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Exhibition

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

Unstable Presence
October 2, 2021–March 6, 2022
Floor 7

Air and water, music and voices, text and light — these are materials of media artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Over the past few decades, the artist has earned international recognition for large-scale participatory installations that frequently incorporate technology and the architecture of public spaces.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence offers a new perspective on his “anti-monuments” and their poetic and political dimensions. The works highlight the ephemeral and unstable relationship between physical presence and the natural and technological spaces we inhabit, bringing together recent sculptural and performative installations realized on microscopic and macroscopic scales that engage our sense of play and agency.

Thursdays from 7–8 p.m: Enjoy the artwork Sphere Packing: Bach as it switches to a special performance mode and plays a single composition — Matthäus-Passion, BWV 244, pt. 2: no. 39, aria, “Erbarme dich, mein Gott” (Have Mercy, My God) — on all of its 1,128 loudspeaker channels.


Exhibition Preview

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Sphere Packing: Bach, 2018 (installation view, Unstable Presence, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, 2019–20); Borusan Contemporary Art Collection; ©️ Rafael Lozano-Hemmer / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Spain; photo: Mariana Yañez
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Call on Water, 2016 (installation view, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence, SFMOMA 2021); © Rafael Lozano-Hemmer / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Spain
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, 33 Questions per Minute, 2000 (installation view, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence, SFMOMA 2021); © Rafael Lozano-Hemmer / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Spain
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Cardinal Directions, 2010 (installation view, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence, SFMOMA 2021); © Rafael Lozano-Hemmer / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Spain
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Voz Alta and Prototype, 2008 (installation view, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence, SFMOMA 2021); © Rafael Lozano-Hemmer / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Spain


Exhibition Catalogue

This monograph offers a nuanced perspective on contemporary artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s oeuvre, featuring essays that explore the poetic and political dimensions of the artist’s work.
Learn More

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence is co-organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Generous support for Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: Unstable Presence is provided by Lionel F. Conacher and Joan T. Dea, Debbie and Andy Rachleff, Carlie Wilmans, and Pat Wilson.

Header image: (mobile) Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Call on Water, 2016 (installation view, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, 2019); courtesy the artist and bitforms, Max Estrella, and Wilde galleries; © Rafael Lozano-Hemmer / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Spain; photo: Mariana Yañez