Did you say ‘MORE ART PLEASE’? Well, good.  The weather’s nice and there are lots of art openings, parties, festivals on both sides of the bay in May.  Here’s just a few in the next week or two.

MUTEK.SF, a new three-day electronic music (no, not that kind of EDM) and art festival.  If you like AI, AR, or blockchain, learn about how these technologies can inspire new kinds of digital creativity. The fest kicks off at Cal Academy Nightlife, there will be ambient techno DJ sets by the Vague Terrain crew and Topazu.  Be sure to reserve a Planetarium Pass when you get there, the Dome will be showing ‘mind-bending’ audiovisual works by experimental artists at ART TECH NIGHTLIFE.  The fest will be all over the places this weekend;  Bimbo’s, California Academy of Sciences, Gray Area Grand Theatre, Envelop SF, Herbst Theatre, Heron Arts, the San Francisco Mint, Mezzanine, and The Midway.

Watch a short animation loop from artist Eva Davidova that imagines a post-capitalist future manipulated by computers.  She combines 2D animation and photography to explore the limitations of technology to authentically represent humanity. Intentions. Transfer and Disappearance II is part of the Imaging Post-Capitalism Festival that the gallery is co-producing.  

@andartsf

Local artist Sofie Ramos makes her curatorial debut by inviting five mixed medium artists to play with the idea of home at this gallery in the Dogpatch.  Find beautiful and chaotic inspiration for updating your living room decor with Alise Anderson’s rug manipulations and Terry Power’s paintings.    

This May is Oakland’s first ‘Art Month’.  Meaning the entire month of May is dedicated to promoting events, performances, and shows that highlight the diversity of artists and work created in Oakland.  Dope, right? “Art Is Women” is about supporting small local artists, food makers, performers and retailers run by women of the Bay Area and bey.  This First Friday is going to be packed with even more art, artists, and all the live music and food you’re accustomed to.

Starting your First Friday at this all womxn art show and pop-up shop in the heart of downtown Oakland.  Support these artists and vendors by shopping the paintings, prints, pins, and other cute (but not too cute) goods up for sale.  Come early to get first dibs on clothes from Old Moon Vintage, and embroidery on the spot by Samantha Saavedra. The artists are also available for other work– visiting tattoo artist Sarah Daya is booking customers while she’s out here.    

You might remember Tiny Splendor for the amazing artists they publish and bring to every zine fest.  Their two-month show has a free-standing zine habitat in a vintage auto showroom (with a beer garden!).  This group of Oakland’s finest printmakers will also be selling ‘year of the dog’ prints for those of you that can’t get enough of their DIY.  There will also be a collaborative mural with Jeff Cheung of Unity Press and other local artists.

YBCA’s new exhibit, ‘Futurefarmers: Out of Place, In Place’, features imaginative, environmentally-conscious projects that try to activate art’s potential to change society.  This collection of short films inspired by the ocean and San Francisco’s fog is the first of many public programs relating to the show.

Bay Area rapper and artist, Brandon “Lil B” McCartney will be presenting photographic works and ‘extremely rare art’ to inspire more positive thinking.  This event is the first in his upcoming series of lectures across the country, so don’t miss the opportunity to witness the Based God’s unrestrained creative expression at the BAMPFA.     

Take a step back from your week and enjoy the serenity of the paintings in Heather Day’s solo show.  The local artist decided to stay in San Francisco (instead of New York or wherever she’s always flying to), and found inspiration in the everyday moments that occurred.     

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo by supporting Bay Area native Yarrow Slaps at his first solo show.  Like water, his paintings are a powerful reminder of the precariousness that rule the love, food, relationships in our lives.  He’s also invited some of his famous artists (is calling them “The Art Figaz,” as a homage to Bay Area rap legend, Jacka and the Mob Figaz) to exhibit in the space.       

Listen to a collaborative poetry performance and readings that explore the Asian Pacific American identity with She Who Has No Master(s), a collective of women and gender-nonconforming writers of the Vietnamese diaspora.  Issues like voicing the #metoo movement from the perspective of Southeast Asian and Vietnamese bodies will be explored through a mix of genres. Readings and performances will take will take place throughout the day. The streets will also be closed for Sunday Streets, so the community should come out.  

Continue the conversation about the city’s housing crisis in a more academic context.  This afternoon discussion is led by Professors from Princeton and CCA, as well as the Urban Design Policy Director of SPUR.  With the ever-growing amount of Salesforce Towers in mind, San Francisco has seen a machine-like evolution in its form.

A large street faire full of costumes, EDM stages, and art installations!  Live art, exhibited art, and interactive art.  Plus local artisan / maker / crafts vending.  Be enchanted by the extraordinary creativity!  This is the first year they are ticketing the event, so it should be a little bit more organized…but not too much!  I’m sure it’s still going to be full of wonderful Bay Area freaks, and big ol’ dance floors with great DJ’s and sound camps.

This exhibition came into being because of a San Francisco Chronicle story – and subsequent film – Last Men Standing, about men who never expected to live after being diagnosed with AIDS.  Some long-term survivors are members of a San Francisco Group, Honoring Our Experience, and local artist Diane Sciarretta conducted workshops with them (called Bodyscapes) to create drawings and poetry pertinent to their decades of living with HIV/AIDS.  The Opening reception will have chocolates, sparkling beverages, and  drawings and poems by long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS.

YBCA’s new festival celebrates the power of ideas with two weeks of incredible dance, music, and artistic performances.  The shows are already hella affordable but OUR readers get a special 2-for-1 on tickets. And there are some world-class performancers on the schedule; visually stunning dance (Capacitor, Printz Dance Project), incredible music (Black Women Rock!, DJ Spooky, Mark de Clive-Lowe), and innovative, interdisciplinary theater driven works (Roger Guenveur Smith with Campo Santo, Okwui Okpokwasili, Lars Jan/Early Morning Opera).

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