Alice Neel “Jackie Curtis and Ritta Redd” 1970, oil on canvas, Image courtesy of the de Young Museum.

Ongoing to July 10, 2022 –Alice Neel: People Come First at the de Young Museum:  Alice Neel (1900–1984) was one of the century’s most radical painters, a champion of social justice whose longstanding commitment to humanist principles inspired her life as well as her art.  Neel spent most of her life in New York City, and her work testifies to the diversity, resilience, and passion of the people she encountered there. The exhibition includes depictions of Neel’s neighbors in Spanish Harlem, political leaders, queer cultural figures, activists, and mothers, along with a diverse representation of nude figures, including visibly pregnant women. Neel’s “pictures of people” embody a rare candor and irreverence. Together they emphasize her belief in the dignity and worth of all individuals, a view that remains critical to the social and cultural politics of our time.

David Huffman “Sideshow” 2009, acrylic, oil, glitter, collage on paper.  Image courtesy of MOADSF.

Ongoing to September 18, 2022 – David Huffman: Terra Incognita at the Museum of African Diaspora (MoAD):   Emerging from Huffman’s lifelong interest in science fiction, formalist abstraction, and social justice movements, the “Traumanauts” are futuristic beings that travel the galaxy in constant search for home. This exhibition showcases the extensive narrative that Huffman has been designing since the early 1990s across a range of media including large-scale canvas, works on paper, ceramics, video, and printmaking. This work explores an Afrofuturistic landscape disrupting the canon of historical narrative painting with otherworldly horizons. Combining his notable abstract, gestural style with a decidedly figurative focus, these works present an imagined and safe interstitial space that plays between these aesthetics. With influences from cartoons, the Black Power movement, and poetics of basketball, Huffman brings us into his celestial world.

Libby Black “Untitled” 2022, paper, acrylic paint, glue.  Image courtesy of Gallery 16.

April 9 to May 21 – Libby Black: Returning To This Moment at Gallery 16:  Returning to This Moment encompasses work from different phases of Black’s over two decade career. Drawing, painting, and sculptures are made from paper, hot glue, and acrylic paint, playing with the line between two and three dimensions. The exhibition is a chance to look at and return to moments from the vantage of the present– to observe, reflect, and marinate. She decodes and combines to create work that represents the things she thinks about, to see herself in the world.

Soo Sunny Park “Silver Linings” 2015, stainless steel, tar paper, Mylar, artificial light, daylight.  Image courtesy of SJICA.

Ongoing to August 14 – Soo Sunny Park: Viewing Filter (Veil of Vision) at SJICA:  Soo Sunny Park explores light as a sculptural material. She reconfigures boundary materials – fencing, plastic, glass, sheetrock – to expand and explore the space between inside and outside, sculptural and drawing, vision and perception, objects and their shadows. In this exhibition Park  investigates visual perception through the use of reflective surfaces, grids, and variable light conditions. Her large-scale, immersive installation is built out of retro-reflective paint and nylon netting, stretched into curtain-like forms. Layers of accumulated drawings, on different layers of the netting,  create a sense of amplified depth in a 3-dimensional floating space. Visitors walk through the gallery and interact with the space using their camera flashes and phone flashlights.

Bay Area non-profit art spaces – Root Division, Berkeley Art Center, Southern Exposure and Kala Art Institute fundraising events.

Saturday, April 9, 7 to 9 pm – Root Division 20 Year Anniversary Celebration:  Join Root Division as they commemorate 20 years of cultivating community-minded artists and arts-minded community. To mark this historic milestone, the organization will present a variety of inclusive festivities and goods.  Purchase tickets here.

Thursday, April 14, 6 to 8 pm – Berkeley Art Center Community Dinner: Join Berkeley Art Center for an evening celebrating community and connection under the Live Oak trees.  The evening will include a three-course-meal, wine & cocktails, a preview of the next exhibition with the curator, and a special live drag performance!  Purchase tickets here.

Saturday, April 23,  6 to 9 pm – Southern Exposure’s Annual Art Auction:  Join SoEx on Saturday, April 23, in the gallery for an in-person and online event channeling the electrical strength and energy of the Bay Area art community.  The Main Event will feature both a silent and a live auction, showcasing over 120 pieces of electrifying art from some of the Bay Area’s most energizing new and established artists.  Purchase tickets here.

April 7 to May 23 – Kala Art Institute’s Annual Art Auction:  Help celebrate 48 years of Kala! Kala’s annual auction exhibition includes work by over 100 artists from the Bay Area and beyond. This year celebrate the 2022 honored artists Leah Rosenberg and Ramekon O’Arwisters.  The exhibition kicks off with an all day VIP in-person preview at the gallery on Thursday April 7, 12-8pm.  Purchase tickets here.

Headlands Center for the Arts

Sunday, April 24, 12 to 5 pm – Spring Open House at Headlands Center for the Arts:  Roam the Headlands’ campus, engage with artists, experience new work and works in progress, grab a house-made picnic lunch from the Mess Hall, and for the first time since 2019, enjoy open artist studios.  Open House connects visitors to artists and fosters casual conversations about the creative process. Curated happenings and events occur throughout the day, including readings, performances, screenings, and guided walks.  Reserve a free time-slot here.

Roland Mayer “Dialog” 2004, redwood, madrone, pine, barbed wire.   Image courtesy of  Djerassi Resident Artist Program.

Saturday April 2 to May  – Spring Walking Meditation and Sound Immersion at Djerassi Resident Artist Program:  At Djerassi each year, artists from around the world are awarded the gift of time + space—a one-month residency on their ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains. These hikes provide a thorough look at 40+ sculptures with a focus on the flora and fauna, while providing quiet, reflective time to experience the sounds of nature. For the Sound Immersion Experience guests will lay down and relax to the soothing sound vibrations of Gongs & Singing Bowls as they surround you and guide you into a deep meditation.  Register here.