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Press Office Exhibition

SFMOMA Announces Fall and Winter 2018 Exhibitions

Vija Celmins Retrospective and Contemporary Chinese Art Survey Lead Robust Exhibition Schedule

Temporary Shows Dedicated to Brassaï, Louis Stettner, Etel Adnan, The Sea Ranch and Wayne Thiebaud Also Presented

Released: June 28, 2018 · Download (171 KB PDF)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (June 28, 2018) — The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) today announced its compelling schedule of exhibitions opening at the museum this fall and winter. SFMOMA will present the global debut of the retrospective Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory (December 15, 2018–March 31, 2019) — the artist’s first major retrospective in more than 25 years. The full range of her subtle, exquisitely detailed paintings, drawings and sculptures will be on display in the museum’s special exhibition galleries. The exclusive West Coast presentation of the contemporary survey Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World (November 10, 2018–February 24, 2019) will transform the museum’s entire seventh floor. This exhibition will present works that anticipated, chronicled and agitated for the sweeping social transformation that placed China at the center of the conversation on globalization.

SFMOMA’s Pritzker Center for Photography, the largest space dedicated to photography in any art museum in the United States, will offer temporary exhibitions highlighting the careers of Brassaï and Louis Stettner, who became friends in Paris in the 1940s. Bringing together outstanding prints along with many never-before-seen photographs, Brassaï (November 17, 2018–February 18, 2019) will focus on the French artist’s celebrated depictions of 1930s Paris. From thoughtful images of rush-hour commuters to tranquil observations of daily routines, the thematic retrospective Louis Stettner: Traveling Light (October 27, 2018–May 27, 2019) will showcase the remarkable breadth of the American photographer’s work. In the Pritzker Center’s New to the Collection gallery, Johannes Brus (October 27, 2018–May 27, 2019) will introduce a recent acquisition of the German artist’s photographic experiments from the 1970s in his first U.S. solo presentation.

Etel Adnan, Untitled, 2018; courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery Beirut / Hamburg

California—in particular Northern California—art and artists will also be highlighted throughout the museum this fall and winter. In the single-gallery presentation New Work: Etel Adnan (September 1, 2018–January 6, 2019), new paintings by writer and artist Etel Adnan, who lived in the Bay Area for over 50 years, will be juxtaposed with tapestries from the 1960s to today. The Sea Ranch: Architecture, Environment, and Idealism (December 22, 2018–April 28, 2019) will explore the Northern California coast’s Modernist beacon through original sketches, archival images, photographs of The Sea Ranch today and a full-scale architectural replica. In two side-by-side exhibitions, Northern California–based artist Wayne Thiebaud’s own work will be featured in Wayne Thiebaud: Paintings and Drawings (September 29, 2018–April 28, 2019) alongside paintings by others that he personally selected from SFMOMA’s collection in Wayne Thiebaud: Artist’s Choice (September 29, 2018–March 10, 2019).

In addition to SFMOMA’s fall exhibition programming, the museum will honor Kara Walker with the annual Contemporary Vision Award on Wednesday, October 3, 2018. The event celebrating the artistic accomplishments of Walker—best known for her candid investigation of race, gender, sexuality and violence through silhouetted figures—supports the museum’s groundbreaking exhibitions and education programs.

For additional details about upcoming exhibitions, please visit the advance exhibition schedule in the online press room.

Support and Organization

Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World is organized by The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York. Major support for SFMOMA’s presentation of Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World is provided by Susy and Jack Wadsworth. Generous support is provided by Shannon and Dennis Wong, and Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang. Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World is made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This exhibition is organized by Alexandra Munroe, Samsung Senior Curator, Asian Art, and Senior Advisor, Global Arts, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and guest co-curators Philip Tinari, Director, UCCA, Beijing; and Hou Hanru, Artistic Director, MAXXI, National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome.

Major support for Vija Celmins: To Fix the Image in Memory is provided by the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund. Generous support is provided by Gay-Lynn and Robert Blanding, Janine and J. Tomilson Hill III, Marguerite Steed Hoffman, and Komal Shah and Guarav Garg. Research for the exhibition and catalogue was supported in part by SFMOMA’s Artist Initiative, which is generously funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Brassaï is organized by Fundación MAPFRE in collaboration with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Major support for Brassaï is provided by The Bernard Osher Foundation.

Major support for Louis Stettner: Traveling Light is provided by Randi and Bob Fisher, Rusty O’Kelley and John Haskins, and Champagne Louis Roederer. Generous support is provided by Sarah Wigglesworth and Asiff Hirji. Additional support is provided by The Gilman and Gonzalez-Falla Arts Foundation.

Generous support for New Work: Etel Adnan is provided by Alka and Ravin Agrawal, SFMOMA’s Contemporaries, The Fund for Contemporary Art, Adriane Iann and Christian Stolz, and Robin Wright and Ian Reeves. Additional support is provided by Dolly and George Chammas.

The Presenting Sponsor of the Contemporary Vision Award Dinner is Wells Fargo.


Jill Lynch 415.357.4172 jilynch@sfmoma.org
Clara Hatcher Baruth 415.357.4177 chatcher@sfmoma.org