city’s diverse communities. Celebrating their voices, this exhibition will feature a digital mural bringing the untold stories and faces of San Francisco to life.
For the full list of 2019 exhibitions, visit https://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/.