Todd Gray, “Cosmic Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler)”, 2019, four archival pigment prints in artist’s frames, UV laminate. Image courtesy of Cantor Arts Center.
Ongoing to August 3 – Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene at Cantor Arts Center: Over 20 years ago, scientists introduced the term “Anthropocene” to denote a new geological epoch marked by human activity. Comprised of 44 photo-based artists working in a variety of artistic methods from studios and sites across the globe, Second Nature: Photography in the Age of the Anthropocene explores the complexities of this proposed new age: vanishing ice, rising waters, and increasing resource extraction, as well as the deeply rooted and painful legacies of colonialism, forced climate migration, and socio-environmental trauma. This exhibition proposes that the Anthropocene is not one singular narrative, but rather a diverse and complex web of relationships between and among humanity, industry, and ecology—the depths and effects of which are continually being discovered. Cantor Arts Center is located at 328 Lomita Dr in Stanford.
Steuart Pittman, “Stones”, 2025, oil on canvas with walnut frame. Image courtesy of Traywick Contemporary.
Ongoing to May 17 – Steuart Pittman: Les Cheneaux at Traywick Contemporary: Steuart Pittman’s newest body of work showcases his signature blend of modernist abstraction with personal history. The exhibition’s title, Les Cheneaux, refers to a chain of islands in Northern Michigan with deep personal significance to Pittman and his family’s history. While rooted in a specific place, the artist’s compositions remain both ambiguous and referential which he describes as “distilled glances blurred and softened by age and nostalgia.” Architectural structures and manmade forms from his memories reappear in his work as irregular, quirky shapes, distorted over time yet anchoring his exploration of place and remembrance. Traywick Contemporary is located at 895 Colusa Ave in Berkeley.
Andrew Schoultz, “In This Age, War Is Always Struggling to Stay Afloat, It Can Float for a While, but in Time, Nature Will Swallow It”, 2025, acrylic, graphite, collage on canvas over panel. Image courtesy of Hosfelt Gallery.
Ongoing to May 10 – Andrew Schoultz: Linescapes at Hosfelt Gallery: Los Angeles-based artist Andrew Schoultz leans into his long-standing practice as a street muralist to transform the gallery into an environment of optically vibrating wall paintings. Inspired by mid-twentieth-century Op Art, Schoultz’s installation is an architecturally scaled metaphor for the complex, unstable and anxiety-inducing world we currently find ourselves in. Within the framework of the installation, Schoultz adds additional layers of pattern to the murals and hangs paintings of creatures with ancient cross-cultural associations that are often important as protective talismans. The installation aims to envelop viewers in a playful and protective aura, while surrounding visitors with amulets of hope for protection, wisdom, healing, and strength. Hosfelt Gallery is located at 260 Utah St in San Francisco.
Detail of Reniel Del Rosario, “Guns, Beauty, Donuts” graphic, 2025, mixed media, ceramics. Image courtesy of Gallery 16.
April 4 to May 22 – Reniel Del Rosario: Guns, Beauty, Donuts at Gallery 16: Reniel Del Rosario’s exhibition transforms the gallery space into three specialty stores made entirely of ceramic works: a gun store, a beauty supply store, and a donut shop. Inspired by the South Y Center shopping plaza in South Lake Tahoe, the three stores playfully encapsulate the obsessions of US capitalism in 2025. Del Rosario brings inventive energy to clay; his process of creating deliberately imperfect, hand-built ceramic objects challenges societal value systems through recreating and reimagining familiar objects. In these ceramic goods, viewers may find performances of power through violence, the quest for superficial beauty, and gratuitous indulgence. Gallery 16 is located at 501 3rd St in San Francisco.
Nat Farbman, “Artist Ruth Asawa making wire sculptures, California, United States”, 1954, photograph. Image courtesy of SFMOMA.
April 5 to September 2 – Ruth Asawa: Retrospective at SFMOMA: This first posthumous retrospective presents the full range of Ruth Asawa’s work and its inspirations over six decades of her career. As an artist, Asawa forged a groundbreaking practice through her ceaseless exploration of materials and forms. As an educator and civic leader, Asawa’s impact on San Francisco can still be felt today. The exhibition features her signature suspended looped- and tied-wire sculptures alongside lesser-known works, including a selection of her sculptural “miniatures”—the smallest measuring just over one inch in diameter. From vibrant drawings and paintings to clay masks and cast bronze sculptures, more than 300 works give insight into Asawa’s relentlessly experimental vision. SFMOMA is located at 151 3rd St in San Francisco.
Tom Ide, “Fall Open House with Mark Gibson”, 2024, photograph. Image courtesy of Headlands Center for the Arts.
April 13 at 12 PM – Spring Open House at Headlands Center for the Arts: The Spring Open House provides a seasonal opportunity to roam the various buildings of the Headlands Center for the Arts campus, meet their current artists, view works in progress, and attend screenings, performances, and readings. Visitors can explore Artists in Residence and Graduate Fellows’ studios, stop by the Project Space to view in-progress installations, and enjoy a house-made lunch from the Mess Hall. Special to Spring 2025, Headlands and Slash Art are also co-presenting a participatory performance and hike beginning at 11 AM in the Headlands Commons, RSVP required. Headlands Center for the Arts is located at 944 Simmonds Rd in Sausalito.
Leo Bersamina, “Triad (Red)” 2024, acrylic on linen. McArthur Binion, “MAB: 1947: I”, 2017, color aquatint. Kelly Ording, “Out to Sea”, 2023, acrylic on hand-dyed paper. Images courtesy of Southern Exposure.
April 18 at 6 PM – NEW SUNS: Resist and Rejoice 2025 Benefit Art Auction at Southern Exposure: Inspired by Octavia Butler’s words, “There is nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns,” Southern Exposure will present 130 artworks from some of the Bay Area’s most exciting artists in their largest fundraiser of the year. As Southern Exposure currently faces significant economic uncertainty in this shifting landscape of local and national government grants for nonprofits, the 2025 Benefit Art Auction aims to raise $275,000 through sponsorships, ticket sales, and auction sales. This call to the art community comes at a time when arts organizations must be prepared to adapt and respond to the rapidly shifting needs of artists, local communities, and society as a whole. Southern Exposure is located at 3030 20th St in San Francisco.
Adia Millett, “Hues of the New Moon 6”, 2022, hand-painted lino print on folio vellum paper. Archana Horsting, “Underwater Arch”, 1983, etching. Ross Bleckner, “(On) Surrender”, 2010, color aquatint. Images courtesy of Kala Gallery.
April 26 at 6 PM – ART KALA 2025: Auction Benefit & Exhibition at Kala Gallery: Celebrating Kala’s 51st year, ART KALA 2025 brings together Kala’s creative community and features the inventive and meaningful art being made in the Bay Area. This year’s auction closing party showcases artwork by over 100 local artists and includes food, drinks, music, a live and silent auction, and a short program honoring artists Gale Antokal, Cathy Lu, and Adia Millett. ART KALA is Kala’s biggest fundraiser of the year and directly supports Kala’s arts education, artist residencies, and exhibition programs. Kala Gallery is located at 2990 San Pablo Ave in Berkeley.