Best Upcoming Museum Exhibits In San Francisco
Asian Art Museum (credit: Randy Yagi)
Despite the continuing absence of one of San Francisco's most important museums, there are several noteworthy exhibitions scheduled to open soon in the city. And while the beloved San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is still a year away from reopening, it's hosting SFMOMA on the Go and the city's overall museum attendance may reach record numbers again this year. Here is a look at five of the best upcoming museum exhibits in San Francisco, in addition to one must-see art gallery.
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
200 Larkin St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 581-3701
www.asianart.org
Date: June 5, 2015 - Aug. 16, 2015
The Asian Art Museum will feature contemporary Chinese art from 28 distinguished Chinese artists beginning June 5. The exhibition will showcase artists who have made significant contributions in the contemporary art world. Among those artists are renowned performance artist Zhang Huang and Ai Weiwei, an artistic consultant for the Beijing National Stadium. The Asian Art Museum is one of the world's most comprehensive museums devoted to Asian art, with a permanent collection of 18,000 works of art, spanning 6,000 years and representing more than 40 countries.
Color Of Life
California Academy of Sciences
55 Music Concourse Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 379-8000
www.calacademy.org
Date: Opens June 12, 2015
Featuring live animals and scientific specimens, the Color of Life is a new major exhibition opening to visitors next month. The enormous exhibition will explore how species use color as a means to communicate and survive within the natural world. The Academy will also present color-focused programs and special events, including an opening weekend event. Located in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences is the only place in the world that houses an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum and rainforest dome under a single roof.
Night Begins The Day: Rethinking Space, Time, and Beauty
Contemporary Jewish Museum
736 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 655-7800
www.thecjm.org
Date: June 18, 2015 - Sep. 20, 2015
Night Begins the Day is an international group exhibition featuring works from 25 artists and contributors including Light and Space artist Peter Alexander and German artist and professor emeritus of painting Peter Dreher. Named after the story of creation in Genesis, this exhibition will examine alternative and contemporary ways about thinking of three aspects of art of space, time and beauty.
J.M.W. Turner: Painting Set Free
de Young Museum
50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 750-3600
www.deyoung.famsf.org
Date: June 20, 2015 - Sep. 20, 2015
Beginning June 20, the de Young Museum will present more than 60 oil paintings and watercolors from renowned 19th century British artist Joseph Mallord William Turner. A master of English Romantic landscape paintings, Turner is arguably Britain's most famous painter, whose masterpiece The Fighting Temeraire (1838) was named the Greatest Painting in Britain in a poll conducted by the BBC. Although his masterwork will not be part of the exhibition, J.M.W. Turner: Painting Set Free is described as the first major exhibition devoted to his final period of productivity between 1835 and 1850.
Luminous Worlds: British Works On Paper 1760-1900
Legion of Honor
100 34th Ave.
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 750-3600
www.legionofhonor.famsf.org
Date: July 11, 2015 - Nov. 29, 2015
In celebration of J.M.W. Turner: Painting Set Free, at the de Young, the Legion of Honor will present an exhibition featuring watercolors, drawings and oil sketches of the famed British artist and his contemporaries. This upcoming exhibition will present about 40 works, including Thomas Gainsborough's "Upland Landscapes with Figures, Riders and Cattle" (ca. 1780-1790) and Turner's "View of Kenilworth Castle" (ca. 1830).
Joni Mitchell Photographs
By Graham Nash
San Francisco Art Exchange
458 Geary St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 441-8840
www.sfae.com
Date: May 8-31, 2015
The San Francisco Art Exchange is currently hosting an exhibition of original Joni Mitchell photographs by Graham Nash through May. Timed to coincide with a rare public appearance when Mitchell was scheduled to receive a SF Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award, this exhibition features photographs by Graham Nash over his career as a photographer and during the time the pair lived together in Los Angeles. Fresh off phenomenal exhibitions featuring Pattie Boyd and Grace Slick. the San Francisco Art Exchange is acknowledged as the world's top gallery for the representation of and sale of original art of rock and roll.
