View the San Francisco for Wednesday, December 4, 2024
From intimate gallery shows to full-blown fairs, winter brings a host of art events to San Francisco. So why not give yourself the gift of art over the holidays and into the New Year? Whether you’re looking for a way to entertain visitors or searching for an excuse to slip away, here are The Examiner’s critic’s picks for can’t-miss art in The City as the weather outside gets frightful.
has long used his signature minimalist style to capture the contemporary climate of America. His first show with Fraenkel Gallery is — if coincidentally — his most incisive exhibition yet. Two pieces in the show are portraits of outgoing U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris — a print on wood of the then-California senator leaning into a microphone and gesturing emphatically, and an animated rendition of her grilling eventual Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh about abortion rights. Juxtaposed with these is “Hand Vote,” a wooden sculpture of a group of people with their hands raised, casting an unsettling pall. What future might these people be in favor of? The creation of these artworks predates the most recent presidential election itself, stirring all the strangeness of a reality in which democracy leaves its own longevity up to chance.and queer art. The de Young Museum show is the first retrospective of her work in the United States, offering a broad survey of her life and work from Poland to Paris, the Bay Area and Mexico. The exhibition assembles the painter’s greatest hits alongside lesser-known work from her earliest exhibitions in San Francisco in the 1930s and 40s. Many of Lempicka’s subjects were lovers, from her first husband, Tadeusz Lempicki, to her mistresses.Tamara de Lempicka “The Beautiful Rafaëla ,” 1927. Collection of Tim Rice © 2024 Tamara de Lempicka Estate, LLC / ADAGP, Paris / ARS, NY. Banque d’Images, ADAGP / Art Resource, NY. De Lempicka brazenly copied the work of great masters and her own contemporaries in a manner that anticipated postmodernism, with her own surrealist twist, integrating elements of their work into her own compositions. Lempicka’s stylistic interpretations make these influences her own, a singular vision shining through each luminous canvas.From traditional textiles to conceptual interpretations of the everyday artform, this show at the Museum of Craft and Design examines the deeper meaning behind the titular household object. Fourteen artists from around the world offer their takes on the everyday artform and its deeper meaning in the fabric of society. Superstar artist Ai Weiwei’s spin on traditional Tibetan tiger rugs is a vivid call to awareness about endangered wildlife. Johannah Herr’s interpretation on the Afghanistan tradition of illustrative “war rugs” is a neon-hued remembrance of{span}Johannah Herr, “{/span}{span}War Rug III {/span}{span},” 2020.{/span} Sonya Clark’s rug made of combs weaves together the significance of hair and community to Black culture, while upending expectations of tradition. Throughout the show, we see how rugs interweave cultural history, from global politics to hearth and home, while also delving into the history of the medium.If there’s one show that captures the current moment in The City’s art scene, this is it. Every two years, the Society for the Encouragement of Contemporary Art honors a juried selection of local artists with an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, boosting the best the Bay Area has to offer. This year’s selection features Rose D’Amato, Angela Hennessey and Rupy C. Tut, each working in different interpretations of artistic traditions. D’Amato deploys sign painting and photography to pay homage to lowrider culture. Hennessy creates abstract sculptures using domestic-labor techniques from stitching, knotting and braiding, while a collaborative sound installation pulses throughout the gallery. Tut uses traditional Indian painting techniques to memorialize dreams we’ve had and left behind, and visitors are invited to write down dreams of their own for offerings as well. Best of all, SFMOMA has made the SECA Award Exhibition free for the second iteration in a row, welcoming the local community to celebrate.San Francisco’s art scene wastes no time kicking off 2025. FOG Design+Art, The City’s premier art and design fair, launches its 11th edition during the third week of January at Fort Mason Festival Pavilion. With more than 50 participating local and international galleries, this year’s fair includes over a dozen newcomers, including London’s Lisson Gallery, New York’s Peter Blum Gallery, alongside returning Bay Area representatives the likes of Fraenkel Gallery, Jessica Silverman and Pt.2. For the second year running, the fair will also present FOG FOCUS, a selection of 13 smaller, up-and-coming galleries next door to the main fair at Pier 2, including locals House of Seiko, Johansson Projects, Jonathan Carver Moore, Municipal Bonds, and Rebecca Camacho Presents. The long weekend will also be chock-full of special events and talks, so plan on making more than one trip.In 2021, Urban Alchemy agreed to a contract with The City that sent its “practitioners” to work throughout the Mid-Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods. San Francisco leaders have struck a deal that should keep Urban Alchemy ambassadors on The City’s streets, but the future of the organization’s presence there remains unclear. What officials expected to be a noncontroversial expansion of a popular community-ambassador program quickly reopened a long-simmering debate in City Hall in recent weeks. At stake are the livelihoods of hundreds of workers, according to Urban Alchemy, the nonprofit deploying community ambassadors who keep a watchful eye over some of The City’s most challenging streets., chair of the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee, reignited a discussion about whether Urban Alchemy has proven its efficacy after several years on the job, and whether continuing to pour millions into the nonprofit is warranted as The City faces a looming budget crisis. Urban Alchemy remains nascent compared with other more-established San Francisco nonprofits. Still, neither The City or Urban Alchemy is able to answer what San Francisco might look like without it. The Board of Supervisors budget committee on Wednesday will consider a proposed $7.8 million addition to the $16 million annual Urban Alchemy contract. That figure is expected to be negotiated down to $3.4 million, which should avert layoffs and last the organization through April, according to Chan.Urban Alchemy has warned that it could lay off more than 300 employees if the Board of Supervisors holds up the funding. Chan has countered that The City is draining its budget as it faces a deficit approaching $1 billion in coming years. She questioned why San Francisco and Urban Alchemy were overspending their budgets. “How do we have a balanced approach to our budget, knowing our budget deficit is coming, and not end in a space where we’re going to regret spending this money and to be forced to cut critical and essential services, including for our law enforcement agencies?” Chan asked.“What San Francisco voters have demanded is effective city government, and clearly they have said that the outgoing administration is not one — and at this moment, I agree,” Chan said.Supervisor Connie Chan speaking at her reelection victory celebration on the steps of San Francisco City Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. The Mid-Market Foundation, the business organization that administers the Urban Alchemy contract, explained that the additional spending will help expand the ambassadors’ coverage to Willow Alley and Ellis Street, and keep them on the streets later into the evening. No matter what the Board of Supervisors agrees to do on the proposed contract amendment, it’s still slated to expire at the end of June 2025. By that time, the board will have several new members, Chan will likely no longer be the budget-committee chair, and The City will be led by a new mayor — and it’s unclear whether they’ll take the same approach. Initially conceived as a temporary and urgently necessary remedy to pandemic-induced street conditions, The City’s plan for its future with Urban Alchemy remains murky. It’s obvious that the Tenderloin and Mid-Market neighborhoods are not pristine, but it’s also true that workers have slowly trickled back to offices, COVID-era restrictions have lifted, crime is on the decline and overdose deaths are quickly dropping.“I’ll make these difficult decisions next year when I assume office, but I’m committed to maintaining critical services in spite of this difficult budget climate,” Lurie said. “I plan to do that by demanding accountability and measurable results whenever we spend public money.” Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie with his wife Becca Prowda walking through Chinatown, San Francisco on Friday, Nov. 8, 2024. If The City does want to renew its community-ambassador contract, it will require competitive bidding for the first time in nearly four years, according to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.with San Francisco stalling out, and the organization capitalized on The City’s need to bring order and cleanliness to streets hollowed out by the pandemic. The City’s homeless services changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, as shelters implemented social distancing and a flood of federal money helped fund San Francisco shelter options, including hotels. Urban Alchemy became a go-to for support — it inked contracts to staff a safe-sleeping site outside City Hall, and a location with tiny cabins and hotels to house the homeless. In 2021, Urban Alchemy and The City agreed to a contract that would see the nonprofit’s “practitioners” spread throughout the Mid-Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Long a source of concern from city leaders, those areas came under renewed focus as office workers stayed home throughout the pandemic and open-air drug markets became routine. From the jump, Urban Alchemy’s pitch was that ambassadors would cover street corners and supplement police officers and security guards, using a workforce that is largely made up of people with experience in the criminal-justice system themselves. The organization says its approach is one rooted in empathy and contends it has proven effective at lowering crime without resorting to handcuffs and harsh words.At that time, the research had yet to be published and peer-reviewed. The Examiner contacted the lead researcher for an update on the paper’s status but had not heard back as of press time. Urban Alchemy’s critics argue The City has functionally written the nonprofit — which, though still rooted in San Francisco, has grown to cover seven cities across four states — a blank check. The proposal now in front of the Board of Supervisors would be the fifth time the contract has been amended. It has not been competitively bid since 2021.in a treatise on The City’s growing use of contractors to provide services that could be provided by The City — and by unionized workers.The San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association has publicly offered to step in, claiming the Sheriff’s Department has been underfunded while funding for ambassador programs such as Urban Alchemy’s has stepped up. “Urban Alchemy, while well-intentioned, has demonstrated that it cannot deliver the results San Francisco needs,” Ken Lomba, the union’s president, wrote in a letter. “By reallocating funds to the Sheriff’s Office, the city can ensure public safety is managed by trained professionals who have the authority, expertise, and oversight to make a real impact.” Chan, who was heavily backed by unions in her recent reelection victory, makes no secret of her preference for union labor. “Unions provide a safe working environment and a pathway to sustainable employment for workers, absolutely,” Chan said. “I think the challenge here is that it seems like the workers are stuck in this short-term contract employment instead of truly .” Despite its detractors, Urban Alchemy has continued to grow. It has a presence in Portland, Ore., and Austin, Texas, and it now reaches as far east as Birmingham, Ala.“Our community has seen great improvement, recognized by residents and our team alike over the past year, we would be devastated to see this improvement regress,” Brooke Engelhardt, general manager of a Market Street apartment building, wrote in a letter to supervisors. “Seeing the kind faces of the Urban Alchemy team outside of our community and in the neighborhood creates a sense of community and safety that are invaluable.” In a show of force, dozens of Urban Alchemy workers filed into the final Board of Supervisors meeting before Thanksgiving, offering tangible evidence of the organization’s scale. But it remains to be seen what The City will do after the contract expires at the end of June. The City and Mid-Market Foundation have contemplated the “ramp-down” plans required under the original contract with Urban Alchemy, but shied away from ever implementing one. Last year, city officials balked at implementing a “ramp-down” plan. During budget hearings, “given the progress on the street conditions and the ongoing need to continue interventions that mitigate further decline and promote pro-social behavior, an immediate ramp-down plan was not in the best interest of the community and could potentially lead to a reversal of progress,” Kate Patterson, an OEWD spokesperson, told The Examiner in an email. But Chan said she’s unable to imagine a future sans Urban Alchemy. She noted that The City employs several ambassador teams, including teams consisting of retired sheriff’s deputies and police officers. Chan — often criticized for being soft on crime — even openly mulled whether funding for Urban Alchemy could be better spent on additional overtime shifts for police officers to patrol the area.President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the campaign trail about his desire to impose higher tariffs on imports from Mexico, China and Canada.Click and hold your mouse button on the page to select the area you wish to save or print. You can click and drag the clipping box to move it or click and drag in the bottom right corner to resize it. When you're happy with your selection, click the checkmark icon next to the clipping area to continue.This is the name that will be displayed next to your photo for comments, blog posts, and more. Choose wisely!Create a password that only you will remember. 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