The “Artist You Should Know” series highlights Bay Area artists who are doing incredible work, it’s our way of supporting the creative community and helping to keep San Francisco a strange and wonderful place. .  Meet artist and journalist Kristin Farr, and see her work her solo exhibition “SUMMER” at Heron Arts June 5, 2021 – July 3, 2021.

We interviewed Farr back in 2018 and we’re excited to see her exhibiting again in SF, she has an incredible color palette and a talent for line work, she also writes and edits articles at Juxtapoz, she’s curated for Facebook’s fancy artist in residency program (FB Air) and has made cool videos at KQED Arts, that kind of make you feel like you’re on drugs.  She’s also pretty funny.

Mural by Kristin Farr. Learning Center, San Jose.

If you’ve lived in San Francisco for a minute, chances are you’ve seen Farr’s work on a street corner somewhere, or on a soundstage at outside lands, or even on tv.  Now you can see what she’s been up to for the last 5 years at Heron Arts all month long.

Farr mural Potrero Hill, SF

Look! Kristin painted the Sutro Stage at Outside Lands! Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Her takeover at Heron should be great, especially the opening party this Saturday 6/5 @4pm.

Here’s Heron’s exhibit preamble:

SUMMER is a retrospective of the last five years from Bay Area-based artist Kristin Farr. The exhibition will feature new works, a site-specific installation, and a collection of specific paintings from the last five years. The artist intends to include these works as an examination of her artistic practice and its evolution. It will impress upon the viewer ideas about what the future holds for the artist – feelings of optimism, warmth, and welcoming, akin to what the summer season represents. 

Kristin Farr draws inspiration from her family legacy with Pennsylvania’s “hex signs” and other folk art practices. These practices are said to bring good luck and protection to their surroundings. Kristin is inspired by grapheme-color synaesthesia, a form of synesthesia, in which an individual’s perception of numerals and letters is associated with the experience of colors. The artist employs a multidisciplinary approach, as an embrace of the synesthetic experience with a primary focus on color’s ability to achieve this effect. Using patterns and colors Kristin creates a multisensory experience. Artists such as Vincent Van Gogh, Duke Ellington, and Pharrell Williams are believed to have experienced synesthesia.

SUMMER will feature Farr’s signature color palette, with technicolor explosions of bright hues and neon patterns. Summer is Farr’s favorite season, and she attributes her choices of color for these works to the feelings of this time of year. With these feelings in mind, along with color psychology, she evokes bright, magical, and positive feelings.

“SUMMER” 6/5 @4pm, Heron Arts. A takeover of the magical neon world of Kristin Farr.

Exhibit info HERE 

Follow Kristen @kristinfarr