Arngunnur Ýr “Onomea IV” 2022, oil on birch panel. Image courtesy of Anglim/Trimble.
January 5 to February 25 – Arngunnur Ýr: Onomea at Anglim/Trimble: Arngunnur Ýr’s new botanical series Onomea is rooted in influences from the lush vegetation of Hawaii. Arngunnur, who is from Iceland, is in the process of building a future residence on the Big Island of Hawaii, and her new work reflects the natural transition from the Icelandic glaciers to explorations of the place that is to become her new home. The works reference the typical flamboyance and jubilation of floral glory, the lushness and abundance of beauty and color, but also suggest an intensity of introspection both pictorially and of the artist herself. The works are intended to evoke a feeling of complexity and confusion while alluding to a deeper experience. Through a labor-intensive process, Arngunnur explores the common depiction of paradise and turns it on its head. The works are psychological in nature, examining the dichotomy of life, transience, and temporal existence. Each flower has a beginning and an end and in these works, the subtle voids and bleached-out plants become a suggestion of an otherness, their ghostlike quality and neutrality become an ironic focal point. Opening reception is Saturday, January 7th, 4-6pm. Anglim/Trimble is located at 1275 Minnesota Street in San Francisco.
J. John Priola “Green Lichen & Moss” 2022, archival pigment print. Image courtesy of Anglim/Trimble.
January 5 to February 25 – J. John Priola: Natural Light/Simbiosis at Anglim/Trimble: This exhibition features work made in 2022 from natural occurrences and natural disasters, and it coincides with the release of Priola’s new monograph, Natural Light, published by Kehrer Verlag. Priola continues his love of beauty and the act of seeing/looking into the natural world through innate happenings or natural disasters. This new work is about renewal, existence, and perseverance in the ever-growing human effect on nature. In a small yet revealing way, the aftermath of two devastating California wildfires is one source. In Trunks, images from the Dixie Fire in 2021 reveal detailed and haunting beauty from the wreckage and debris, while an image from the 2018 Camp Fire speaks to recovery and survival in the age of the Anthropocene. Opening reception is Saturday, January 7th, 4-6pm. Anglim/Trimble is located at 1275 Minnesota Street in San Francisco.
Alanna Fields “Untitled (Blue)” 2019. Image courtesy of SF Camerawork.
January 17 to March 25 – Dismantling Monoliths at SF Camerawork: Curated by artist Jamil Hellu, this is a group exhibition of artists who catalyze their medium to challenge conventions. Through critical engagement and intimate gestures, Dismantling Monoliths calls attention to the multidirectional ways in which contemporary artists are recontextualizing the canon of Western history while envisioning fresh perspectives for identity representation, visibility, and inclusion. The exhibition presents works, from photography to video, by Alanna Fields, Xandra Ibarra, Tarrah Krajnak, Forrest McGarvey, Marcel Pardo Ariza, and Aaron Turner. Together, they shatter stereotypes and shift the monolithic historical frame of reference to new dimensions. SF Camerawork is located at Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Blvd, Building A.
Beth Van Hoesen “Sister Zsa Zsa Glamour” 1997, watercolor, colored pencil, graphite on paper. Image courtesy of Altman Siegel.
January 17 to February 25 – Beth Van Hoesen: Punks and Sisters at Altman Siegel: This exhibition presents the portraiture of San Francisco legend, Beth Van Hoesen. A keen observer of detail, Van Hoesen’s prints and works on paper express a mastery of line that captures the unique eccentricities of her subjects and the vibrant Castro community in which she lived for nearly 50 years. This exhibition focuses on her portraits of punks from the late 1980s and early ’90s, and a series of portraits commemorating The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an order of queer and trans nuns. Started in the late ’70s, the Sisters are known for their activism, community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges. All sales of the Sisters portraits benefit the Rainbow Honor Walk, the nonprofit organization that sponsors a monument of bronze sidewalk plaques in the Castro honoring lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer individuals who have made a significant impact in global history. Altman Siegel is located at 1150 25th Street in San Francisco.
Ja’Tovia Gary “Citational Ethics (Saidiya Hartman, 2017)” 2020, Neon, glass, wire, and metal. Image courtesy of ICA SF.
January 21 to June 25 – Resting Our Eyes at ICA SF: Curated by Tahirah Rasheed and Autumn Breon this exhibition is focusing on the liberation and celebration of Black women through the lens of leisure and physical adornment, Resting Our Eyes features new and existing works from 20 multi-generational Black artists working across sculpture, photography, video, mixed media, painting, and textile. Through embodied experiences of space and temporality, spectrums of abstraction and representation, these artists contend with the limitations and failures of the colonial gaze by casting Black womxn at the center of their visions through leisure and adornment. Collectively, these works invite us to see Black womxn as fully realized and free. Artists included are; Derrick Adams, Sadie Barnette, Traci Bartlow, Knowledge Bennett, LaKela Brown, Genevieve Gaignard, Ja’Tovia Gary, Lauren Halsey, Simone Leigh, Helina Metaferia, Ebony G. Patterson, Alison Saar, Lorna Simpson, Hank Willis Thomas, Lava Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Adana Tillman, Leila Weefur, Carrie Mae Weems, and Deborah Willis. The ICA SF is located at 901 Minnesota Street.
Heesoon Kwan “Leymusoom Bridge” (detail). Image courtesy of Berkeley Art Center.
January 21 to March 12 – The Letters of Mina Harker at Berkeley Art Center: Curated by Naz Cuguolgu, this group exhibition takes its title from the book by Dodie Bellamy, and investigates speculative fiction’s potential for alternative world-building. The exhibition celebrates Mina, the central woman character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, who demands her own agency and voice in Bellamy’s narrative. Individual works by Bay Area artists come together in the space to form a chosen family and to suggest a speculative narration. Via diasporic artistic practices, the exhibition aims to look at the definition of monster as a symbol for the outsider and to rather construct an alternative universe with a new and otherworldly language. Artists included are; Dena Al-Adeeb, Sholeh Asgary, Kerri Conlon, Red Culebra (Guillermo Galindo& Cristobal Martinez), Behnaz and Baharak Khalegi, Heesoon Kwon, Tracy Ren, Chelsea Ryoko Wong, and Rupy C Tut. Opening reception is Saturday January 28th, 2–5pm. Berkeley Art Center is located at 1275 Walnut Street in Berkeley.
Exterior view of Fort Mason Festival Pavillion where FOG Design+Art is located.
January 18 to January 22 – Fog Design+Art at Fort Mason Festival Pavillion: Celebrating today’s most significant creatives and leading contributors to the worlds of design and visual arts, this fair assembles 45 leading international galleries; prominent 20th-century and contemporary design dealers; and a weekend of programs. Building on FOG’s longstanding commitment to cultural institutions, the fair’s Preview Gala is honored to continue its crucial support of SFMOMA’s exhibitions and education programs. FOG represents a key moment in which the local and global community congregate to engage in critical dialogue, artistic exchanges, and a shared passion for creative pursuits.