Must-Visit Gallery Exhibitions in San Francisco Currently
It’s fall in the Bay Area and that means art openings, wine and the ubiquitous round of ignored brie and crackers…oh yes, and the grapes, there’s always grapes! If I were to try to tell you to go to any single show I couldn’t actually do it. Galleries and museums in San Francisco are filled to the brim with incredible works and performances. Socially minded forward thinking art manifests in a myriad of ways in a wide variety of mediums. The messages of inclusion, honoring ancestors, and of social justice seem to be common and perhaps needed, themes this year.
You’re going to have to be strategic with all the new spaces in town. Taking on the galleries by neighborhood is a great idea. We are spoiled for choice. Spoiled! That being said, here’s a list of shows and artists in San Francisco that it would be a shame to miss this month.
Cast Party (Or the End of Midnight Movie) by Justin Yoon 2023. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Carver Moore Gallery.
Midnight Moon a solo show from Justin Yoon
Jonathan Carver Moore does it again with another jaw dropping show at his gallery located on Market Street in San Francisco. Yoon’s works show figures casually splayed across the canvasses in a color palette seemingly inspired by fauvism. His inspiration taken from the campy B-movies and iconic queer/gay films of the 70s give the figures a sense of being on the precipice of something of importance just about to occur. This show will run until October 28th.
CounterPulse on Turk Street celebrates October with a biennial. Mind bending performances are set to happen all month long. Think forward reaching drag shows, experimental dance, late night raves and interactive games shows. In other words, all that things that make the Bay Area art scene unique offered to you on a platter. With CounterPulse’s humanity minded mission to explore art that encompasses inclusion, transformation and resilience you can count on having your mind blown.
The Hummingbird’s Visit: Dia de Los Muertos
I look forward SOMArts’ Dia de Los Muertos show every year. Founded by beloved curator René Yañez and continued by curators Rio Yañez and Brigette Rex this show merges traditional altars with contemporary installations. This year the theme of the show represents a bridge between the living and the dead where we may connect to those we have lost. It is an act of honor and of love. The unveiling happens Friday October 6th and will show all month. Calaveritas de Amor, a Dia de los Muertos themed drag show will take place October 20th.
Haida #2 Ink on Watercolor work by Tom Seligman. Photo by Courtney Norris.
Too Squares Equals One at The Drawing Room
An exhibition of monotypes drawings and sculpture by artist Tom Seligman and Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas come together in this beautifully curated show by Curated State and The Drawing Room. Expect to see a meandering, lighthearted journey of unexpected materials and a shared love of iconography come together in a thoughtfully endearing and gorgeous show.
Yahgulanaas will give a talk on Friday October 6, from 5-7PM about his new book JAJ: Haida Manga. The book utilizes gorgeous imagery to illustrate the tumultuous history of first contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples, most notably about the colonization by the Europeans of the northern West Coast. The show goes until November 26th.
This relatively new space located on 939 Post St in San Francisco is showcasing three dynamic artists this month. Some Lady, Lucky Alley Media and Nic Hampton come together to create some masterful visual storytelling. If you haven’t been by here yet, it is a must for your art wanderings.
Br’er Rabbit Performing as Br’er Death During the Festival of Fon by Christopher Burch. Photo courtesy of artist.
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Over 50 black and white works by artist Christopher Burch and curated by Ashara Ekundayo Gallery will be on display. Burch’s meticulously crafted work explores the themes of mythology and memory. Using paint, charcoal, metal, canvas and paper Burch’s work employs coded messages to investigate the societal constructs of race, gender, and survival through the tool of Afrosurrealism. His work has a way of drawing in the viewer with beauty to face the ugly truths that lie under the surface. To see Burch’s work is to have a transformative experience. Â His works will be on display until December 15th. St. Joseph’s Art Society is located on Howard Street in San Francisco.
Old Friends/New Friends: Opening Reception
We are thrilled to invite you to the opening reception of Old Friends/New Friends at Creativity Explored, a celebration of our rich four-decade history in San Francisco’s vibrant Mission district. Enjoy an evening of celebration, community, and connection at the Creativity Explored Studio. Old Friends/New Friends takes inspiration from Creativity Explored’s generous four-decade history in the Mission district in San Francisco. Over the course of the summer 2023, Creativity Explored artists, in workshops along with guest artists, including several original participants of the fabled Mission School, have created work about their community, friends and neighborhood. 10/5 | Creativity Explored | 3245 16th St, SF | 6-8 pm | free
Even More to See:
The deYoung Open showcasing 883 local artists is must see in San Francisco.
Get a few chills down your spine at the Fox Theater with the ‘Spooked’ Podcast.
Takashi Murakami is at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco with all his little monsters.
500 Capp Street gives weekly tours of the David Ireland house. This invaluable part of the independent art scene in San Francisco always has something new.
Hometraining at Southern Exposure in San Francisco, a solo show with works by Simone Bailey takes on the cultural hybridity as a byproduct of the transatlantic slave trade. There is an artist talk October 7th but the works are up until November 11th.
Vessel at Equinom, located at 49 Geary in San Francisco, so good. The show goes through October 28th.
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From Sacred and Profane Geometries at Cheryl Haines Gallery. Photo by Vita Hewitt.
Sacred and Profane Geometries  Solo exhibition by Ai Wei Wei and Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian will show at Cheryl Haines Gallery in San Francisco through October 21st.
PUSH Dance Company will open it’s doors with a immersive show on October 15th at 447 Minna in San Francisco.
La Caravana Migrante at Refugee Eye Gallery in San Francisco. The closing talk is on October 7th but it is so worth the visit.
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