Descriptive Acts

Descriptive Acts

Tris Vonna-Michell, GTO: hahn / huhn, variation 1, 2010 (installation detail); slide projector, two-channel audio on headphones, bulletin boards, digital prints, chairs, table, granite; collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Tris Vonna-Michell; photo: Brian Forrest

Descriptive Acts

Shilpa Gupta, I Have Many Dreams, 2007-8 (installation detail); 4 archival prints on canvas with sound; courtesy the artist and Yvon Lambert Gallery, New York - Paris; © Shilpa Gupta

Descriptive Acts

Anthony Discenza, A Viewing (The Effect), 2009-10 (installation view); digital audio installation; courtesy the artist and Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco - New York; © Anthony Discenza

Descriptive Acts

Dora García, Instant Narrative, 2006-8 (installation view); performance, video projection; collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; photo by James Royall; © Dora García

Descriptive Acts

Aurélien Froment, Pulmo Marina, 2010, HD Cam with sound transferred to QuickTime file, 35mm print, Digibeta tape and Blu-ray disk, 5:10 min; Collection SFMOMA, Accessions Committee Fund purchase; © Aurélien Froment; photo: Aurélien Froment, Monterey, February 19, 2010

Descriptive Acts

Lynn Marie Kirby and Li Xiaofei, Hello? 你好! (still), 2010; two-channel video projection; courtesy the artists

Descriptive Acts

Lynn Marie Kirby and Li Xiaofei, Hello? 你好! (still), 2010; two-channel video projection; courtesy the artists

February 18 - June 17, 2012

Language, performativity, and process are preoccupations for many contemporary artists. The works in Descriptive Acts engage with both text and image, foregrounding complex and often fraught acts of description, narration, translation, and communication. The exhibition is presented in two consecutive configurations: Act I (February 18 through April 15, 2012) features works by Aurélien Froment, Dora García, Shilpa Gupta, John Smith, and Tris Vonna-Michell; Act II (April 21 through June 17, 2012) highlights works by Anthony Discenza, Gupta, Lynn Marie Kirby and Li Xiaofei, Smith, and Vonna-Michell.