Lecture
Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O’Keeffe
Hunter Drohojowska-Philp, art critic, journalist, and author, Full Bloom: The Art and Life of Georgia O’Keeffe
Saturday, March 5, 2 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
O’Keeffe was one of the most celebrated artists of the twentieth century, but behind her bold work was a woman misunderstood by even her most ardent admirers. O’Keeffe biographer Drohojowska-Philp discusses a little-known but difficult period in the artist’s life, the 1930s. A book signing follows in the Haas Atrium. In conjunction with the ongoing exhibition Matisse and Beyond: The Painting and Sculpture Collection.
$12 general; $8 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors.
Opening Day Program
Artist Talk: Gary Hill
Gary Hill, artist
Thursday, March 24, 6:30 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
Hill’s video works engage viewers on multiple levels, presenting alluring visuals and sounds while manipulating the audience’s sense of time and space. Hill discusses his interest in illusion and mitigated reality and reveals the techniques used to achieve his mesmerizing effects. In conjunction with the exhibition Image, Body, Text: Selected Works by Gary Hill, on view March 24 through May 30.
$12 general; $8 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors.
Art and Conversation
Martha Rosler: Art and Urban Space
Jill Dawsey, curatorial associate, painting and sculpture, SFMOMA
Friday, March 25, noon–1 p.m.
Koret Visitor Education Center
Conceptual artist Rosler uses video, photography, text, installation, and performance to investigate urban environments. Dawsey examines Rosler’s interest in the city as a social space, with a focus on her video Secrets from the Street: No Disclosure, 1980, featuring San Francisco’s Mission District. In conjunction with the ongoing exhibition Between Art and Life: The Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Collection.
Free with Museum admission.
Film Series: Jeremy Blake
In conjunction with the exhibition Jeremy Blake: Winchester, SFMOMA is pleased to present a special film series curated by artist Jeremy Blake with a screening each month from March through June.
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
By Robert Altman, 1971, 120 min.
Thursday, March 10, 7 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
In Altman’s masterful anti-Western, individuality is expunged by the irrepressible power of mythic American iconography, also a concern in Blake’s Winchester trilogy. Warren Beatty stars as an enterprising businessman who succumbs to a world of brothels, gambling, and gunslinging in the Wild West.
$12 general; $8 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors.
Hannie Caulder
By Burt Kennedy, 1971, 85 min.
Thursday, April 14, 7 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
Blake notes a parallel between the plight of rifle heiress Sarah Winchester and that of Hannie Caulder, both of whom struggle to rectify wrongs caused by gun violence. Raquel Welch stars in this revenge tale with a lighter side.
$12 general; $8 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors.
Art Sandwiched In
The Critic
Kenneth Baker, art critic, San Francisco Chronicle; David Littlejohn, independent journalist; Tessa DeCarlo, independent journalist; moderator: Neal Benezra, director, SFMOMA
Tuesday, April 19, noon–1:30 p.m.
The Schwab Room
What is the role of the critic in the arts community? What should it be? This group of esteemed arts writers examines the degree to which critics influence what we see in galleries and museums.
$60 general; $55 SFMOMA members. Includes lunch. To purchase tickets, call the Modern Art Council at 415.357.4090.
Presented by the Modern Art Council, an auxiliary of SFMOMA.
Lecture
Artist Talk: Marilyn Minter
Marilyn Minter, artist; Joshua Shirkey, curatorial associate, painting and sculpture, SFMOMA
Thursday, April 21, 6:30 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
By exaggerating the conventions of fashion advertising, Minter’s paintings and photographs expose the seduction as well as the underside of glamour. Minter and Shirkey talk about the evolution of the artist’s work since 1969, discussing the way her recent images tap into deep-seated cultural anxieties about desire, beauty, and the body. In conjunction with the exhibition New Work: Marilyn Minter, on view April 1 through July 24.
Free with Museum admission.
Art and Conversation
Van Deren Coke: Collecting 20th-Century Photography
Erin Garcia, curatorial associate, photography, SFMOMA
Friday, April 29, noon–1 p.m.
Koret Visitor Education Center
The current installation of Picturing Modernity highlights photographs amassed during Van Deren Coke’s eight-year tenure as SFMOMA’s director of photography (1979–87). Garcia examines selected photographs illustrating Coke’s interests in Surrealism, photographic experimentation, and the emerging artists of his day.
Free with Museum admission.
Phyllis Wattis Distinguished Lecture Series
Founded in 1995 through the generosity of Phyllis Wattis, this annual lecture series brings influential artists and thinkers to SFMOMA. This year’s distinguished lecturer is art critic and author Peter Schjeldahl, widely known for his writing in The New Yorker as well as The Village Voice, The New York Times, and ArtNews.
The Story of the Image
Peter Schjeldahl
Thursday, April 7
Reception: 6 p.m., The Schwab Room
Lecture: 7 p.m., Phyllis Wattis Theater
In 1981, Schjeldahl wrote, “[Robert] Bechtle’s realism is symbolically vibrant. It makes a symbolic connection between the completely seen and the completely known.” In conjunction with the exhibition Robert Bechtle: A Retrospective, on view through June 5, Schjeldahl uses Bechtle’s photorealist paintings as a starting point for exploring the narrative aspect of painting and its peculiar interplay with photography.
$15 general; $10 SFMOMA members, students, and seniors. Includes reception.
A Conversation with Peter Schjeldahl
Peter Schjeldahl; Neal Benezra, director, SFMOMA; Janet Bishop,
curator of painting and sculpture, SFMOMA
Friday, April 8, 3 p.m.
Phyllis Wattis Theater
Benezra and Bishop engage Schjeldahl in a wide-ranging discussion of photorealism and its role in the creation of contemporary art. A question-and-answer period with the audience follows the dialogue.
Free with Museum admission.