Exhibitions + Events Archive:

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Talks + Events (68)

• Exhibition Spotlight

  Joseph Cornell: A Present Tense

  Thursday, January 03, 2008
  5:30 p.m.
  

  Stephanie L. Taylor, assistant professor, modern and contemporary art history, New Mexico State University

  With his penchant for Victorian toy theaters and 19th-century ballerinas, Joseph Cornell is often presented as a singular, even eccentric artist caught up in a gauzy past. Taylor,…

• Artist Talk

  Douglas Gordon

  Thursday, January 10, 2008
  5:30 p.m.
  

  Russell Ferguson, adjunct curator, Hammer Museum, and professor and chair, Department of Art, University of California, Los Angeles
  Rudolf Frieling, curator of media arts, SFMOMA
  Douglas Gordon, artist

  Join Gordon and Ferguson for a discussion of the artist's diverse practice, which encompasses film, video, photography, performance, and text. The conversation addresses the roles…

• Sold Out

  Performance

  Devendra Banhart

  Thursday, January 17, 2008
  7:00 p.m.
  

  Devendra Banhart, musician and visual artist
  Special guests

  Since his first release of spare and often folk-based songs in 2002, Banhart has explored the intersections of rock, psychedelia, and traditional music. He is also a visual artist,…

• Exhibition Spotlight

  New Work: Lucy McKenzie

  Thursday, January 24, 2008
  6:00 p.m.
  

  Alison Gass, assistant curator, painting and sculpture, SFMOMA

  Exhibition curator Gass examines McKenzie's New Work exhibition, with a focus on the artist's collaboration with fashion designer Beca Lipscombe. Lipscombe's fall clothing line is…

• Discussion

  Documents: Silicon Valley

  Saturday, January 26, 2008
  2:00 p.m.
  

  Gabriele Basilico, artist
  Sandra S. Phillips, senior curator of photography, SFMOMA
  Fred Turner, assistant professor, communication, Stanford University
  Richard A. Walker, professor, geography, University of California, Berkeley

  Proceeding from what the artist calls a "slow-paced gaze," Basilico's work most often focuses on cities, notably those in states of construction or decay. The subject of his latest…

• Teacher Workshop

  Certified Self-Guided Touring Workshop

  Saturday, February 02, 2008
  8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
  

  Ideal for teachers of grades 8 to 12 who would like to tour their students without a docent, this workshop acquaints educators with SFMOMA's collections and touring procedures.…

• Free Tuesday Program

  Topographic Photography from the Collection

  Tuesday, February 05, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - noon
  

  Lisa Sutcliffe, assistant curator, photography, SFMOMA

  Beginning February 02, SFMOMA presents an exhibition of photographs from the museum's collection highlighting topographic photography that maps the natural and architectural…

• Sold Out

  Artist Talk

  Olafur Eliasson

  Thursday, February 07, 2008
  5:30 p.m.
  

  Olafur Eliasson, artist
  Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director, Museum of Contemporary Art,
  Chicago
  Special guests

  Eliasson's celebrated projects integrate art, science, and natural phenomena to create multisensory experiences that engage the observer. The first U.S. survey of his work, Take…

• Weimar New York

  Trannyshack Presents Ladies' Choice with Ana Matronic

  Tuesday, February 12, 2008
  9:00 p.m. - 11:00 a.m.
  

  $8

• Live Art

  Weimar New York: A Golden Gate Affair

  Wednesday, February 13, 2008
  7:00 p.m.
  

  Justin Bond and Ana Matronic, emcees, Lance Horne, musical direction, Penny Arcade, Marga Gomez, Daniel Isengart, Taylor Mac, Ann Magnuson, Meow Meow, The Pixie Harlots, Tigger!, Holcombe Waller, . . . And many more!

  Main (general seating): $35 general; $30 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors. Café Section (perimeter table seating): $25 general, $20 SFMOMA members, students, and…

• Weimar New York

  SFMOMA CX Presents a Post-Performance Party with Heklina

  Wednesday, February 13, 2008
  9:00 p.m. - 11:00 a.m.
  

  $15; free for February 13 Weimar ticket holders.

• Weimar New York

  Weimar by Day

  Thursday, February 14, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
  

  On the hour

  Free

• Weimar New York

  A Golden Gate Affair

  Thursday, February 14, 2008
  9:00 p.m.
  

  Featuring:
  Justin Bond and Ana Matronic, emcees
  Lance Horne, musical direction
  Penny Arcade
  Marga Gomez
  Daniel Isengart
  Taylor Mac
  Ann Magnuson
  Meow Meow
  The Pixie Harlots
  Tigger!
  Holcombe Waller
  . . . And many more!

  Main (general seating): $35 general; $30 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors. Café Section (perimeter table seating): $25 general, $20 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors.…

• Weimar New York

  The Morning After Weimar New York: Panel Discussion

  Friday, February 15, 2008
  3:00 p.m.
  

  Free with museum admission. Seating is first come, first served.

• Course

  Intersections in the History of Photography and Painting

  Thursday, February 21, 2008
  5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
  

  Beth Dungan, independent curator and postdoctoral fellow, University of California, Berkeley

  Traditions of portraiture, landscape, and commemoration of historical or current events were central to the discipline of painting long before photography's emergence in the 1840s.…

• Exhibition Spotlight

  Cut: Revealing the Section

  Tuesday, March 04, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - noon
  

  Henry Urbach, Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design, SFMOMA

  Join exhibition curator Urbach for a midday discussion of the current architecture and design presentation Cut: Revealing the Section. Learn about a variety of works in the SFMOMA…

• Reading

  Another Country: Poets, Place, Photography

  Thursday, March 13, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Camille Dungy, C.S. Giscombe, and Natasha Trethewey, poets

  Trethewey's latest poetry collection, Native Guard - winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for poetry - looks to her hometown of Gulfport, Mississippi, to reflect on personal and…

• Artist Talk

  Foto/Film

  Thursday, March 20, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Rudolf Frieling, curator of media arts, SFMOMA
  Katharina Sieverding, artist

  Join Frieling and renowned German artist Sieverding, who is featured in the current exhibition In Collaboration: Early Works from the Media Arts Collection, for a discussion of…

• Free Tuesday Program

  This Is No Joke

  Tuesday, April 01, 2008
  noon - 1:00 p.m.
  

  Rudolf Frieling, curator of media arts, SFMOMA

  Organized in conjunction with the exhibition In Collaboration: Early Works from the Media Arts Collection, this April Fool's Day video-art program showcases the absurdist and…

• Artist Talk

  An-My Lê

  Thursday, April 03, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Corey Keller, associate curator, photography, SFMOMA
  An-My Lê, artist

  An-My Lê: Small Wars brings together 50 photographs from the two most recent series of works by Vietnamese American photographer Lê. Both series address the United…

• Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture

  Mike Davis

  Thursday, April 10, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Mike Davis, professor of history, University of California, Irvine

  Founded in 1995 through the generosity of Phyllis Wattis, this lecture series brings innovative thinkers to SFMOMA. Historian, activist, and urban theorist Davis is the author of …

• Bay Area Conversation

  Landscape Is Destiny

  Saturday, April 12, 2008
  3:00 p.m.
  

  Michael Light, photographer
  Trevor Paglen, artist
  Rebecca Solnit, writer

  Speakers from the rich intellectual and artistic communities of our region come together for a conversation on contemporary issues. This evening Solnit hosts Light and Paglen for a…

• Performance

  Erik Friedlander

  Thursday, April 24, 2008
  8:00 p.m.
  

  Erik Friedlander, musician

  In this performance cellist Friedlander showcases beautifully spare compositions from his new solo album accompanied by iconic images from his father, noted photographer Lee…

• Exhibition Spotlight

  New Work: Paul Sietsema

  Tuesday, May 06, 2008
  noon
  

  Apsara DiQuinzio, assistant curator, painting and sculpture, SFMOMA
  Bruce Hainley, contributing editor, Artforum

  Marked by both conceptual acuity and material experimentation, Sietsema's artistic practice spans sculpture, photography, and film. The artist develops handcrafted objects from…

• Art Auction 2008

  Art Auction 2008

  Wednesday, May 14, 2008
  5:00 p.m. - 9:45 p.m.
  

  
  5:00 p.m. Benefactor reception
  6:00 p.m. Cocktail reception and hors d'oeuvres
  7:00 p.m. Live auction
  5:00 p.m. - 9:45 p.m. Silent auction

  The Modern Art Council, SFMOMA's premier…

• Exhibition Spotlight

  Modern Masterworks from the Elise S. Haas Collection

  Tuesday, June 03, 2008
  noon
  

  John Zarobell, assistant curator, painting and sculpture, SFMOMA

  In 1990 SFMOMA received a very generous bequest from Elise S. Haas that greatly enhanced the breadth and prestige of the museum's holdings. The Haas collection includes Henri…

• Conversation + Screening

  Curating Lee Miller

  Tuesday, July 01, 2008
  noon
  

  Mark Haworth-Booth, exhibition curator
  Antony Penrose, author and son of Lee Miller

  A signature figure in the transatlantic circles of 20th-century art, Miller excelled as a model, muse, photojournalist, and photographic artist. The Art of Lee Miller gathers key…

• Lecture + Screening

  Discovering Lee Miller

  Thursday, July 03, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Antony Penrose, author and son of Lee Miller

  Penrose describes his remarkable discovery of photographs and materials that Miller, retreating from her photographic work after the shock of World War II, had hidden away both…

• Live Art

  Client 4.1: California Slender Salamander

  Sunday, July 06, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
  

  Architect and artist Fritz Haeg brings his latest interdisciplinary project to San Francisco for a month of workshops and events. Debuting at the 2008 Whitney Biennial, Animal…

• SFMOMA Community Day

  Sunday, July 13, 2008
  10:00 a.m. - 7:45 p.m.
  

  SFMOMA opens its doors to Bay Area residents and visitors alike on Community Day. The museum will be free all day, from 10:00 a.m. to 7:45 p.m.

• Live Art

  Client 4.2: Peregrine Falcon

  Sunday, July 13, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
  

  Presentation and model home building with Allen Fish, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory; animal music and sound workshop with Carson Bell, California Library of Natural Sounds.

  The…

• Live Art

  Client 4.2: Peregrine Falcon

  Sunday, July 13, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
  

  Presentation and model home building with Allen Fish, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory; animal music and sound workshop with Carson Bell, California Library of Natural Sounds.

  The…

• Course

  Learning from Frida Kahlo: Exploring Identity in Modern and Contemporary Art

  Thursday, July 17, 2008
  6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
  

  Julie Charles, associate curator, education, SFMOMA
  Alison Gass, assistant curator, painting and sculpture, SFMOMA

  Taking Kahlo's work as its starting point, this course explores how other artists tackle themes of identity. Charles and Gass position Kahlo within a broader context of art…

• Live Art
  Artist Talk

  Fritz Haeg on Animal Estates 4.0: San Francisco

  Thursday, July 17, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Fritz Haeg, architect and artist
  Frank Smigiel, associate curator of public programs, SFMOMA

  Engaging utopian and experimental practices in architecture and art, Haeg reimagines everyday space and its uses. In his Sundown Salons, his own home became the stage for classes,…

• Book Signing

  Book Signing

  Thursday, July 17, 2008
  7:30 p.m.
  

  Fritz Haeg

• Live Art

  Client 4.3: California Quail

  Sunday, July 20, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
  

  Presentation and model home building with Alan S. Hopkins, Golden Gate Audubon Society; animal movement workshop with Terre Parker and Taira Restar from Anna Halprin's Sea Ranch…

• Live Art

  Client 4.4: California Sea Lion

  Sunday, July 27, 2008
  11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
  

  Presentation and model home building with Ann Bauer, The Marine Mammal Center; writing workshop with Kendyll Naomi Pappas and Eugenie Howard-Johnston, 826 Valencia.

  This workshop…

• Exhibition Spotlight

  New Work: Zilvinas Kempinas, Alyson Shotz, Mary Temple

  Tuesday, August 05, 2008
  noon
  

  Alison Gass, assistant curator, painting and sculpture, SFMOMA

  In the current New Work exhibition, Kempinas, Shotz, and Temple explore the relationship between light and art, though none of the artists includes special light sources or…

• Open Auditions for Frida Kahlo Performance at SFMOMA

  Open Auditions for Frida Kahlo Performance at SFMOMA

  Saturday, August 09, 2008
  2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
  

  In the spirit of the tableaux he created for the Mexican Museum's 1992 exhibition Pasión por Frida, artist and curator René Yañez will enlist models to enact Frida Kahlo paintings…

• Open Auditions for Frida Kahlo Performance at SFMOMA

  Open Auditions for Frida Kahlo Performance at SFMOMA

  Saturday, August 16, 2008
  2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
  

  In the spirit of the tableaux he created for the Mexican Museum's 1992 exhibition Pasión por Frida, artist and curator René Yañez will enlist models to enact Frida Kahlo paintings…

• Exhibition Spotlight

  Mapping Kahlo's Legacy

  Tuesday, September 02, 2008
  noon
  

  Interactive Educational Technologies staff, SFMOMA

  Members of SFMOMA's Education Department track Frida Kahlo's career and legacy in a multimedia presentation that includes images and video interviews with artists and curators.

• SF20: San Francisco 20th Century Art and Design Show & Sale

  Wednesday, September 10, 2008
  7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
  

  San Francisco 20th Century Art and Design Show & Sale preview gala benefiting the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

• Live Art

  Live Competition

  Thursday, September 11, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  $10 general; $7 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors. Tickets are available at the Museum (with no surcharge) or online.

• Exhibition Spotlight

  Double Down: Two Visions of Vegas

  Thursday, September 18, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Olivo Barbieri and Stephen Dean, artists
  Henry Urbach, Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design, SFMOMA

  Barbieri and Dean explore the unique nature of Las Vegas through their video pieces, site specific_LAS VEGAS 05 and No More Bets, featured in the exhibition Double Down: Two Visions…

• Keynote Lecture

  Hayden Herrera on Frida Kahlo's Legacy

  Thursday, September 25, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Hayden Herrera, art historian

  Herrera, art historian, biographer, and Frida Kahlo exhibition cocurator, discusses Kahlo's influence on a wide range of contemporary artists, tracking how her work has sparked new…

• Panel Discussion

  Homage: Presenting Frida Kahlo

  Friday, September 26, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Rupert García, artist
  Carmen Lomas Garza, artist
  Amalia Mesa-Bains, artist
  René Yañez, artist
  Tere Romo, art historian

  In 1978 San Francisco's Galería de la Raza presented Homenaje a Frida Kahlo: El Día de los Muertos, a special Day of the Dead exhibition honoring Kahlo. At this…

• Colloquium

  Kahlo in America: Three Cities - Detroit, New York, San Francisco

  Saturday, September 27, 2008
  2:00 p.m.
  

  Whitney Chadwick, art historian
  Celia Stahr, art historian
  Amalia Mesa-Bains, artist
  Victor Zamudio-Taylor, curator

  Kahlo experienced the United States largely through three cities: Detroit, New York, and San Francisco. Each location was a setting for key events in her life: a miscarriage in…

• Performance

  Pasión por Frida

  Sunday, September 28, 2008
  2:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
  

  René Yañez, artist and curator

  In the spirit of the tableaux he created for the Mexican Museum's 1992 exhibition Pasión por Frida, Yañez will enlist models to enact Kahlo paintings or moments in the…

• Exhibition Spotlight

  Half-Life of a Dream

  Thursday, October 02, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  Jeff Kelley, exhibition curator
  Guest artists

  Half-Life of a Dream showcases contemporary Chinese art from the Logan Collection that explores personal vision in the post-Mao era, looking at how artists foster individual dream…

• Film Series

  Rediscovering the Fourth Generation

  Saturday, October 04, 2008
  1:00 p.m.
  

  Double Feature
  River Without Buoys
  My Memories of Old Beijing

  River Without Buoys
  Wu Tian Ming, 1983, 89 min.
  River Without Buoys follows the lives of three male seamen traveling down the Xiao River during the Chinese Cultural Revolution…

• Film Series

  Rediscovering the Fourth Generation

  Saturday, October 04, 2008
  1:00 p.m.
  

  Double Feature
  River Without Buoys
  My Memories of Old Beijing

  River Without Buoys
  Wu Tian Ming, 1983, 89 min.
  1:00 p.m.
  River Without Buoys follows the lives of three male seamen traveling down the Xiao River during the Chinese Cultural…

• Free Tuesday Program

  Open Space, or the SFMOMA Blog

  Tuesday, October 07, 2008
  noon
  

  Suzanne Stein, community producer, SFMOMA

  Much has been made of the new modes of public interaction offered by social networking sites and technologies, and these new modes have caused museums to rethink basic ideas about…

• Film Series

  River Without Buoys

  Thursday, October 09, 2008
  7:00 p.m.
  

  Wu Tian Ming, 1983, 89 min.

  River Without Buoys follows the lives of three male seamen traveling down the Xiao River during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). This film narrates their experiences…

• Film Series

  Rediscovering the Fourth Generation

  Saturday, October 11, 2008
  1:00 p.m.
  

  Double Feature
  Black Snow
  Woman Demon Human

  Black Snow
  Xie Fei, 1989, 99 min.
  Noted as cinematically prophetic in its narration of China during its post-Tiananmen Square era, Black Snow accounts the life of a young man…

• Film Series

  My Memories of Old Beijing

  Thursday, October 16, 2008
  7:00 p.m.
  

  Wu Yigong, 1983, 35mm, 89 min.

  Seen through the gaze of a curious eleven-year-old girl, My Memories of Old Beijing is Director Wu Yigong's homage to a China sixty-years gone. My Memories of Old Beijing is based on…

• Film Series

  Rediscovering the Fourth Generation

  Saturday, October 18, 2008
  1:00 p.m.
  

  Double Feature
  River Without Buoys
  My Memories of Old Beijing

  River Without Buoys
  Wu Tian Ming, 1983, 89 min.
  River Without Buoys follows the lives of three male seamen traveling down the Xiao River during the Chinese Cultural Revolution…

• Film Series

  Black Snow

  Thursday, October 23, 2008
  7:00 p.m.
  

  Xie Fei, 1989, 99 min.

  Noted as cinematically prophetic in its narration of China during its post-Tiananmen Square era, Black Snow accounts the life of a young man recently discharged from prison. The…

• Film Series

  Rediscovering the Fourth Generation

  Saturday, October 25, 2008
  1:00 p.m.
  

  Double Feature
  Black Snow
  Woman Demon Human

  Black Snow
  Xie Fei, 1989, 99 min.
  Noted as cinematically prophetic in its narration of China during its post-Tiananmen Square era, Black Snow accounts the life of a young man…

• Film Series

  Woman Demon Human

  Thursday, October 30, 2008
  7:00 p.m.
  

  Huang Shuqin, 1987, 106 min.

  Considered China's "only genuine feminist film", Woman Demon Human stages an unorthodox biopic of famed Beijing Opera star Pei Yanling whose career was noted for her…

• Special Free-Tuesday Election Day Program

  C Red Blue J

  Tuesday, November 04, 2008, noon
  Screening only: Tuesday, December 02, 2008, 2:00 p.m.

  Chris Sollars, director
  Frank Smigiel, associate curator, public programs, SFMOMA

  Chris Sollars, 2008, 79 min.

  This documentary explores the red state/blue state divide as Sollars attempts to bridge the political gap within his family, juggling his beliefs and those of a sister who works…

• Live Art

  Tony Labat: I WANT YOU

  Tuesday, November 04, 2008, 6:30 p.m.
  Screening only: Tuesday, December 02, 2008, noon

  Tony Labat, artist
  Frank Smigiel, associate curator, public programs, SFMOMA

  Tony Labat, 2008

  Riffing on "I Want You" army recruitment campaigns, Labat asked Bay Area residents to make their own demands of the public in live performances. Five winners were chosen,…

• Performance

  4'33" by John Cage

  Daily (except Wednesdays), noon

  Guest performers

  Guest performers execute Cage's famous "silent" musical score 4'33" daily at a piano. Without instrumentation for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, the piece shifts attention…

• Opening Day Exhibition Spotlight

  Panel Discussion: Open Works

  Saturday, November 08, 2008
  1:00 p.m.
  

  Karl Heinz Jeron, artist
  Lynn Hershman Leeson, artist
  Jon Rubin, artist
  Rudolf Frieling, curator, media arts, SFMOMA
  Frank Smigiel, associate curator, public programs, SFMOMA

  The Art of Participation proposes that participatory art stems from a notion of indeterminacy — an openness to chance or change. A concept introduced by John Cage in the…

• D-Space Production

  Project Lessons: A D-Space Preview

  Saturday, November 08, 2008
  3:00 p.m.
  

  Lauren Crahan, Freecell
  John Hartmann, Freecell
  MTAA (M.River & T.Whid Art Associates)
  Brian Conley, artist
  Sarah Curran, arts programmer
  Dominic Willsdon, Leanne and George Roberts Curator of Education and Public Programs, SFMOMA

  Join artists, scholars, and SFMOMA staff to preview some of the interactive projects featured in D-Space.

• West Coast Premiere Film Screening

  Seven Easy Pieces

  Saturday, November 08, 2008
  7:00 p.m.
  

  Babette Mangolte, 2007, 93 min.

  In her 2005 performance Seven Easy Pieces, Marina Abramović reenacted five seminal 1960s and 1970s performance works by her peers and one by herself, while introducing a new work…

• Bay Area Treasure Award Luncheon

  Honoring Manuel Neri

  Wednesday, November 12, 2008
  noon - 2:00 p.m.
  

  Neal Benezra, director, SFMOMA
  Manuel Neri, artist

• Performance

  The Act of Drinking Beer with Friends Is the Highest Form of Art

  Thursdays through February 05, 2009 (except December 25, 2008, and January 01, 2009)
  5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

  Tom Marioni, artist
  Guest bartenders and performers

  Drink beer, meet people, and hang out with friends at this weekly informal gathering hosted by Marioni, a pioneering Bay Area conceptual artist who has been regularly staging free…

• 

  Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture

  RoseLee Goldberg on Visual Performance Art

  Thursday, November 20, 2008
  6:30 p.m.
  

  RoseLee Goldberg, curator and art historian
  Peggy Phelan, Ann O'Day Maples Chair in the Arts and Professor of Drama and English, Stanford University

  Founded in 1995 through the generosity of Phyllis Wattis, this lecture series brings innovative thinkers to SFMOMA. Goldberg is the founder and director of PERFORMA, an…