Media Arts

Overview

SFMOMA has been a leader in the presentation, collection, and preservation of media art since the early 1970s. Our Department of Media Arts, established in 1987, was among the first of its kind in the United States. Today our media arts collection encompasses the diversity of time-based works and media installations, including video, film, slide, sound, computer-based, and online projects and performances. Reflecting the history of technological and conceptual developments in art, the collection ranges from work by early practitioners such as Vito Acconci, Dara Birnbaum, Peter Campus, Dan Graham, Gary Hill, Nam June Paik, and Steina Vasulka, to more contemporary pieces by Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Matthew Barney, Douglas Gordon, Pierre Huyghe, and Steve McQueen. In recent years our Media Arts Department has commissioned important video installations from Christian Marclay, Pipilotti Rist, and Sylvie Blocher, among others. Works by Bay Area artists, including Jim Campbell, Bill Fontana, Howard Fried, Doug Hall, Paul Kos, and Alan Rath, are one ongoing focus of our collection and provide a context for understanding the region as a historic center for experimental media.

Along with Tate, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the New Art Trust, SFMOMA is an active member of Matters in Media Art, an international consortium dedicated to establishing best-practice guidelines for the care, installation, and preservation of time-based media works.

 

Highlights

  • Egg Grows
    Nam June Paik Egg Grows, 1984-1989
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • Voyeur
    Alan Rath Voyeur, 1986
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • Stir Heart, Rinse Heart
    Pipilotti Rist Stir Heart, Rinse Heart, 2004
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • Predictive Engineering 2
    Julia Scher Predictive Engineering 2, 1998
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • Transformer
    Katharina Sieverding Transformer, 1973/1974
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • The West
    Steina Vasulka The West, 1983
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • Passage
    Bill Viola Passage, 1987
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • GTO: hahn / huhn, variation 1
    Tris Vonna-Michell GTO: hahn / huhn, variation 1, 2010
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.
  • Phantoms of Nabua
    Apichatpong Weerasethakul Phantoms of Nabua, 2009
    This artwork is not currently on view. The museum is closed during our expansion.